Date with Evil

The Dales Detective #8

by Julia Chapman

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?

Evil is stalking the streets of Bruncliffe . . .

From stolen washing to inheritance investigations, Bruncliffe’s Dales Detective Agency is being inundated with cases.

But with Samson O’Brien still in London helping the Met Police clear his name, and the newly appointed member of the investigations team, Ida Capstick, distracted by her brother George’s insistence that their farm is haunted, Delilah Metcalfe is struggling to meet the mounting demands for the agency’s services.

So when the mother of a local estate agent arrives at the offices insisting her son is missing, Delilah is relieved to have Samson return to help.

Little do the detective duo know that several of their cases are about to collide, as what appears to be a simple matter of identifying the whereabouts of the missing man becomes something far more sinister.

Something that will finally expose the network of evil which has been infiltrating the Dales town over the past decade, and in doing so place Delilah in the utmost danger.

Wonderfully engaging, Julia Chapman’s latest Dales mystery is perfect for fans of Richard Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club series .

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Crime, Fiction, Audiobook, Detective, British Literature

464 pages, Paperback

Published August 1, 2023

About the author

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

Reviews

[Sarah | The Marsies · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.75⭐️

Wowww les émotions pendant ce tome ! J'ai vécu le dernier quart SOUS TENSION ! J'étais totalement scotchée à mon audio. Je suis ravie de toutes les avancées, des intrigues de fond qui se démêlent enfin et en plus avec des résolutions plausibles.

J'aime d'amour les personnages, que ce soit Samson et Delilah qui font vibrer mon coeur ou tous les perso secondaires qui sont follement attachants. Je n'ai qu'une envie aller faire un road trip dans le Yorkshire et poser mes valises à Bruncliffe.

Heureusement qu'il y a une suite sinon j'aurais eu un goût de trop peu tellement j'aime cette saga, et la fin m'aurait paru expéditive en ce qui concerne les relations entre les personnages. Je me demande dans quoi va nous entrainer l'autrice vu que toutes les intrigues sont résolues. J'espère qu'elle ne fera pas du recyclé et gardera la fraicheur caractéristique de sa saga !

[Chicky Poo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Décidément, je suis toujours emportée par ma lecture lorsque je mets les pieds à Bruncliffe ! J'ai retrouvé avec plaisir des personnages que j'aime énormément, la tension palpable, l'humour toujours présent, les émotions démultipliées... Bref, encore une belle réussie !

[Livresse de Lola · Rating 5 out of 5]

4,5/5

Encore un excellent tome qui a su m'embarquer dès les premiers chapitres.

J'ai énormément aimé le fait que cet espèce de puzzle du début et toutes ces enquêtes disparates se rejoignent enfin pour qu'on aboutisse à la résolution de la dernière GROSSE enquête qu'il nous restait à traiter. Le rythme est effréné et on n'a vraiment pas le temps de s'ennuyer.

Y'a pas à dire, au-delà des personnages principaux, les personnages secondaires font TOUT et je peux MOURRRRIIIIIRRRRRR pour ❤️ Ida Capstick ❤️. Les personnages de Gregor et Pavel m'ont aussi beaucoup touchée.

Je ne sais pas trop après cette conclusion ce qui peut arriver par la suite car on aurait très bien pu s'arrêter là en vrai mais j'ai pas de doute sur le fait que Julia Chapman va encore faire une prouesse et nous embarquer dans son petit monde.

[Annie (is so far behind 😬) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably my favourite and most eagerly anticipated cosy series. The author has brought to life the North Yorkshire landscape and populated it with wonderful characters. This one is slightly darker than the previous seven books, but ties up neatly with the baddie *finally* getting caught.

Developments in Samson and Delilah's relationship, as well as several others, are front and centre, but all while tying together a few seemingly unrelated jobs that have come into the Dales Detective Agency. The new, disparate, slapdash crew, which includes Ida Capstick, struggles to get organised and on top of things while Samson has returned to London for a period of time.

