Somehow, even though each of the prequel books for the Inspector Frost series don’t fill me with joy, I can’t stop reading them. I love the Frost character, but in this book he doesn’t come across very well - all that scrapping around on people’s sofas and being generally unhealthy and unkempt, it just doesn’t strike very well. He has his moments of brilliance but the other characters are given more chance to shine. A good read, but not one of the best.

I’ve still got mixed feelings about these sequel/prequel Detective Frost books, written to follow the six original R. D. Wingfield novels. They don’t quite have the same feel to them, but it’s nice to dip into this world every now and then. There was a lot more personal stuff in this one, as it kicks off with the funeral of Frost’s wife, and deals with a lot of the fallout from that. Also his colleagues are having their own issues… I was confused about Simms, because there was that prequel problem of it not fitting with what I know from the original series… but that was resolved quite quickly, so no complaints.

I do like how the new writers in the Frost series have channelled the feeling of the original set of novels but I’m not totally sure this one lived up to my expectations. It had a great start to the story and a great end, but seemed to get lost along the way in the middle. There’s a lot of waffling around and waiting for things to happen.

I’m amazed at how closely the style of the writing reflects the original author’s. The way that Frost goes about his business, the conversations he has, and the many threads of story that weave in and out of each other, it was all exactly as I expected. There are some brutal crimes, some more simple than others, and plenty of arguments, flirting and of course, insomnia. I really enjoyed it and can’t wait to read the next one.