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The Dales Detective #4

Rendez-vous avec le poison

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La mort a très mauvais goût.


Il y a comme un vent de printemps qui souffle sur Bruncliffe. Mais la belle saison est loin de profiter à tout le monde... Mêlé à une affaire de meurtre, Samson O'Brien doit répondre aux questions pressantes de la police. Et quand son passé est révélé au grand jour, c'est la ville entière qui se ligue contre lui.
Dans toute cette agitation, il n'y a que le vétérinaire du coin pour s'inquiéter d'une série de morts inhabituelle au sein de sa clientèle canine : plusieurs chiens ont été empoisonnés. Il sollicite alors les services de Samson et Delilah, qui vont devoir braver les foudres des habitants pour résoudre ce mystère.

Le quatrième tome de la série best-seller Les Détectives du Yorkshire.

" Dans le sillage d'Agatha Christie, on savoure cette série pour l'intrigue prenante, les personnages sympathiques et l'humour british ! " Maxi




394 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 25, 2019

97 people are currently reading
576 people want to read

About the author

Julia Chapman

30 books422 followers
Julia Chapman has led a nomadic existence, spending most of her adult life abroad. Having published a series of novels set in the idyllic French Pyrenees, she has now turned her hand to crime. Currently writing the Dales Detective Series, she lives and writes in the stunning Yorkshire Dales where her books are set. The first in the series, Date with Death, makes its debut in March 2017.
Contact her on facebook (Julia Stagg or Dales Detective) or on Twitter @DalesWriter
Pseudonym for author Julia Stagg

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5 stars
924 (39%)
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320 (13%)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 213 reviews
Profile Image for Paromjit.
3,080 reviews26.3k followers
June 19, 2019
This is the fourth in the Dales Detective series by Julia Chapman set in the picturesque small town of Bruncliffe in the Yorkshire Dales. It is spring time in Bruncliffe, a busy and nerve wracking time for farmers with lambing and the local vet is run off his feet. Cleaner Ida Capstick wants Samson O'Brien, an ex-police officer with the London Metropolitan Police, now a private investigator, to help her get rid of her cousin, Carol Kirby, who has come to live with her, and to do it quickly before she kills her. Delilah Metcalfe is struggling to keep her dating agency a viable concern, she and Samson are going to merge her IT skills with his business to offer a complete security package for local businesses and individuals. However, spring is set to usher in a toxic and fraught environment in Bruncliffe,

Samson's life is about to be completely wrecked and turned upside down as he is arrested for murder, and he is up for a career destroying misconduct hearing in London, whilst unsubstantiated rumours and gossip make him a reviled figure in the community, as he stands accused of being a drug dealer. A shell shocked Delilah can't believe that once again she has proved to be such a poor judge of character, she had come to trust Samson, and Tolpuddle, her dog adores him. These events are the tip of the iceberg as the Metcalfe family faces a litany of woes. Delilah's nephew and Samson's godson, Nathan finds himself in trouble at school when the villainous property developer, Rick Procter goads Nathan, and matters are to escalate considerably leading to Nathan disappearance just as the weather in the Dales turns deadly. Into this febrile atmosphere, the vet becomes increasingly convinced that someone is indiscriminately poisoning dogs and cats in the district, and with the police busy on other matters, he needs Samson to investigate.

This is my first read of this series, I found it worked reasonably well as a standalone, although I think it would have helped to understand the established characters more if I had started at the beginning. This is a hugely enjoyable read, although poor Samson really does go through the mill, with a local community just far too happy to judge him and implacably determined to get him to leave town. Thankfully for him there is a small core of individuals who believe in and trust him, and know that he is incapable of doing what he is accused of, including his ex-alcoholic father. This is a lovely and entertaining crime read, with a diverse range of characters, with their conflicts and fears, and I love the Yorkshire Dales backdrop to the murky mysteries that Delilah and Samson set out to solve, despite their tense and fractured relationship. Many thanks to Pan Macmillan for an ARC.
Profile Image for Mariiine.
325 reviews34 followers
July 23, 2019
Comme d'habitude, je retourne à Bruncliff avec plaisir. J'étais heureuse de retrouver Delilah, Calimero et Samson, même si celui-ci prend cher avec ce quatrième tome.
Les enquêtes sont un peu secondaires pour justement se concentrer sur les problèmes de Samson avec la justice, mais ça ne m'a pas dérangée bien au contraire. J'attendais de voir comment les révélations sur son passé allaient être accueillies et gérées.