All the previously laid threads meet here and many are neatly tied up, although there's one more book (at least), so obviously not all of them. Am very much looking forward to No 9!

Highly recommended, although this is definitely a series you need to start from the beginning in order to be able to follow the characters and story arcs.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for the ARC to read and review. All opinions are strictly my own.

[Sarah Sarbacane · Rating 5 out of 5]

5⭐️
Clap de fin pour cette saga incroyable 🫶🏼🥹
J’ai eu les larmes aux yeux ce matin en écoutant ! Vraiment je les aime trop ! Je suis si triste de les quitter mais si heureuse de les avoir rencontrés !
Maintenant j’ai plus qu’à trouver une saga de cosy mystery aussi géniale que celle-là !

Si vous n’avez pas encore sauté le pas mais que ce genre vous intéresse fonceeeeeez 🎉🎉

[TheReadingNest · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.75 ⭐️

Le tome le plu abouti de la saga, et à mon sens le meilleur aussi ! (Même si ce n’est pas mon préféré)

Incroyable ce tome !! On réalise que tous les livres de la série mènent à celui-ci, depuis le tome 2 c’est fou tous les indices que l’autrice avaient dissimulés !

J’ai vraiment trop trop aimé ce livre, vraiment c’était trop bien !

Le seul petit hic pour moi c’est la fin et la manière dont la relation entre Delilah et Samson se profile sur le prochain tome. Vraiment jpp de ces deux là qui sont pas capables de se mettre en couple normalement 😩

[Bron S · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everything came to a head in this book, but some things are still up in the air. Wonderful characters and good storyline. Can't wait for the next one

[Vivienne · Rating 3 out of 5]

My thanks to Pan Macmillan Pan for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘Date with Evil’ by Julia Chapman.

This is Book 8 in the highly popular Dales Detective series of mysteries.

I designated it as a semi-cosy as it has darker themes than I expect from the usual gentle cosy. As this was my first experience of this series I have no idea if they are all as dark.

It opens with Delilah Metcalfe of Bruncliffe’s Dales Detective Agency struggling to meet the mounting demands for the agency’s services. Ida Capstick, the newly appointed member of the investigations team, is distracted by her brother George’s belief that their farm is haunted.

Then the mother of a local estate agent arrives at the offices insisting that her son is missing. Delilah, along with Samson O’Brien, begin to investigate what appears to be a straightforward case little realising that several of their cases are about to collide and enter more sinister territory. No further details to avoid spoilers.

Usually I am confident about just jumping into an ongoing mystery series as authors will provide background for readers new to the series. However, in this case I found myself fairly lost given what was clearly extensive character backstories and plot lines that appear to have been carried over from previous books.

However, as I kept reading I did get more into the swing of the current story and found it a compelling read.

Still, I feel that this is a series that I would advise is best to read from the beginning, which is something that I hope to do in the upcoming months.

In terms of ratings, I can imagine that those readers invested in the goings on in Bruncliffe and the Dales Detective Agency it’s a clear winner but it proved a bit of a struggle for me without experience of the earlier books.

[Dawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

ROUND OF APPLAUSE! STANDING OVATION! JULIA YOU'VE DONE IT AGAIN!

[Sarah Nealy · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

[Helene Harrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a way to bring together all of the strands of the previous books including Samson’s struggles with the law and the events of the previous book, along with what seemingly seems to be a lot of unconnected minor cases. It’s cleverly done, and I couldn’t put it down at all for the last quarter after a slightly slow start. I started listening to it in audiobook format and then switched to eBook.

Samson and Delilah are a real pair, and I love the way they work together. But this is a darker story than the early ones in the series – this one and the previous one highlight a much darker part of rural life, which is often considered to be found more in the city. As the story moved on, I became much more engaged in it. Grigore and Pavel were central to the story but without having the means to really explain what was going on and what they knew.

