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Hunter and Tate #1
Blind Date
Nobody’s safe when a killer has you in their sights.
True crime podcaster Ella Tate is shaken to her core by the horrific assault and murder of Josie Wheatly, a teacher she has never met … because not only had Josie moved into Ella’s vacated apartment three months earlier, but her Facebook photos reveal a striking resemblance between the two women.
Within days, two people close to Ella are harmed, and she fears that she’s become the target of twisted revenge from her crime-reporting days. Reluctantly teaming up with her neighbour Tony, a hairdresser who loves the finer things in life, and Liam Hunter, the persistent detective assigned to the cases, Ella struggles to stay one step ahead before she becomes the target of the final kill.
True crime podcaster Ella Tate is shaken to her core by the horrific assault and murder of Josie Wheatly, a teacher she has never met … because not only had Josie moved into Ella’s vacated apartment three months earlier, but her Facebook photos reveal a striking resemblance between the two women.
Within days, two people close to Ella are harmed, and she fears that she’s become the target of twisted revenge from her crime-reporting days. Reluctantly teaming up with her neighbour Tony, a hairdresser who loves the finer things in life, and Liam Hunter, the persistent detective assigned to the cases, Ella struggles to stay one step ahead before she becomes the target of the final kill.
345 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 1, 2022
11 people are currently reading
156 people want to read
About the author
Brenda Chapman
40 books356 followersI'm an Ottawa author with 18 published novels in the mystery genre, both adult and YA. I am currently writing two adult mystery series: The Stonechild and Rouleau police procedurals from Dundurn include Cold Mourning (2014), which was shortlisted for an Arthur Ellis Award for crime novel of the year, Butterfly Kills, Tumbled Graves, Shallow End and Bleeding Darkness. Turning Secrets, 6th in the series, will be released spring 2019.
The Anna Sweet mysteries are novellas from Grass Roots Press for adult literacy or those wanting a quick read. My Sister's Keeper and No Trace were both shortlisted for an Arthur Ellis award and The Hard Fall and No Trace were shortlisted for the Golden Oak award.
Previous published fiction includes: the Jennifer Bannon mysteries for ages 10+, a full length adult murder mystery In Winter's Grip (Dundurn 2010), and a Rapid Reads mystery The Second Wife (Orca 2011), which was shortlisted for a Golden Oak award. Second Chances, a YA novel for ages 13+ was released by Dundurn in September 2012.
The Anna Sweet mysteries are novellas from Grass Roots Press for adult literacy or those wanting a quick read. My Sister's Keeper and No Trace were both shortlisted for an Arthur Ellis award and The Hard Fall and No Trace were shortlisted for the Golden Oak award.
Previous published fiction includes: the Jennifer Bannon mysteries for ages 10+, a full length adult murder mystery In Winter's Grip (Dundurn 2010), and a Rapid Reads mystery The Second Wife (Orca 2011), which was shortlisted for a Golden Oak award. Second Chances, a YA novel for ages 13+ was released by Dundurn in September 2012.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews
April 1, 2023
Ella Tate is trying to make it as a true crime podcaster after she is made redundant from her job as a crime reporter for an Ottawa newspaper. Josie Wheatly, a teacher she has never met but who had moved into Ella's former apartment, is attacked and raped in the apartment but then dies from what looks like suicide. Within days, Ella's brother is attacked and knifed and her good friend on the police force dies suspiciously. She teams up with Detective Liam Hunter and her flamboyant downstairs neighbour Tony to get to the bottom of these crimes.
This is the first book in a new series by one of my favourite Canadian authors and it's very well written with interesting and believable characters. You'd think with all the felonies mentioned above that the book would've been more exciting but I found it fairly slow and low key. I'm not sure why it took me so long to read it but I'd still recommend it and I look forward to reading the second book in the series which is being published on April 1st, 2023.
If you're at all familiar with the Ottawa area I think you'd enjoy this book even more! Thanks again to the London Public Library for the loan of this book.
