James Henry Books In Order

Publication Order of Detective Jack Frost Prequel Books

Publication Order of DI Nick Lowry Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Anthologies

James Henry is an author with a lot of experience in the publishing arena. He has since gained recognition writing detective novels.

+Biography

James Henry isn’t a person but a team. It is actually a pen name used by Henry Sutton and James Gurbutt whenever they collaborate to write detective novels.

-Henry Sutton

Henry Sutton was born in 1963 in Gorleston-on-Sea, Norfolk. Sutton’s mother, Belinda Brett, was a writer. His father, Toby Sutton, made furniture for a living. Sutton’s first big break came when he became a desk editor for Haymarket Publishing.

It didn’t take him long to move on to bigger and better things at ‘The European’ where he fulfilled a variety of roles. Along bagging a number of achievements such as becoming Associate Creative writing Tutor at the UEA, Sutton has written a number of books, the first of which was released in 1995.

The book, which was called Gorleston, followed a pensioner who was having a hard time overcoming the death of his wife. His second novel, released in 1997, followed a group of five adults and a child that had come together for a long weekend.

Sutton went on to write many books before finally collaborating with James Gurbutt in 2011 to produce First Frost. The novel, released under the names of James Henry, is set in 1981 and delves into the back story of Detective Sergeant Jack Frost.

Jack Frost first emerged on the scene in 1977 in a radio play called ‘Three Days of Frost’. The character was created by R.D Wingfield, a renowned writer of radio crime plays. Wingfield went on to publish six novels about the character before James Henry kicked things off in 2011 by releasing new stories that explored Frost’s back story.

Sutton’s wife is a literary academic by the names of Professor Rachel Potter. They have two children.

-James Gurbutt

James Gurbutt is an author born in 1968 in Essex. James has a long history in publishing, though he first worked as an accountant before finally moving into the Editorial section of Random House.

His work as an Associate Publisher at Havill Press gave James the opportunity to work with notable names in the literary industry like Nicholas Shakespeare, James Scudamore, and Henning Mankell.

Sutton and Gurbutt are both long time fans of R.D. Wingfield’s novels about Detective Sergeant Frost and the subsequent television adaptations.

+First Frost

1981 finds Britain in a recession. The falling economy is only exacerbated by the IRA’s increasingly belligerent activity in Denton. If that wasn’t bad enough, the entire nation is on edge over the potential outbreak of rabies.

Detective Sergeant Jack Frost is looking to his mentor, DI Bert Williams for guidance, this at a time when his marriage is strained by his lengthy absences from home.

The death of R.D Wingfield came as a shock to some people, especially those that were only beginning to read his Jack Frost novels; the fact that he only wrote a few books in the series was most problematic because there were so many threads that needed further expansion.

Many readers have continued to argue about the rationale of continuing the Jack Frost novels. In fact, some people believe that the books should simply be left alone while others cannot stand the idea of the Jack Frost story lying idly by for so long, not when there are so many places it could go.

With such sentiments in the air, it isn’t surprising that this book was received with mixed reviews when it first hit the shelves. Some people were determined to hate James Henry’s work because he obviously wasn’t Wingfield.

Others were willing to consume and love anything that had Jack Frost in it, especially if they grew up with the character. A select few went into this book with an open mind.

Everyone agrees that James Henry was right to explore an earlier time in Jack Frost’s career, especially at a time when he still testing the waters with regards to whether fans would be open to more books about the detective.

James Henry doesn’t need to worry about readers making direct comparisons; they can take this book as it is, without any pre-conceived notions. Fortunately, the book succeeds more than it fails.

Though, it isn’t without its problems. Jack Frost is a little softer than people will remember. The fact that this Frost hasn’t undergone the trauma that made him the character readers grew to love makes his personality change logical, but one can understand why people might reject this version of Frost altogether.

James Henry does his best to replicate Wingfield’s work, but he doesn’t completely succeed. Some of the characters just don’t ring true; the plot is lacking and the writing could definitely be better. Or at least that is what hardcore fans of Wingfield’s Jack Frost will say.

Individuals that are new to the world of Jack Frost have admitted to being charmed by the character and the story that James Henry tells here.

+Fatal Frost

1982 is a busy year. DC Walters, the first black policeman in the Denton Police Division is hardly news, what with the sinking of the Belgrano and the hell Jimmy Savile is raising on the airwaves.

Some local burglaries complicate Walters’ relocation from Bethnal Green, with the death of 15-year-old Samantha Evans only exacerbating matters. When a 15-year-old boy is found without his organs on a Denton Golf Course, Detective Sergeant Jack Frost begins to investigate, happy to avoid the problems at home.

Some people thought that James Henry would waste no time leaping back to the present and giving readers a new sequel in the Jack Frost series of novel. James surprised many when he chose to follow the first prequel in the Jack Frost story with another prequel.

James Henry does a better job of capturing Frost’s personality here. He is highly unlikeable, with so many negative qualities, and yet he still comes off as a little charming, and you cannot help but root for him.

Unfortunately, while James Henry does a great job of making Frost a fully formed character, he forgets everyone else. The people surrounding Frost don’t really bring anything of substance to the table.

For that reason, Fatal Frost doesn’t quite fulfill its potential, instead becoming another disposable detective novel.