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I was in "The Works" bookshop where there was a "three for a fiver" offer when by luck I chanced upon the first three books in a new series that really caught my attention - "The Dales Detective Series". I love plain speaking, no nonsense Yorkshire and Dales humour. Although I had never heard of the author Julia Chapman, I simply had to give the series a go !
I usually try to give a little background to all the series I read, but I have been able to find out all that much. Julia Chapman is the pseudonym of Julia Stagg who has published five books in the Forgas Chronicles series set in the Pyranees. Julia started writing this series when she and her husband lived in France (2004 to 2010) and ran a little french village auberge, but most of the series was actually written after Julia returned to Yorkshire.
Julia grew up in Coventry. She was born about 1969 to Irish immigrant parents who had scrapped their TV, and never owned another one. The house was full of books, and Julia was an avid reader. Skip forward now to about 2000, Julia is married, her husband is working in America, but Julia does not have a work permit and so has time to write. The couple have certainly had a wanderlust - Julia has also travelled to Japan and Australia. Then came to French period (2004 to 2010). Mostly Julia has worked as a teacher of English as a foreign language, but she has also dabbled in bookselling, pawnbroking, waitressing, and on a supermarket checkout till.
Back in the UK she and her husband lived in Manchester, but spent happy weekends in Austwick, a little Yorkshire Dales village about five miles north west of Settle. Later Julia and her husband left Manchester and now live permanantly in Austwick.
The Dales Detective series is set in the fictional Dales village of Brunscliffe which is based on Settle. To the south of Brunscliffe is Skipton, and to the north Horton-in-Ribbledale, and the famous Ribblesdale Viaduct. The two main characters in the series are Samson O'Brien who was an undercover, mostly London based, serious crime cop who seems to have been set up, and has had to flee for his own safety, lie low, and return "home" to sleepy Brunswick until whatever the trouble is, is settled. Back in Brunscliffe where he grew up, he gets a mixed reception generally, mostly from the Metcalfe clan and especially from Delilah Mercalfe - they went to school together - now struggling financially and forced to be his reluctant landlady.
The Dales Detective Series is what is sometimes referred to as the "cosy crime" genre. Julia prefers to call it "crime without the grime."
I read this book in August, 2020.
"Date with Death" is book one in the Dales Detective series, and let me say straight away that I really liked the book and look forward to reading the series. We are introduced to the two main characters Samson O'Brien and Delilah (Dee) Metcalfe, and the fictional Dales village of Brunscliffe - based on Settle in Yorkshire. Let's mention also Dee's Weimaraner dog Tolpuddle - just the opposite of his mistress and instantly devoted to Samson.
Samson O'Brien was born and bred in Brunscliffe - people there are "hefted" to the place just as their sheep are hefted to the Fells and never stray. Samson however had had to leave in a hurry some 14 years ago, and start a new life. He joined the police, was promoted, and then worked undercover in the series crime unit (SOCO) and for the national crime agency NCA. Something has happened, though we are not yet told the details. Samson has probably had his cover blown, he has been beaten up, and has been advised by his boss to lie low for about six months until it can hopefully all be sorted. So now, Samson is back in Brunscliffe. "How can you hate a place and love it at the same time ?" All those years ago, times were hard. As a child, growing up on Twistletown farm, Samson was sent to the butcher each week to get the family supplies with a pittance, and unbeknown to the young lad, the kindly village butcher's wife would slip in a little free extra. "I'll not take charity" said Samson when he found out. "You have been taking it for years" was the reply. Now, grown up Samson in this tale is able to repay kindness with kindness. Samson's mum died, and his father Joseph O'Brien took to drink. Their farm got badly neglected and fell to disrepair. Anything Samson did to improve life was drunk away by the father, and it nearly came to violence. He had also become involved in a brawl at Nathan's christening - incurring the wrath of the large Metcalfe family, and they know how to bear a grudge. Samson had to take himself off - on his father's Royal Enfiend motorbike. Ryan Metcalfe was Samson's best friend - Samson was best man at Ryan's wedding to Lucy, and godfather to young Nathan, but Ryan had joined the army and was killed in Afghanistan about two years ago. Inexplicably Samson never returned to help Lucy.
