Words leave imprints in your mind like footprints in the sand...
beach reading
starry skies to read under
reading in nature
  • Location: Yorkshire, Yorkshire Dales Fictional Bruncliffe

Date with Poison

Date with Poison

Why a Booktrail?

2000s: The Dales Detective Agency has a case of poison on its books…

  • ISBN: 978-1529006797
  • Genre: Cosy crime

What you need to know before your trail

Spring is in the air in Bruncliffe but not everyone is filled with the joys of the season.

Samson O’Brien of the Dales Detective Agency is being questioned by the police about a murder, with the truth about his policing past about to be brutally exposed. And with Bruncliffe turning on Samson, his business partner Delilah Metcalfe finds herself in the impossible position of defending him to her friends and family.

Then Delilah’s nephew, accused of being under Samson’s influence, runs away from home and a frantic search begins. And with attention turning to Nathan, only a local vet is paying attention to a worrying spate of canine poisonings happening throughout the village.

Bruncliffe is turning toxic and with suspicion raining down on him, Samson knows he has to ask Delilah for help. Can she forgive his transgressions and help him so that they can find Nathan and the poisoner, or has the poison already spread too far?

Travel Guide

Yorkshire Dales

Julia Chapman talks location and all things Yorkshire

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 surprisingly busy and gossipy behind the scenes. Farming is still the main activity for many.

Grassington

This could be Bruncliffe. Julia opened up the bookshop The Stripey Badger and has her book launches here. The village is very quaint and just as you would imagine Bruncliffe to be.

Trail Gallery

Booktrailer Review

@thebooktrailer

How lovely it is to be back in the village of Bruncliffe. It might be a fictional place but it’s firmly set in the heart of the picturesque Yorkshire Dales.

Julia Chapman wraps her characters, humour and setting in wonderfully warm and witty prose. This fourth outing announces the start of spring and it all feels so welcoming that you can see the lambs jumping over the hedges and feel the warmth of the hay in the sun as you turn the pages.

Life in general is going well in Bruncliffe although there is a lot going on since spring is such a busy time. The poor vet is rushed off his feet! The dating agency is struggling but Delilah and Samson have ideas of how to improve things. That’s the furthest thing from his mind however as he finds himself arrested!!

And just as you think village life is quiet! That’s just the start of things as the problems keep on coming. There’s a disappearance, a good for nothing property developer. And a bad situation which keeps on escalating. Oh and there’s animals getting sick…is someone doing this on purpose?

There’s a lot to this novel and despite its cosy title and cover, there’s lots of layers to enjoy. The characters of Delilah and Samson are two of the funniest and heartwarming I’ve come across in a long while and I love spending time with them. When they have such problems as they do here, I really felt for them! That’s the sign of a good writer, right there.

Please could this be on the telly? A warm hearted and hearty drama set in the Yorkshire Dales is just what we need!

Booktrail Boarding Pass:  Date with Poison (Dales 4)

Destination : Yorkshire, Yorkshire Dales Author/Guide: Julia Chapman  Departure Time: 2000s

Back to Results

Featured Book

Beautiful Ugly

2024: A very remote island deep in the Hebrides….

Read more