3.5 Stars rounded up to 4 because the writing is top drawer!
This is the first book in a new series by one of my favourite Canadian authors and it's very well written with interesting and believable characters. You'd think with all the felonies mentioned above that the book would've been more exciting but I found it fairly slow and low key. I'm not sure why it took me so long to read it but I'd still recommend it and I look forward to reading the second book in the series which is being published on April 1st, 2023.
If you're at all familiar with the Ottawa area I think you'd enjoy this book even more! Thanks again to the London Public Library for the loan of this book.
3.5 Stars rounded up to 4 because the writing is top drawer!
April 5, 2023
The Stonechild and Roleau series is excellent,so I knew Chapman can write well,and good mysteries. This one,though...Boring, mostly.
July 17, 2022
Compelling page-turner
An amazing story that grabs you on the first page and doesn’t let go until the end. I look forward to reading the other books in this series. Ella Tate and Liam Hunter make a great crime fighting duo. And Tony was quite a surprise. A very satisfying read.
An amazing story that grabs you on the first page and doesn’t let go until the end. I look forward to reading the other books in this series. Ella Tate and Liam Hunter make a great crime fighting duo. And Tony was quite a surprise. A very satisfying read.
July 28, 2025
3.75!!! Solid book club pick. I actually really enjoyed this and the ending genuinely made me want to read the sequel! Plus - a main character who’s a mid-20s Carleton Journalism grad living in the Glebe? Relatable, sign me up.
February 3, 2024
Blind Date is an enjoyable and well-written murder mystery with several interesting and unexpected twists. The main character, Ella Tate,is a true crime podcaster who gets involved in the investigation of crimes.
Although I did enjoy Ella’s character and her very interesting backstory, I didn’t find her quite as compelling to read about as Kala Stonechild in Chapman’s Stonechild and Rouleau series. Still, this was well worth following up with the second book in the series which may well develop Ella’s character with even more ndepth.
The Ottawa setting is a big bonus that I really enjoyed.
Although I did enjoy Ella’s character and her very interesting backstory, I didn’t find her quite as compelling to read about as Kala Stonechild in Chapman’s Stonechild and Rouleau series. Still, this was well worth following up with the second book in the series which may well develop Ella’s character with even more ndepth.
The Ottawa setting is a big bonus that I really enjoyed.
Read
March 19, 2023A good psychological suspense with shadows lurking in every corner! Bound to keep you turning the pages. Lots of suspects everywhere.
August 7, 2023
I liked this book! It was well written and being from Ottawa I enjoyed the local references. While there were a few twists, I was a bit disappointed that I was able to guess the guilty party. Despite this it was an easy and interesting read.
May 11, 2022
For the past two decades Ottawa writer Brenda Chapman has earned legions of avid followers for her wide-ranging and deftly-told crime dramas. After a series of standalones she completed eight Anna Sweet mysteries before launching her Stonechild and Rouleau tales, penning seven stories about a homicide sergeant and a native-born (and female) detective constable, set variously in Ottawa and Kingston, Ontario. The series has earned her world-wide acclaim, and has attracted interest, not only in Canada, but also in the UK and the English-speaking world in general.
Always motivated to extend her range, Chapman has recently launched a third series, this time featuring an amateur sleuth named Ella Tate and her police-detective sidekick, Liam Hunter.
The first in the series, Blind Date, finds Ella attempting to mark out a new career for herself. A former journalist on the crime beat for an Ottawa newspaper, when she’s made redundant she goes online with a true crime podcast, and is rapidly building a following when her world goes off the rails. A young woman has been found assaulted. After leaving the hospital prematurely she is later found in her apartment, hanged.
But there are other disturbing aspects to her death. The woman had recently moved into Ella’s former apartment, looked very similar to her, and even appropriated her name for online dating. The implications for Ella’s own life are impossible to miss. Is Ella’s own life in danger? When two other people close to her, including her brother Danny, become the victims of violent crime, the answer seems all too clear.