The characters are all really engaging, and I loved seeing more of Ida and George Capstick, along with the other residents of Bruncliffe. Samson and Delilah see developments in their relationship which has been coming over the previous seven books. It’s great to see it finally coming to fruition though I can see bumps in the road will still come in future books as well in their relationship.

I loved how all of the threads came together in this book to explain all of the strange things that have happened previously in Bruncliffe, and reveal who the villain of the events was, with real danger facing several characters once again. You really do need to read the previous books in the series in order to bring together everything happening in this story but believe me, it’s well worth it as the entire series is mysterious and enjoyable!

[Shopgirl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Retourner à Bruncliff, c’est retrouver de vieux amis et la chaleur de ce petit village anglais mais pas seulement. Sur la vallée, planent de sombres secrets et malversations qui se suivent de tomes en tomes et qui apportent malheureusement une forme de répétition aux deux derniers tomes.
S’il est plaisant de retrouver tous les personnages, même l’intrigue a un goût de déjà-vu avec le précédent roman malgré les ajouts.
C’est un peu dommage mais j’espère qu’une suite amène un peu de fraîcheur et permette de retrouver le charme des premières intrigues.

[Iris · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Dales Detective series is always a joy. It feels like a warm bath and coming home, but also quite a dark, intriguing mystery that seamlessly blends in cases like missing buckets and stoles laundry with some serious harrowing storylines. And all that with a great ensemble cast and amazing foreshadowing and plotting across books. I kind of want to start Date with Death again just to see if I can spot all the hints at the main plot that really shines in this latest book :)

Can't wait for the next one!

[LeslecturesdeMylene · Rating 5 out of 5]

17/20 - https://www.leslecturesdemylene.com/2...

[Christelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

J'adore cette série et ces personnages, j'attend toujours les nouveaux tomes avec impatience. J'ai adoré celui ci.

[Carine · Rating 5 out of 5]

J'attends toujours avec impatience la publication du prochain tome de cette série. Et encore une fois, je n'ai pas été déçue. Même si l'enquête a fait un très grand bond en avant, j'espère qu'il y aura une suite.

[Annie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vraiment génial! J'attends le 9ème tome avec impatience...

[Audrey DE · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mon tome préféré où tout le village se retrouve impliqué

[Quentin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Toujours aussi agréable à lire. Franchement, je ne suis jamais déçu. J’apprécie cet univers, les personnages, l’ambiance. Et le fil conducteur est toujours au top.

[Joana Bookneeders · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

Read below for a non-spoiler review of the whole series!


Took me a while to read this one, but I finally finished the series!

I’m so happy I got into these cozy mysteries, they are delightful and the character development is spot on! They get better with each book and we get to see more and more characters that add a lot to the story – old people, a rich guy, questionable characters, all together shady characters, a fun as hell cleaner/maid, and so much more!

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.

But in each book we get a glimpse to the end game, so if you are going to start this series I recommend book one!

Overall I think this is totally worth it, it has all the cozy vibes one could want, characters that are fun and with depth, a dog that is the most lovable thing, a slight romantic touch and a lot of mystery. Who knew a small town could harbor so much!

The whole series is a solid 4 stars. I just recently got into cozy mysteries so I don’t know much about it but I personally loved this!

[KJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Would love to live in Bruncliffe! Or failing that, visit.

[Lolaetsaplume · Rating 5 out of 5]

Une fin en feu d’artifice et qu’on attendait depuis le premier tome.
Jamais déçue avec Julia Chapman.

[Kriste · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has been my favorite so far! I loved the resolution of a main story line throughout this series, and the heavy topic. Well told! Oh and a hug to Tolpuddle!

[Zarah Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

An entertaining series with great plots, with subplots that follow through the books. I became really attached to the characters. They're very real and funny at times.

