Date With Destiny

Julia Chapman

WEDDING bells might be ringing for Yorkshire Dales detective duo Samson O’Brien and Delilah Metcalfe but some harsh realities, and secret doubts, are casting a shadow over their forthcoming nuptials.

And when a shocking murder rocks their small community, the chalk-and-cheese couple’s personal worries and reservations have to be set aside while they concentrate all their efforts on finding a brutal killer.

Welcome back to drop-dead gorgeous Bruncliffe, the not-so-sleepy Dales town where murder, mystery and malice are only ever a heartbeat away. Date With Destiny is the tenth and final novel in Julia Chapman’s brilliantly entertaining Dales Detective Agency series which stars the irresistible private investigator Samson and his delightful fiancée and sleuthing partner Delilah, owner of the Dales Dating Agency. These enchanting whodunits have become a hot favourite with readers seduced by the stunning scenery, ingenious plotting, superb characterisation, and Chapman’s (pictured below) fine line in earthy Yorkshire wit. And in our last visit to Bruncliffe – just when things should be going smoothly for Samson and Delilah – there seems to be another storm to weather.

After an impulsive proposal to Delilah (who said yes!) Samson had seen nothing but bliss ahead of them but the woman he worships seems to be reluctant to actually commit to getting married. What started out as a niggling worry has turned into ‘fully fledged anxiety’ because three weeks from the wedding date, invitations have not been sent out and Delilah hasn’t even chosen a dress for the big day.

Beset with worries, the last thing Samson needs is handsome and charismatic reality TV star Jake Ramsbottom (now known to his adoring fans as the single name Tyke) comes knocking on the Dales Detective Agency’s door, seeking their services.

Tyke, who has family connections to Bruncliffe, has been receiving menacing death threats and is willing to pay a large sum of money to find the culprit. Samson is initially reluctant to help for many reasons, not least a bit of jealousy because Delilah seems star-struck by his arrival.

But things quickly escalate following a shocking murder at the town’s Fellside Court retirement complex and, as one of their friends comes under suspicion, Samson and Delilah must set aside their own problems to catch a killer. It’s a case that will bring so many of Bruncliffe’s secrets out into the open, and this final investigation for the Dales Detectives has the potential to wreak irreparable damage.

Chapman pens her clever stories with the lightest of touches but there always remains a layer of gritty reality beneath the wryly funny double act of Samson and Delilah, and the likeable, down-to-earth residents of Bruncliffe. And it is the timeless charm of her writing, the ability to immerse readers in the everyday lives of ordinary country folk, and the endless joys of observing the rollercoaster relationship between Samson and Delilah that have made this series such a memorable delight.

With an intriguing murder mystery to solve, an exquisitely imagined cast of characters both familiar and not-so-familiar, the rolling hills and rural delights of the Dales providing a luscious backdrop, and a wedding that was always destined to see our romantic heroes complete ‘a perfect circle,’ this is a thoroughly satisfying farewell to what has been a quintessentially Yorkshire reading treat.
(Pan, paperback, £9.99)