Ella strives to connect the dots, but is frustrated at every turn. Then she begins to get ominous messages, some on her podcast, “Danny got what he deserved.” And then, more ominously on her cell phone:, “You’re next, bitch.” Does the solution lie in the podcasts she’s aired, exposing peoples’ wrongdoing? Or does the answer lie closer to home? Set largely in the Glebe area of Ottawa, the city has seldom looked so menacing.
Never at a loss to weave a spellbinding story, Chapman has made the transition from portraying police detectives to portraying an amateur sleuth seamlessly. Ella Tate is all too believable as a committed (if often naïve) young woman in search of the truth. If she is sometimes headstrong, it is a forgiveable, even beguiling, trait. The other characters, including a mentoring police detective, his younger partner, a gay neighbour who’s been jilted by his lover, and an Irish gym owner and close friend also at risk from persons unknown, are equally fully-fleshed and engaging. Chapman also draws on her considerable knowledge of Ottawa and its environs. The result is a credible, well-crafted story that will keep readers turning the page and when finished, thirsting for more. Highly recommended.
_______
Jim Napier is a novelist and a reviewer with over six hundred published reviews
Always motivated to extend her range, Chapman has recently launched a third series, this time featuring an amateur sleuth named Ella Tate and her police-detective sidekick, Liam Hunter.
The first in the series, Blind Date, finds Ella attempting to mark out a new career for herself. A former journalist on the crime beat for an Ottawa newspaper, when she’s made redundant she goes online with a true crime podcast, and is rapidly building a following when her world goes off the rails. A young woman has been found assaulted. After leaving the hospital prematurely she is later found in her apartment, hanged.
But there are other disturbing aspects to her death. The woman had recently moved into Ella’s former apartment, looked very similar to her, and even appropriated her name for online dating. The implications for Ella’s own life are impossible to miss. Is Ella’s own life in danger? When two other people close to her, including her brother Danny, become the victims of violent crime, the answer seems all too clear.
Ella strives to connect the dots, but is frustrated at every turn. Then she begins to get ominous messages, some on her podcast, “Danny got what he deserved.” And then, more ominously on her cell phone:, “You’re next, bitch.” Does the solution lie in the podcasts she’s aired, exposing peoples’ wrongdoing? Or does the answer lie closer to home? Set largely in the Glebe area of Ottawa, the city has seldom looked so menacing.
Never at a loss to weave a spellbinding story, Chapman has made the transition from portraying police detectives to portraying an amateur sleuth seamlessly. Ella Tate is all too believable as a committed (if often naïve) young woman in search of the truth. If she is sometimes headstrong, it is a forgiveable, even beguiling, trait. The other characters, including a mentoring police detective, his younger partner, a gay neighbour who’s been jilted by his lover, and an Irish gym owner and close friend also at risk from persons unknown, are equally fully-fleshed and engaging. Chapman also draws on her considerable knowledge of Ottawa and its environs. The result is a credible, well-crafted story that will keep readers turning the page and when finished, thirsting for more. Highly recommended.
_______
Jim Napier is a novelist and a reviewer with over six hundred published reviews
September 8, 2022
A terrific first book in a new series by Ottawa writer Brenda Chapman. She has created a believable ensemble of characters, headlined by crime-reporter-cum-podcaster Ella Tate and police officer Liam Hunter : the two whose names define the series. But several other memorable characters round out the cast, including Finn, Ella’s friend since childhood who now runs a gym, and Tony, her downstairs neighbour and self-appointed guardian/sidekick.
The story kicks off with a brutal rape and murder that Ella starts investigating for her podcast. But then two other shocking murders happen — no spoilers, but I promise you’ll grieve them both — and Ella herself may be targeted.
The story had me on the edge of my seat, as the tension builds. And just when you think it’s over, there’s a second climax and a second ending.
Chapman’s writing experience and skill are evident. Her plotting is faultless, her characters are individuals with their own quirks, and her descriptions of scenes and routes in Ottawa are totally fresh and clear.
This promises to be a wonderful series, and I can’t wait to find out what happens next for Ella and crew.
