Date with Death (The Dales Detective Series, 1)

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Anyone who likes cosy mysteries, a rural English setting, a dash of romance, and vivid engaging writing by an author who clearly loves all of those things, will love this series. It will be interesting to see the TV series if/when that happens, but make sure you read the books first if you can.

Cozy Case Files Volume 12 (By: Carolyn Haines,Donna Andrews,Hannah Dennison,Cate Conte,Kylie Logan,Leonard Goldberg,Allison Montclair,Sheila Connolly,Ellie Alexander,Ashley Weaver,S.C. Perkins,Eve Calder,Jess Dylan,Mindy Quigley,Meri Allen) Described by the publisher as a “combination of beguiling charm and witty ingenuity” the first seven titles in the series have sold in excess of 200,000 copies throughout the world in the English language and have also been translated into French, German, Italian, Dutch, Danish, Swedish and Estonian. The eighth novel, Date with Evil, will be published by Pan Macmillan in April. Author Julia Chapman is in the top 1% of UK Library authors borrowed.The rights were acquired from Conrad Williams at Blake Friedmann on behalf of Oli Munson at AM Heath. Set in Bruncliffe in the Yorkshire Dales, the series follows the investigation of ex-police detective Samson O’Brien and founder of the Dales Detective Agency with the tempestuous Delilah Metcalfe. The Dales Detective series will be developed by Saffron Cherry’s Caroline Roberts-Cherry and head of scripted Jane Langford (Hollyoaks, Metastasis, Jordskott S2, Origin). Saffron Cherry’s creative director, actress and writer Sally Lindsay will serve as executive producer. The adaptation is being written by Stewart Harcourt (Agatha Raisin, Poirot, Maigret). Date With Malice” is the second novel in the “Dales Detectives” series and was released in the year 2017. When Mrs. Shepherd shows up at the Dales Detective Agency one morning in December, convinced that somebody is trying to kill her, and Samson dismisses all her fears as only the ramblings of one confused old lady. After a sequence of disturbing incidents at Fellside Court retirement home, he starts to wonder if there could be something to these claims that she is making after all. Samson and Delilah do not work well with each other, actually she hates him. But with funny circumstances, call it fate, they have to work together. It doesn’t help that both his detective agency and Delilah’s business are lettered the same, ‘DDA’ and in the same building! They will have to put the past behind them if there is to be any business coming their way, and now with suspicious deaths, they embark on different mysteries in every book.

Oblivious to his impending date with fate, Samson is busy juggling a number of cases at the Dales Detective Agency. Too busy, in fact, to notice his partner behaving oddly.

There is a warmth and friendship between the characters that adds to the reading experience. Everyone is ready to help in their own way and it seems very natural. The obvious exception is the perpetrator, who is, in melodramatic fashion, particularly evil and sociopathic. The reader knows who it is as the novel is told from various points of view, but they don’t know the lengths he will go to or why. Cozy Case Files Volume 9 (By: Carolyn Haines,Donna Andrews,Hannah Dennison,Kylie Logan,Leonard Goldberg,Susanna Calkins,Allison Montclair,Ellie Alexander,Eve Calder,Mindy Quigley) However, as I kept reading I did get more into the swing of the current story and found it a compelling read. I quite enjoyed the premise of the murdered folk all being from the same dating agency (although I'm sure this has been done before in some way, shape or form in other cosies) as well as the way in which Delilah and Samson (eventually) go about sorting it out. It seems rather far-fetched that no one would bother to inform the police about their suspicions, but it works for the story and makes the eventual hunt far more suspenseful, knowing that Delilah and Samson are on their own.

Saffron Cherry Productions, creator of the international hit The Madame Blanc Mysteries, has secured the TV rights for Julia Chapman’s The Dales Detective books. In the eighth novel in the Dales Detective series, Date with Evil, Samson and Delilah are about to discover that all of their new cases may be connected to a network of evil that seems to be surrounding Bruncliffe. Will they solve them all before the danger comes directly to their door? Date with Mystery– The Dales Detective Agency’s latest assignment appears to be an open and shut case. Hired by a local solicitor to find a death certificate for a young woman who died over twenty years ago, Samson O’Brien is about to find out that things in Bruncliffe are rarely that straightforward. Particularly when the solicitor insists that Delilah Metcalfe, with her wealth of local knowledge, works alongside Samson on this sensitive investigation.I loved Delilah and Samson together, they turn out to be a really good combo – good for each other and their business. Delilah ends up putting a lot into helping Samson and they both solve the mysteries the town brings them. Cozy Case Files Volume 2 (By: Carolyn Haines,Donna Andrews,Hannah Dennison,Cate Conte,Diane Kelly,E.J. Copperman,Ellie Alexander,Cynthia Riggs,Susan C. Shea,Mindy Quigley) Meet two sleuths from a sleepy Yorkshire village as they investigate murders and discover the secrets behind the twitching curtains. Date with Death is the first cosy crime novel in Julia Chapman’s Dales Detective series, perfect for fans of Richard Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club and M. C. Beaton. Full of charm, wit and characters that will capture your heart, the series begins with Date With Death. Have you read them all? I know it's counter-cultural and a very small point, but would a gang of pensioners really be so modern about two people going to bed together? In their day people probably believed in commitment first.