Vivement le mois de Novembre pour, j'espère, en apprendre plus sur les malversations de ce détestable Mr Proctor !
Profile Image for Leonie.
345 reviews9 followers
June 6, 2025
3.5 stars. Made me want to go to the Yorkshire Dales (as did the previous books in this series). 
Profile Image for Chicky Poo.
1,027 reviews25 followers
August 4, 2019
J'ai vraiment beaucoup aimé ce tome, qui approfondi les personnalités des personnages beaucoup plus que les autres. J'ai été parfois émue aux larmes, j'ai frissonné... Bref, je pense que c'est mon tome préféré ! Vite la suite !
Profile Image for Clarabel.
3,833 reviews59 followers
January 18, 2023
Très heureuse d’avoir retrouvé ce rendez-vous avec les détectives du Yorkshire (en audio, cela faisait bientôt trois ans que je désespérais d’écouter la suite) !
Car les ennuis de Samson O'Brien éclatent au grand jour et la communauté de Bruncliffe lui fait de gros yeux. Sa réputation de mauvais garçon est ainsi confirmée. Accusation de meurtre, trafic de drogue, mensonges éhontés. Pour Delilah aussi, la coupe est pleine. Elle le claque à la porte et ne veut plus entendre parler de lui.
Mais une urgence familiale et des empoisonnements à la chaîne font revenir le détective en ville. D’où un rythme de lecture soutenu et captivant.
J’ai beaucoup aimé ce quatrième tome qui contraint peu à peu Samson à jouer cartes sur table. Cependant, ses ennuis du passé ne sont pas réglés et composent vraisemblablement un fil rouge pour les prochains épisodes.
La relation entre les deux héros est en suspens - et c’est très bien ainsi. Mieux vaut une entente amicale et complice que des malentendus patauds et superficiels. Croisons les doigts pour une parution imminente en audio…
Profile Image for Sarah Sarbacane.
228 reviews25 followers
February 26, 2023
4,25⭐️
Mon tome préféré ! Calimero Samson et Delilah mes p’tits chouchous ! 🫶🏼
C’est la meilleure saga cosy mystery que j’ai pu lire ! Vraiment foncez !
Profile Image for Mark.
88 reviews1 follower
April 9, 2023
This was enjoyable but not excellent. The characters are all as lovable (or hateable) as ever, but the plot was on the chaotic side.
Chapman starts paying off some of the side overarching plots that have been building since the first book, which is satisfying, and the stakes are pretty high at this point for Samson. I also liked how it tied in with Nathan’s accusations to make even more of a mess. One of my favorite reading experiences is wondering how the heck they’re going to get out of this one, and I was ready for the ride.
However, juggling multiple plots got away from the author, and it ended up that not much really happened, when I stopped to think about it. Instead of a plotty, complex story, Chapman drove the narrative by resorting to a technique of “building suspense” that drives me nuts.
For most of the book, we kept getting several paragraphs from each POV that ends with a cliffhanger, but cumulatively, nothing at all happens. When a scandalous article is published about Samson’s past, we spent about ten pages from three characters’ alternating POVs as they sloooowwwly get to the point where they each read the paper.
Or the poisoner plants a sausage, and we sloooowwwly read two characters’ alternating POVs leading to the moment where the dog eats the sausage and the owner discovers it.
It’s not really suspense when I know what’s coming. And it would have worked if she had done it once. But it happened over and over with every plot line.
I can’t help but feel it was intentional to pad the length of the book overall. Most of the book was false suspense, and it felt gimmicky. Any one of those scenarios, played out with one stretch of narration all the way through, would be half the length. As a result, the book felt choppy, and the pacing was completely bizarre. The shift in focus in the final third away from the Nathan-drugs scenario and the Samson-allegations storyline to the dog poisoner was jarring and could have been handled more deftly.
I’ll of course keep reading, but if this type of narration structure continues, I don’t know if even the charming inhabitants of Bruncliffe will get me through to the end of the series.
Profile Image for Thebooktrail.
1,879 reviews340 followers
June 24, 2019
Date with poison

Visit the locations in the novel

How lovely it is to be back in the village of Bruncliffe. It might be a fictional place but it’s firmly set in the heart of the picturesque Yorkshire Dales.

Julia Chapman wraps her characters, humour and setting in wonderfully warm and witty prose. This fourth outing announces the start of spring and it all feels so welcoming that you can see the lambs jumping over the hedges and feel the warmth of the hay in the sun as you turn the pages.