The story kicks off with a brutal rape and murder that Ella starts investigating for her podcast. But then two other shocking murders happen — no spoilers, but I promise you’ll grieve them both — and Ella herself may be targeted.
The story had me on the edge of my seat, as the tension builds. And just when you think it’s over, there’s a second climax and a second ending.
Chapman’s writing experience and skill are evident. Her plotting is faultless, her characters are individuals with their own quirks, and her descriptions of scenes and routes in Ottawa are totally fresh and clear.
This promises to be a wonderful series, and I can’t wait to find out what happens next for Ella and crew.
June 24, 2023
Ella recently got laid off from her job as a newspaper reporter and has started a crime podcast. She and her live-in boyfriend recently broke up, taking all of his furniture with him. She's barely scraping by now. She doesn't have many people close to her except her younger brother, Danny, who is a busker addicted to drugs and living on the streets, Finn, her childhood friend, and O'Brien, a police officer she has known for about ten years.
Ella starts to investigate the rape and suicide of a teacher named Josie, who had recently moved into Ella's old apartment. Ella realizes how similar they are in appearance and wonders if she was the intended victim. As she starts digging, she receives threats and terrible things start happening to people around her.
This is the first of two in the Hunter and Tate series (I'd read the second one in March) and I liked it ... there are lots of possibilities about who could have done everything. It's written in third person perspective in various voices depending on where the action was. I like the fact that it is set in Ottawa, ON, and they didn't hide it. As a head's up, there is swearing and violence.
Blog review post: http://www.teenaintoronto.com/2023/06...
Ella starts to investigate the rape and suicide of a teacher named Josie, who had recently moved into Ella's old apartment. Ella realizes how similar they are in appearance and wonders if she was the intended victim. As she starts digging, she receives threats and terrible things start happening to people around her.
This is the first of two in the Hunter and Tate series (I'd read the second one in March) and I liked it ... there are lots of possibilities about who could have done everything. It's written in third person perspective in various voices depending on where the action was. I like the fact that it is set in Ottawa, ON, and they didn't hide it. As a head's up, there is swearing and violence.
Blog review post: http://www.teenaintoronto.com/2023/06...
July 4, 2022
In this exceptional start to a new series, Chapman introduces a number of characters. While the series is titled Hunter and Tate, and both Ella Tate, a feisty crime blogger/podcaster, and police detective Liam Hunter, pull their weight in the story and then some, it's Ella's friend, Tony, a stylist to the stars with a penchant for the finer things in life, who lights up every scene he's in. We also come to know and love her brother Danny, who's trying to get clean while living on the street, and her best friend, Finn, who owns the gym Ella works out at when she's working out frustrations.
Chapman's prose is clean and clutter-free, the action well-paced, and the twists and turns keep coming from beginning to end. If you've never read Chapman's previous series, Stonechild and Rouleau, this is a fine place to get to know her style. If you have read them and were wondering...trust me, you won't be disappointed. Already looking forward to book #2.
Chapman's prose is clean and clutter-free, the action well-paced, and the twists and turns keep coming from beginning to end. If you've never read Chapman's previous series, Stonechild and Rouleau, this is a fine place to get to know her style. If you have read them and were wondering...trust me, you won't be disappointed. Already looking forward to book #2.
Read
December 10, 2025I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I really liked the characters so I am happy there are more books in the series.
This story takes place in my old neighbourhood in Ottawa and Ella bikes the routes I used to walk. This added more to the story; the fact that I could envision exactly where she was, as if I were following her movements on google street maps.
I caught a sentence that made me pause for a moment: Ella opened her computer. From what I could discern, she didn’t have a laptop to open. This phrase is common where I live, in the world of Francophones who open and close the lights, who open and close computers. A direct translation of French to English. This simple sentence added another layer of ‘home’ for me.
Despite being a murder mystery, it was chock full of new beginnings for various characters. Some had positive outcomes and others, not - and some remain to be seen. I am looking forward to reading more.
This story takes place in my old neighbourhood in Ottawa and Ella bikes the routes I used to walk. This added more to the story; the fact that I could envision exactly where she was, as if I were following her movements on google street maps.
