AMAZING!! Have followed all of Julia Chapmans books and they are great fun to read! You can help but want to read the next one to find the next step! I think every one who reads it falls a little in love with the character of Samson. Lovely!

Another good addition to this lovely series.
I thoroughly enjoyed and found it entertaining and engrossing.
I was happy to catch up with the fleshed out character, they are as likeable as usual.
The description of the small town life are as nice as usual and the solid mystery kept me guessing.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and Julia Chapman for the eARC, in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

Date With Deceit is well written and the characters are rounded and likeable, but unfortunately it wasn’t for me.

I haven’t read any of the previous books, so I had absolutely no idea what was happening. Details on the back-story are quite vague.
The names of the main characters (Samson and Delilah!) also grated on me.

It limped along slowly, and I struggled to finish it.
If it appeals to you, I would definitely recommend reading the rest of the series first.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Detectives In Hot Water....
The sixth in the Dales Detective series and the detective duo find themselves in hot water with a case that turns more complex as time goes on and a fatal incident that sends the town into chaos. With likeable protagonists and a colourful cast of supporting characters this series as a whole is most enjoyable and each book provides a good dose of escapism.

Having read all of the Dales Detective Agency books so far I was really looking forward to reading this one. It didn’t disappoint.
Nancy Taylor, wife of the Mayor of Bruncliffe suspects her husband is having an affair so she asks Samson O’Brien to investigate. Samson is determined to tackle the case without involving Delilah Metcalf, wary of getting too close to her, but he soon discovers that he does need her help.
Working undercover Delilah soon discovers that the Mayor is caught up in something far more serious than an affair and when a shooting occurs she and Sampson find themselves trying to find out who the killer is.
The police have their prime suspects but Delilah and Samson think they are looking in the wrong place, proving this however is far harder than they thought and it’s a race against time to prevent a miscarriage of justice.

I love this series of books set in the Yorkshire Dales and this latest volume doesn’t disappoint. The descriptions of the small market town and surrounding hills lift my spirits every time. I think readers need to read the books in order, as to jump in at book six would not give the full benefit of getting to know the characters and their considerable back stories. I can’t wait for the next book!

I love the Dales Detective agency series , the characters have a genuine nature and the books are easy to read with Julia Chapman adding the odd red herring in to the mix.
Samson and Delilah are still not admitting their feelings for each other , and the court case still looms over Samson’s head.
Meanwhile the Lord Mayor of Bruncliffe Bernard Taylor is shot dead , at a shooting party attended by some dubious business associates. Samson and Delilah begin looking in to the death .
This book could be read as a stand-alone due to the quality of the characters back stories , but I would recommend reading all the series to date.

Samson’s dad and the inhabitants of the retirement home keep things light hearted and add an extra strand to the series. I like the setting and description of Bruncliffe , Julia Chapman’s calibre and style of writing really brings it to life.
The only criticism I have is how long the Samson court thread has gone on for , I hope it is resolved in the next book.

Thanks to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for this arc copy.

In the sixth outing for the Dales Detective Agency – and the Dales Dating Agency – Nancy Taylor, wife of Bruncliffe’s lord mayor and local estate agent, is convinced her husband is playing away. She wants Samson O’Brien and Delilah Metcalfe to investigate but Bernard Taylor has got himself into something less than pleasant, so no one can predict what the duo will unearth. A fatal accident sends the town into turmoil and as Samson and Delilah are trying to investigate, they’re also all too aware of their growing feelings for each other. Working together proves difficult enough, but will they throw a personal relationship into the mix? This is another winner for me – the plot is nicely told with just the right amount of red herrings for the reader… plus the ending leaves the door wide open for the next book.

This is the sixth in the series, set in the Yorkshire Dales, it is reminiscent of a long running serial, i.e. Emmerdale or the Archers. Except with a murder or two in each installment. The cast includes various sheep farmers and their families, a sharp edged cleaner who seems to clean all the businesses in the village, a gang of oldies from the local retirement village offer comic relief, a very crooked mayor and a diabolical businessman. Samson and Delilah are the main characters, the village black sheep and the feisty daughter of a prominent family. As in a serial , there are inter-connecting storylines from novel to novel, but there is always one central mystery that is solved in each book. Because of the continuity from book to book, it is helpful to read the series in order. I have read the entire series and not in order, it is not essential but I would recommend.
I have enjoyed this series immensely, but the ongoing saga of Samson’s upcoming trial and Rick Proctor’s literally continuing to get away with murder is getting tiresome. Samson and Delilah’s failure to communicate their true feelings to one another is taking too long. Having said that, I do heartily recommend the series and look forward to the next.
Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy.

In the Dales, Delilah and Samson are still circling each other, not letting on how they really feel about each other...

Samson's court date draws ever closer...

Meanwhile, there's a shooting party involving some dodgy Bulgarian mafia types.

Samson's dad and his geriatric cronies are up to mischief, as usual.

And what is the estate agent cum mayor really up to??

All the murder and mayhem we've come to expect from this lot!!!

I desperately want to say only good things about Date with Deceit by Julia Chapman. And there are many good things to say. The characters come to life and the setting is evocatively described. The internal plotting of the book is good too. It's the over-arching plot that is beginning to irritate me. This is the sixth book in the series and we are still waiting for a resolution to Samson's story. For it to straddle two or even three books would have been fine but I am beginning to feel that it is dragging now and I'm finding it more of a distraction than a hook now. I feel disloyal to a good series saying that but it's my truth. Julia Chapman is an excellent writer and that is all that's keeping me going. I'm giving it four stars as my objective opinion of character, style and plot but my frustration is real.

This series is a truly delightful, fun and clever crime romp through a small Yorkshire town and all the quirky inhabitants therein. I look forward to each new one.

Since being introduced to the two protagonists, Samson and Delilah in the first book Date With Death, I have thoroughly enjoyed watching the romance develop between these two as they go about solving mysteries and crimes together. It is not only their names that make the reader smile, but the small town characters they meet along the way while running their separate businesses, The Dales Detective Agency (DDA) and the Dales Dating Agency (DDA)...yes more smiles...

This cosy crime series is pure escapism yet well written and absorbing with a clever exposure of 'whodunnit' at the end. They make the perfect break between my reading of more serious or literary books. While you can read these as stand alones, I would recommend you read them in order as they are a much more satisfying read to follow the individual story development of many of the town's characters.