Life in general is going well in Bruncliffe although there is a lot going on since spring is such a busy time. The poor vet is rushed off his feet! The dating agency is struggling but Delilah and Samson have ideas of how to improve things. That’s the furthest thing from his mind however as he finds himself arrested!!

And just as you think village life is quiet! That’s just the start of things as the problems keep on coming. There’s a disappearance, a good for nothing property developer. And a bad situation which keeps on escalating. Oh and there’s animals getting sick…is someone doing this on purpose?

There’s a lot to this novel and despite its cosy title and cover, there’s lots of layers to enjoy. The characters of Delilah and Samson are two of the funiest and heartwarming I’ve come across in a long while and I love spending time with them. When they have such problems as they do here, I really felt for them! That’s the sign of a good writer, right there.

Please could this be on the telly? A warm hearted and hearty drama set in the Yorkshire Dales is just what we need!
Profile Image for Sarah | The Marsies.
678 reviews252 followers
November 7, 2023
Pas mon préféré mais je l'ai lu presque d'une traite !

Il est un peu différent des autres je dirais car l'enquête du tome démarre assez tard. On se concentre d'abord sur les intrigues propres aux personnages principaux avec fausses accusations etc. On voit vraiment les liens qui se renforcent entre tous les habitants et ça fait toujours plaisir de retourner à Bruncliff !

Maintenant j'ai envie de partir dans le Yorkshire allez let's go
Profile Image for Andy.
1,318 reviews91 followers
June 22, 2025
2,5 Tolpuddles 🐶 für die Geschichte.
Wäre die Geschichte nicht so kitschig emotionslastig, hätte ich nicht so viel quer lesen müssen. Das Ambiente/Setting ist nämlich recht nett.
Profile Image for Manon.
483 reviews2 followers
July 2, 2025
Encore un très bon tome, l'histoire devient vraiment très intéressante et j'ai vraiment hâte d'avoir la suite pour découvrir où cela va mener. Je suis en train de devenir accro à cette série !
Profile Image for Lecturedudimanche.
328 reviews22 followers
June 1, 2021
C'est toujours un vrai plaisir de retourner à Bruncliffe !

Le printemps arrive, les ennuis aussi. Samson se retrouve mêlé à une affaire de meurtre, et son passé est révélé à tout le monde. Dans une ville comme Bruncliffe, la réaction est immédiate : les habitants veulent le voir partir.

Pendant ce temps, alors que tout le monde parle de l'affaire Samson, le vétérinaire s'inquiète. En effet, il constate que plusieurs chiens ont été empoisonnés. Il appelle alors Samson et Delilah pour en finir avec cette triste affaire. Mais ces derniers vont rencontrer des obstacles, et pas des moindres : les habitants de Bruncliffe.

Ce tome nous plonge assez vite dans l'histoire, et c'est très difficile de lâcher le roman ensuite ! C'est très prenant, il y a de nombreux rebondissements, et les événements s'enchaînent.
On découvre encore un peu plus les personnages, bien évidemment, et j'aime beaucoup le fait que Calimero fasse partie intégrante du paysage, c'est un personnage à part entière !

La plume de l'autrice m'a totalement transportée dans les vallons, et on ressent de plus en plus une certaine "pression", qui pèse sur la ville, et sur certaines personnes.
J'ai vraiment hâte de découvrir la suite, et d'en apprendre plus sur cette affaire qui évolue petit à petit - en arrière-plan, mais qui vient progressivement toucher nos personnages.

Un quatrième tome très prenant, j'ai adoré suivre l'enquête avec Samson et Delilah. Cette série "cosy mystery" est pleine de rebondissements, et promet des histoires palpitantes, j'en suis sûre.
345 reviews2 followers
June 17, 2022
I really enjoyed this. I love the way there is always a case that is individual to each book which is resolved but the ongoing story just continues. I gave it 4 rather than 4.5 because I guessed who had done it which I prefer not to. Can’t wait for the next one to be available on BorrowBox (have reserved it already) 😊
Profile Image for Dawn.
102 reviews2 followers
May 24, 2024
Absolutely Incredible! Julia Chapman is so good at telling the stories of the lives in Bruncliffe. The characters are truly brought to life for you!
Profile Image for Sarah Nealy.
314 reviews
June 14, 2024
This series just keeps getting better and better! So much more than your run of the mill cozy mysteries. It would make a fantastic TV series!
Profile Image for Annie (is so far behind &#x1f62c;).
413 reviews10 followers
July 13, 2019
Augh! Now I have longer to wait for the next one! Another excellent installment in The Dales Detective Agency Series. This one finds Samson arrested for murder, the dark past of his undercover life in London threatening to end everything he has come to love in Bruncliffe. His godson Nathan goes missing, and someone is attempting to kill pets around the town. Rick Proctor is up to his eyes in it all and I'm champing at the bit to know how Samson is going to bring him down. Because you know he will.