I caught a sentence that made me pause for a moment: Ella opened her computer. From what I could discern, she didn’t have a laptop to open. This phrase is common where I live, in the world of Francophones who open and close the lights, who open and close computers. A direct translation of French to English. This simple sentence added another layer of ‘home’ for me.
Despite being a murder mystery, it was chock full of new beginnings for various characters. Some had positive outcomes and others, not - and some remain to be seen. I am looking forward to reading more.
December 8, 2023
I read and very much enjoyed Chapman's Stonechild and Rouleau series, so I was looking forward to starting this new series. I love that the story takes place in Canada's capital, Ottawa, where I lived for a few years. It's great to be able to recognize places I know.
The Hunter and Tate series is quite different from the Stonechild and Rouleau, which is nice. Tate is a journalist and Hunter is a detective. Tate's neighbour Tony is a quirky character that adds a bit of spice to the story. I only wish the novel had a faster pace. It lacked the "zip" that makes me want to keep reading late into the night. I hope Book 2 is more "grippy."
The Hunter and Tate series is quite different from the Stonechild and Rouleau, which is nice. Tate is a journalist and Hunter is a detective. Tate's neighbour Tony is a quirky character that adds a bit of spice to the story. I only wish the novel had a faster pace. It lacked the "zip" that makes me want to keep reading late into the night. I hope Book 2 is more "grippy."
June 2, 2024
A pretty good mystery with strong characters and a believable plot, and solid writing. Ella Tatte lost her job covering the crime beat at the local newspaper. Resiliant, she starts a true crime blog about the woman who moved into her apartment and was raped, then apparently in response, hung herself days later. Things get complicated when two more people are murdered, with a much closer relationship to Ella and Ella herself may be the next target. She has a circle if eccentric but effective close friends as well as a cop, Liam Hunter, who has been asked to watch out for her by a long time cop friend. Lots of clues, lots of red herrings, lots of drama. Fun to read.
Want to read
May 21, 2022Veteran novelist Chapman has fans throughout the English-speaking world for her Anna Sweet and Stonechild and Rouleau mysteries, and now she’s launching a third series. The first instalment of the Hunter and Tate series introduces us to a laid-off newspaper crime reporter named Ella Tate and her detective friend Liam Hunter. Tate is trying to build a second career as a true-crime podcaster, but when people around her start dying, she realizes she might be in danger, too. Set in the Glebe, it’s a well-crafted page-turner that explores the evil lurking in the shadows of the nation’s capital.
September 11, 2025
A well read audio book.
I liked the story line of the book - now freelance after being let go from her position as a crime reporter on a paper, Ella now does podcasts about true crime. She is interested in unsolved murders. This one is close to home as a murdered woman is found in an apartment she used to rent.
As other murders involve people close to her, Ella becomes concerned for the safety of the few people she knows as well as herself.
The detective on the case, Liam Hunter, struggles to keep Ella safe while trying to solve the case.
I liked the story line of the book - now freelance after being let go from her position as a crime reporter on a paper, Ella now does podcasts about true crime. She is interested in unsolved murders. This one is close to home as a murdered woman is found in an apartment she used to rent.
As other murders involve people close to her, Ella becomes concerned for the safety of the few people she knows as well as herself.
The detective on the case, Liam Hunter, struggles to keep Ella safe while trying to solve the case.
September 26, 2025
I'm very happy to read Canadian authors especially from Ottawa where I live close by! The story is set in Ottawa and that was fun! Blind date is the first novel in the Tate and Hunter series and its a great start. Ella Tate is a journalist turned podcaster after she looses her job. When Josie, a girl living in her old apartment is raped, Ella is curious. She sets out to find answers but people around her are being hurt and killed and it's obvious this has to do with her. Liam Hunter is a police detective on the case. I loved the audiobook because Liam is Irish and it adds to the experience!
June 21, 2022
Mystery
Know the author, and have read her other books.