[Janette · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great read and is definitely cosy crime with a very hard centre. All of the elements of a standard cosy crime novel are present in this latest instalment of the Dales Detective. We have a close knit community with a colourful cast of supporting characters who stay just the right side of stereotypes, there is the local coffee shop where gossip is exchanged and the amateur detective who is struggling to keep her agency going. However, although the crimes initially seem minor, we soon find that something very serious is going on in the Dales and the book has some very dark scenes.

I love the way that the author weaves all of the different strands together to create a multi-layered mystery that covers some very serious issues. Delilah and Samson are both likeable protagonists and I enjoyed the inclusion of Nina and Delilah’s nephew Nathan in the detective agency. My favourite character is still Ida though. She initially seems a bit of a caricature but rapidly becomes a character that you care about. The combat trousers are a great touch.

This is the eighth book in the Dales Detective series and follows almost directly on after the events of the previous book. I think that it would be quite difficult to enjoy this one without having read the previous books in the series.
Thank you to Net Galley and the publishers, Pan Macmillan, for my ARC.

[Lecturedudimanche · Rating 5 out of 5]

Si on retrouve un rythme habituel pour ce huitième tome, je l’ai tout autant dévoré que le précédent. Ici aussi, la tension est au rendez-vous, et de nombreux mystères ne demandent qu’à être résolus.

Même si la série n’est pas terminée, je dois dire que j’aime énormément la façon dont l’autrice mène ses fils rouges tout le long des tomes.

En bref, je ne peux que vous recommander cette série cosy mystery que j’affectionne beaucoup. Il reste donc deux tomes, et je sais déjà que je vais avoir du mal à dire au revoir à ce village anglais et ses personnages si attachants.

[Jane Sandell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Date With Evil is by far and away Julia Chapman's best book in her Dales series as far as I am concerned. There's pace and action and plot strands coming together and finally tying up everything from the previous seven books. It's full of life and bounce and characters coming into their own. Gone is the irritating stand-off between Samson and Delilah. Banished too is the over-dependence on lack of communication as a plot device. More like this please.

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mlle Alice, pouvez-vous nous raconter votre rencontre avec Rendez-Vous avec le Diable ?
"Qu'est-ce que je l'ai attendu ce dénouement, que les problèmes qui gangrènent Bruncliffe arrivent enfin à leur terme ! Je n'allais donc pas attendre une minute de plus pour m'y plonger."

Dites-nous en un peu plus sur son histoire...
"Madame Lister est formelle, Stuart a disparu. Bien que Samson et Delilah n'y croient pas vraiment, ils acceptent d'enquêter et, de fil en aiguille, vont découvrir que tout n'est pas très net dans cette histoire..."

Mais que s'est-il exactement passé entre vous ?
"J'ai trouvé le début un petit peu long. De toutes façons, de manière générale, c'est vraiment un reproche que l'on peut faire à cette série. Des longueurs, du remplissage et des pages et des pages qui ne servent qu'à entretenir un suspense sans fin. Heureusement, tout le reste rattrape largement ce défaut. Et ici, une fois que les choses ont démarrées, on ne peut plus lâcher le roman. Il faut dire que l'on aime tellement cette ville, cette ambiance et tous ces habitants. Ils sont drôles, touchants, courageux. Plusieurs scènes ont mis à rude épreuve mon petit coeur tendre. Et j'ai beaucoup aimé l'intrigue avec les jeunes roumains, une nouvelle occasion de mettre en avant toutes les qualités d'Ida, mon personnage préféré de tous, et d'élargir un peu l'horizon de cette petite ville du Yorkshire."