Delilah is still trying to find the unmarriageable Clive Knowles a wife and is struggling with her conflicting feelings for Samson.

If this is the first book you've read in the series, I strongly encourage you to start at the beginning. All the threads start there and are simply being continued and twisted together at this stage as all the players and fingers in pies come to the fore.

I know people say it all the time when they find a series that they love, and I'm sure the author is writing as quickly as she can, but - Ms Chapman, please write faster!

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for the ARC to read and review. All opinions are strictly my own.
Profile Image for La Bibli de Morgane .
114 reviews
November 15, 2025
4⭐️/5

J’ai adoré ce tome !!! Je pourrais presque dire que c’est mon préféré jusqu’à présent 😍

Ici, l’enquête passe au second plan (ce qui m’a un peu empêchée de mettre 5 ⭐️) et n’arrive qu’à la moitié du livre.
Mais on en apprend davantage sur tous les protagonistes mystérieux (hello Samson ❤️) et, on ne va pas se mentir, c’est très appréciable !!

L’enquête est, une fois de plus, très bien ficelée et, point positif, il est impossible de deviner l’empoisonneur de chiens de Bruncliff !

Mention spéciale à Calimero, notre cher braque de Weimar, qui a droit à ses paragraphes : j’adore 😻
Profile Image for Mathilde.
758 reviews171 followers
July 9, 2019
Que dire mis à part que c'est toujours aussi bien ! Et pourtant, c'est le 4e volume.
Il évolue, je trouve, il prend en intensité et l'histoire de Samson commence à prendre beaucoup d'importance. Ma véritable peur est que l'auteure tourne trop longtemps autour du pot et que cela devienne lassant.
En attendant, je prends beaucoup de plaisir à lire cette série et je n'ai plus qu'à attendre le tome 5.
Profile Image for Marie-Louise.
329 reviews8 followers
October 22, 2022
Some of the pieces are finally falling into place; love it. Me being infuriated—and frustrated and (internally) screaming at the pages of my book—by most of the characters for not trusting Samson, especially Delilah not having any faith in him, however, certainly did dampen my enjoyment of this book substantially, but in the end I still came around to liking it (at least in hindsight) while it definitely accelerated my reading-pace as well.
Profile Image for Ramona.
151 reviews5 followers
February 17, 2020
Excellent fourth installment of the Dales Detective Series! I can't seem to get enough of Delilah, Samson and the whole Bruncliffe gang. This recaptured the magic of the first book for me. I like that Samson has been set up to be more honest with Delilah in the next book and that Clive Knowles will be getting a cleaner sent to his house (I'm excited that his house is going to get cleaned out but also, I'm pretty sure Ida's cousin is going to hit it off with Mr. Knowles.. Yep, calling that now!).

I am pretty sensitive to animal abuse in books but this was doable. I didn't see the ending coming! Which is always a plus :)
Profile Image for Saoirse.
1,536 reviews36 followers
April 21, 2021
Encore une très bonne enquête des Détectives du Yorkshire. L'histoire est un peu différente des tomes précédents, le duo est séparé une bonne partie du roman puis on les retrouve, avec Calimero. J'aimerais bien que les choses évoluent entre Delilah et Samson et en même temps c'est drôle de les voir se tourner autour.
L'enquête autour des empoisonnements était intéressante.
Profile Image for TheReadingNest.
418 reviews108 followers
December 7, 2023
Je mets une bonne note parce qu’objectivement c’est un bon livre mais j’ai pas du tout apprécié ma lecture.
Je supporte vraiment pas l’injustice et même dans la fiction ça me met mal d’en lire, c’est difficile d’apprécier ce roman alors que pendant la majorité du tome, Samson est traité de manière horrible par tout Bruncliff

En revanche je trouve les explications des crimes toujours un poil farfelues et un peu tirées par les cheveux, c’est dommage
76 reviews1 follower
July 14, 2023
Fast moving intriguing tale

A paced continuation of this storyline with multiple twists & turns. Many new characters introduced this time to enter into the mix of an already lengthy list. An enjoyable read.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 213 reviews

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