Date with Death cover art

Date with Death

Dales Detective Agency, Book 1

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Date with Death

By: Julia Chapman
Narrated by: Elizabeth Bower
Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

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.

Samson O'Brien has been dismissed from the police force, and returns to his hometown of Bruncliffe in the Yorkshire Dales to set up the Dales Detective Agency. However, the villagers aren't that welcoming to a man they see as trouble.

Delilah Metcalfe is struggling to keep her business, the Dales Dating Agency, afloat as well as trying to control her wayward Weimaraner dog, Tolpuddle, when Samson's first case – a supposed suicide – takes an unexpected turn, and a trail of deaths lead back to the door of Delilah's agency.

With suspicion hanging over someone they both care for, the two feuding neighbours soon realize that they need to work together to solve the mystery of the dating deaths. But working together is easier said than done . . .

Full of wit, warmth and characters you'll care about, continue the murder mystery series with Date with Malice.

©2016 Julia Chapman (P)2016 Pan Macmillan Publishers Ltd. Cosy Detective Mystery Fiction Village Suspense

Listeners also enjoyed...

 The Cherrywood Murders cover art
The Bookshop Murder cover art
The Charity Shop Detective Agency cover art
Death at the Auction cover art
Mystery on Hidden Lane: An Utterly Gripping Cozy Mystery Novel cover art
An English Garden Murder cover art
The Cornish Wedding Murder cover art
The Village Hall Vendetta cover art
The Bingo Hall Detectives cover art
Losers Club cover art
Murder at the Dolphin Hotel: A Gripping Cozy Historical Mystery cover art
Murder at the House on the Hill cover art
Crimson Shore cover art
The Kensington Kidnap cover art
A Murder of Crows cover art
Murder in Tuscany cover art

Critic reviews

A classic whodunit set in the spectacular landscape of the Yorkshire Dales, written with affection for the area and its people. A satisfying read riddled with dry Yorkshire humour (and dry stone walls) (Cath Staincliffe, author of the Scott & Bailey series)
Great fun! (Carol Drinkwater)
All stars
Most relevant  
Two interesting main characters and a wonderful dog. A good mystery that kept me guessing to the end.
Lovely description of the countryside, evoking a realistic village community .
The background plot is something that is obviously going to run and run.
Highly recommended. Good narration.

A new series to look forward to

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This is my second time listening to this series. I am eagerly awaiting publication of the 7th in the series, in a couple of weeks time, and have decided to start again at the beginning, while I wait.

I first discovered these in late 2020 and listened to the first 5 back to back and loved them all. The 6th book was just as good when published a year ago.

I have just loved revisiting the start of the series, and will now move through the rest. The warmth of the characters and the excellent characterisation by Eluzabeth Bower make them well worth a listen, or even a second listen!

An excellent series of books

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I really loved this first book, as it introduced such a wealth of amazing characters and had a good paced story too. A classic whodunnit but with a modern twist, set against the quaint backdrop of a small town where everybody knows your business.
I came across this series when there was about 6 books available on Audible and I quickly bought the rest on the back of such a strong start.
Loved the voice acting/ narration too. I found it so easy to visualise the people of Bruncliffe through the vocalisation of each character.

Great community of characters

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
took a while to warm to the characters but it was a good story with a good ending and a seperate underlying mystery that i presume will be resolved in the next book. all that with a touch of romance makes this book well worth a read/listen.

good plot dales flavoured murder mystery

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Looking forward to the next in the series. Really enjoyed this bit of Dales life with a mystery. Down to earth Dales humour with a murder & a progressive story line to look forward to.
The narration was excellent & she made the story come alive.

Entertaining, easy listening

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I found the opening irritating with a stridently -voiced character but then it settled down & I enjoyed the build up of village life & especially the character of Samson. Samson & Delilah- God, really?😁 A nice, easy listen with sufficient plot intrigue to keep it from being too prosaic.

Easy listening

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Good story, well read, suspenseful & funny with interesting characters about whom there is obviously more to learn in future books. Looking forward to the next one "Date With Malice "

Enjoyable listen.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A cosy crime story with well-drawn characters. It moves along at a good pace to keep the reader engaged. Moving on to Book 2.

An enjoyable read

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Good story. Brilliant characterisations. Great narrator. Really enjoyed this - will definitely listen to whole series..

Really well drawn characters.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Really enjoyed the story, lots of twists and turns I didn't predict, as in the ending. Thought the names were daft, but put up with them.

Enjoyable listen,

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews