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2000s: It’s dark in the Dales this winter . . .
Date with Malice (The Dales Detective 2)
What you need to know before your trail
One morning, Mrs Shepherd arrives at the Dales Detective Agency, quite convinced that someone is trying to kill her. Samson O’Brien, the detective, thinks she’s just some confused elderly lady. What follows however is a series of disturbing incidents at Fellside Court retirement home, and so he begins to wonder if there is something to her claims after all . . .
It’s getting colder in the Dales…winter is upon the village and Christmas is just around the corner, Samson is thrown into a complex investigation. One that will require him to regain the trust of the Dales community he turned his back on so long ago. Faced with no choice, he enlists the help of a local – the tempestuous Delilah Metcalfe.
As the winter wind whips up more than just snow and ice, Samson and Delilah must work together once again in order to save the elderly residents of Bruncliffe. It’s not just the cold and snow that could kill this Christmas!
Travel Guide
Yorkshire Dales
Best get the kettle on, Yorkshire Tea of course and settle in. There is no Bruncliffe in real life sadly but Skipton which is real is only 30 minutes away from it so visiting Skipton would be a very good alternative to the real thing. There is, as yet, no Dales Detective Agency nor is there a Dales Dating Agency but fingers crossed!
Bruncliffe might seem quiet yet the snow of winter hides a multitude of sins it would seem. Softens the screams for help and the crunch of footsteps escaping the scene of the crime?
Fellside Court retirement home for example is not the safe place you might expect it to be. It brings together some very interesting characters, the fun old people you might expect to live in a retirement home in the Yorkshire Dales and crotchety ones too. Some heartwarming conversations to be had when the residents wear slippers and have mischief in their eyes. A serious of “accidents” seems to be making its way through the home. Who will be next to succumb?
For a real taste of Yorkshire visit the two best places in Yorkshire- Fat Rascals from Betty’s Tea Rooms in Harrogate and York and the rock bun which tastes like them here –Cravenbakery.co.uk
Trail Gallery
Booktrailer Review
Susan: @thebooktrailer
Despite the calamities and strange old people who live in Bruncliffe, oh and despite the fact it’s a fictional setting, I really want to live there! Delilah and Samson are the funniest twosome I’ve come across in fiction for a long while. All wrapped up with witty Yorkshire asides and a pot of Yorkshire tea brewing over the page…
Samson has a sense of humour to rival the next man – He wants to move on , away from Bruncliffe, back to London, where there sill be “No more old ladies making wild accusations and no more smelly farmers”
A series of crimes involving an old age people’s home might not sound exciting, but in the hands of Julia Chapman it is! Funny, dark and quite poignant in places, no character is your cliched typical old person but they have some very interesting characters there! Samson knows the place well as he has connections there himself…a nice interesting thread to the story.
There’s a strong sense of Yorkshire’s charms all the way through the story- humour, landscape, farming history and more but it’s the characters who shine – each delicately crafted and ruffed up before appearing on the pages. I could see them all clearly, scowls and all, and it’s a cracking mystery in this one – go Samson!
With the Christmas overtones, it’s a nice one to read when the nights get even chillier and if it snows like in the book – so much the better!
Booktrail Boarding Pass: Date with Malice (The Dales Detective 2)
Author/Guide: Julia Chapman Destination: Yorkshire Dales Departure Time: 2000s
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