A new series set in Ottawa, in my area of town, by the Civic. Ella Tate is a true crime podcaster, and is set to interview a rape victim, but is too late, the victim died, under suspicious circumstances. There are connections to her personally, that Ella takes as coincidence, but after her brother Danny is seriously injured, even the police start to wonder.
Good twist ending.
Know the author, and have read her other books.
A new series set in Ottawa, in my area of town, by the Civic. Ella Tate is a true crime podcaster, and is set to interview a rape victim, but is too late, the victim died, under suspicious circumstances. There are connections to her personally, that Ella takes as coincidence, but after her brother Danny is seriously injured, even the police start to wonder.
Good twist ending.
September 7, 2022
I have read the Stonechild and Rouleau series by the same author; this is somewhat different. The main character is a true crime podcaster but the events around this particular crime soon get personal. It took me a bit longer to get into this book but I wound up enjoying it. The author uses local Ottawa landmarks in this book which helped keep it interesting for me. Looking forward to other books in this series.
Read
May 3, 2022WOW!! A good read. Mary Jane Maffini was correct prepare for an all nighter. All the pieces fell in place at the end but left you knowing there is more to come. Great info for the first in a series leaving you waiting for more. Way to go Brenda Chapman!!!! Picked up from library at noon on April 29th read prologue standing in line at bank ,,,,,,finished May 3rd by noon.
May 15, 2022
Great new series by a gifted Canadian author that more people should be reading.
Interesting, quirky but flawed characters is just what makes a Detective series pure joy to devour. Plus, there's plenty of gritty crimes to solve.
A must read for those seeking a new Crime, detective series. A well deserved 4 stars
Interesting, quirky but flawed characters is just what makes a Detective series pure joy to devour. Plus, there's plenty of gritty crimes to solve.
A must read for those seeking a new Crime, detective series. A well deserved 4 stars
June 8, 2022
This book definitely kept me guessing! I listened to it as an audiobook and loved the narrator's reading. The characters are relatable and delivered with an incredible range of voices. The story moves at a natural pace with new information revealed right when you think you have it pegged making you question everything.
March 30, 2023
Brenda Chapman is one of my favourite authors. Her character become friends. ‘Blind Date’ introduces us to Ella Tate, an intrepid ‘seeker of truth’ formerly as a newspaper reported and now a crime blogger. We meet those close to her and feel all her emotions when violent events happen. An emotional roller coaster ride but absolutely the best.
April 1, 2023
After a bit of a slow start this was a great read. This is my first read by Ottawa writer Brenda Chapman. This is a brand new series about Crime reporter/podcaster Ella Tate and police detective Liam Hunter, and I enjoyed the interaction and chemistry they have. Looking forward to reading the next book.
March 6, 2022
A great mystery! It’s full of real characters that you care for, lots of suspense and surprises! This is a page turner from the beginning. I love this author and this book promises to be the first of a great new series. I can’t wait for the next book.
June 29, 2022
Good first book in new series!
I like Chapman's writing. I was sad she wrapped up her previous series, but this is off to a good start. Her characters are always interesting, and a little off-beat. Looking forward to book 2.
I like Chapman's writing. I was sad she wrapped up her previous series, but this is off to a good start. Her characters are always interesting, and a little off-beat. Looking forward to book 2.
October 19, 2022
This was a definite page turner, that kept me reading until the very end. I would be interested in reading future books and seeing the friendships develope with Tony, the neighbor, and Liam, the dectective.
January 30, 2023
Excellent book, can’t wait for #2 in this series. Love the the author , this book was a page turner right from the start. Main character is Ella Tate who is a true crime podcaster and Liam Hunter the detective are a great duo
April 17, 2023
I decided to read this book because the story’s location is my hometown! It’s quite thrilling to read about neighbourhoods I know all too well. The story was great, well written, and kept my attention throughout.
April 30, 2023
I looooved this book! It was extremely well written and I loved that the setting was in Ottawa. This book made me realize I don't read enough books set in my beautiful country of Canada! Also this is my first Brenda Chapman novel but definitely not my last! I can't wait to discover them all!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews