''A Touch of Frost'' (1987) is a crime novel by, R.D. Wingfield. The series inspired a popular television series of the same name, starring

David Jason Sir David John White (born 2 February 1940), known professionally by his stage name David Jason, is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as Derek "Del Boy" Trotter in the BBC sitcom '' Only Fools and Horses'', Detective Inspector ...

as the title character,

Detective Inspector Inspector, also police inspector or inspector of police, is a police rank. The rank or position varies in seniority depending on the organization that uses it. Australia In Australian police forces, the rank of inspector is generally the ne ...

Jack Frost; a disheveled, unorthodox and caustic police officer.

Plot summary

The murder of a local

drug addict Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to engage in certain behaviors, one of which is the usage of a drug, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use oft ...

, the hunt for a

serial rapist A serial rapist is someone who commits multiple rapes, whether with multiple victims or a single victim repeatedly over a period of time. Some serial rapists target children. The terms ''sexual predator'', ''repeat rape'' and ''multiple offending ...

, a

hit-and-run In traffic laws, a hit and run or a hit-and-run is the act of causing a traffic collision and not stopping afterwards. It is considered a supplemental crime in most jurisdictions. Additional obligation In many jurisdictions, there may be an ...

involving the spoiled son of an MP, and a robbery at a strip joint all have something in common. Detective Inspector Jack Frost has been assigned with the thankless task of investigating them. Fighting the stress and ignoring his mounting pile of paperwork, Frost soon finds himself up against the various manifestations of criminality...

Novel series

* ''

Frost at Christmas ''Frost at Christmas'' (1984) is the first of the series of novels written by R. D. Wingfield, the creator of the character Detective Inspector Jack Frost, who is more famously known in the television series ''A Touch of Frost'', where the chara ...

'' (1984, PaperJacks, Toronto) * ''A Touch of Frost'' (1987, PaperJacks, Toronto) * ''

Night Frost ''Night Frost'' is a novel by R. D. Wingfield in the popular series featuring Detective Inspector Jack Frost, coarse, crude, slapdash – and holder of the George Cross. The novel was filmed for the ITV detective series ''A Touch of Frost ...

'' (1992, Constable, London / 1995, Bantam, New York) * ''Hard Frost'' (1995) * ''Winter Frost'' (1999, Constable, London / 2000, Corgi Books, London)* * '' A Killing Frost'' (2008) The American edition of ''Winter Frost'', published by Bantam Books, initially carried the title of ''Autumn Frost''.

Audio Books

The abridged version of the

audiobook An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements. Spoken audio has been available in sc ...

is narrated by

. The abridged audio CD is edited by Kati Nicholl, and was published by

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News ...

in 1996. The

unabridged An abridgement (or abridgment) is a condensing or reduction of a book or other creative work into a shorter form while maintaining the unity of the source. The abridgement can be true to the original work in terms of mood and tone (literature), t ...

version of the audio book is narrated by Robin Browne, and published by Dual Dolphin in 1997. A Touch of Frost audio books are still available as audio cassettes and CDs. 1987 British novels British crime novels {{1980s-crime-novel-stub