Et comment cela s'est-il fini ?
"La communauté soudée, qui s'entraide, ça fonctionne toujours. Alors, bien sûr, j'ai vraiment beaucoup aimé la fin, ce dénouement en fanfare où chacun à son rôle à jouer. En revanche, les toutes dernières pages, c'est une autre histoire. J'ai trouvé la conclusion, en ce qui concerne Samson, idiote, il n'y a pas d'autre mot, avec l'impression une fois encore que l'auteur se ménageait les éléments nécessaires à une suite au détriment du patient, très patient lecteur et ça, franchement, ça m'agace. Il n'y a rien que j'admire plus qu'un écrivain qui sache maintenir l'intérêt de son auditoire sans se sentir obligé de prendre en otage des éléments de l'intrigue !"


http://booksaremywonderland.hautetfor...

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hooray!!! Not only is one of my most anticipated books in my grasp, but it didn't disappoint, love this series even more for having this book in it!

I was so nervous and excited to pick up this book, the village of Bruncliffe with it's overly familiar residents, inter-related families, cake, tea...and murder, has become a go to for me for reading slump rescue recommendations, reading clubs, and just getting out of the doldrums in general, and this was to be a culmination of so many different story threads, and Julia Chapman did it!!!

Great pace, great finish to so many stories, this feels like it could be a very satisfying end to my time in Bruncliffe with Samson and Delilah, but I don't want it to be, and right there is a mark of the success of this 8th instalment. I can't really comment too much on the plot because it ties up so many loose ends, and a fair amount of motive and villain identity is known before this book even starts
, the mystery here is how is it all going to be resolved. The stakes are high, the danger greater than ever as the villain of the piece sees their plans fast unravelling, but will the Dales Detective Agency succeed in discovering the perpetrator, and will Bruncliffe be left unscathed, or will the village be scarred forever by the fallout of this last(?) investigation?

I wouldn't recommend anyone to read this book without reading the others first, relationships and storylines all converge in 'Date with Evil', but if that's too much of a reading commitment, I would at least start with the first book to get to know the characters, then read one or two before this one, if by that point you feel you can bear the spoilers.

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.

I'm also so glad the publishers have stuck with Yorkshire's own Emily Sutton as the cover artist, her style is a perfect fit for these stories, whimsical, cosy, and full of love for the dales, great choice!

[Lola · Rating 5 out of 5]

Je ne le dirais plus, cette saga est une de mes préférées dans le genre cosy mystery, voire ma préférée. Et ce tome détrône le tome 7 dans mes favoris de la saga. Je ne vais pas refaire toute l'histoire de la saga, je l'aime d'amour, je crois que vous l'avez compris... Mais vous ne savez certainement pas à quel point ce tome était palpitant.

Dans le tome précédent, c'est l'histoire de Samson avec Londres qui est démantelée. Le tout se passe sur une journée et c'est haletant, prenant vibrant. Dans celui-ci, c'est l'enquête à Bruncliffe qui est élucidée. ET BORDEL DE M**RDE ! J'attendais ce tome avec tant d'impatience, j'attendais le dénouement de cette enquête-ci parce qu'elle traine beaucoup, qu'elle est présente dans chaque tome, parce que le lecteur SAIT qui est l'ordure dans l'histoire.

Et alors, imaginez ma tension quand ils tournent autour du pot et que toutes les enquêtent pointent sur une seule personne mais que vous ne pouvez pas les aider, qu'ils doivent se débrouiller tout seul. Ce que j'adore, c'est voir le coupable chercher un moyen pour s'en sortir, mais qui sent également que l'étaux se resserre et qu'il est carrément dans la bouse en fait.

Heureusement, encore une fois, que tout Bruncliffe est soudé que tous les habitants s'entraident pour aider Samson et Delilah. Et dire que toute cette histoire démarre avec une mère qui vient voir Samson car elle a peur que son fil ait disparu vu qu'il n'a pas mis "bisous" dans sa lettre. Je suis fan de cette saga pour ça aussi, c'est toujours un tout petit détail, une broutille et ça part dans des proportions énooooooooormes !

J'ai totalement hâte de lire le tome 9 mais j'ai pas envie non plus parce que ça veut dire que j'arrive vers la fin de cette saga que j'aime d'amour...