The Metcalfe farm is a well run family farm. Delilah Metcalfe is the daughter of Ted and Peggy, and has two brothers living locally - Will and Ash (there are two more brothers working away from home). Their son Ryan was killed in Afghanistan leaving Dee's sister-in-law Lucy a widow. Lucy now runs the Peaks Patisserie cafe in Bruncliffe. Dee was a champion Fell runner in the making, but gave it up when she got married. She and her husband ran a graphic design business which subsidised Dee's other business - the DDA, or Dales Dating Agency. Dee's husband, Neil Taylor ran off with another woman, leaving Dee struggling financially but too proud to tell her family. Thus Dee is forced to rent out half her premises to an unknown (internet booking) tenant. This turns out to be black sheep Samson O'Brien. Quick tempered Dee socks Samson on the jaw when she finds out - but she has spent the deposit money and cannot return it. She has to accept Samson as a tenant even though his business is also called DDA (Dales Detective Agency). But Dee's huge Weimaraner dog Tolpuddle take an instant liking to Samson. In short Samson and Tolpuddle bond.
We also meet a big cast of village residents. Roger Murgatroyd (Troy) is the surly landlord of The Fleece pub in the centre of the village, with Kay his wife. Samson doesn't like the man nor place - Troy continued to serve alcohol to an alcoholic. Samson was a champion grade darts player but refused to play for the Fleece. However Troy serves a good pint of Black Sheep bitter. Ida Capstick is Dee's cleaner, and quite a character. She lives in the nearest house to Samson's farm - Twistletown - with her mentally slow son George who is a dab hand at mechanical repairs. Seth Thistletwaite is a retired geography teacher and was Dee's Fell running coach. Rick Procter is a wealthy but shady local builder with fingers in lots of pies. When Samson ran off, his father Joseph had to sell the farm, and Rick Procter bought the place for a silly price. Samson is determined to get the farm back - one day. Rick seems to have set his cap at Dee.
The crime story opens with the murder of Richard Hargreaves, son of the local butchers. The police dismiss it as a simple suicide. Richard had moved back to Brunscliffe with his wife and their two children about 3 years ago, but the wife could not setle, and left with the children. But Richard was beginning to put his life back together again, and had even signed up for a fun, speed dating evening organised by the Dales Dating Agency. Seemingly unconnected, Martin Foster is also found dead. Martin also was a client of Dee's. Richard Hargreaves mum, the butcher's wife, cannot accept that Richard committed suicide, and asks Samson to investigate - the first case for the Dales Detective Agency. Dee too overcomes her dislike for Samson, and asks him to look at the murders of two of her clients. It will destroy the fragile business if some serial murderer is targeting clients of the DDA. Tom Anderson, farmer, also a Dee client, is the third victim in an apparent quad bike accident. Here Samson gets the first clue that some killer is loose. Another DDA client, Stuart Lister, a newly qualified estate agent is almost the fourth victim, but he survives. At Dee's insistence Samson has signed on for the next speedy dating session, and Samson persuades Harry Furness, auctioneer and captain of the Fleece darts team, to make up the numbers - in return Samson will play for the Fleece at an oncoming grudge match against another local pub. Harry is attacked in the local golf club which is dowsed in petrol, and set fire, but Samson somehow manages to get Harry out, save his life, and becomes a local hero. From black sheep to local hero in 14 days.
Samson and Dee, working together (is romance in the air) find a possible reason behind all the murders, and the author fooled me with a red herring when I thought I had spotted the likely murderer about half way into the book. There is tension, excitement, and a thrilling climax where Lucy lies unconscious also soaked in petrol, and Dee rediscovers her old Fell running prowess, and Tolpuddle is well up in the action. Its all well written, and told with lots of humour where appropriate. Of course, Samson saves the day, solves the murders, and the Dales Detective Agency is assured of lots of business. Samson makes it up with his now sober father, and could opt for a good life in Brunscliffe, but he reminds himself he is only lying low for six months.
All in all, a great start to what promises to be a good series. Will Samson and Dee get together ? Will Samson get Twistletown back ? Will Rick Procter continue to prosper from all his shady dealings ? In brief, we are hooked, and must read on.
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I read this book in September, 2020.
This is book 2 in what is promising to be a very enjoyable series, set in Bruncliffe in the Yorkshire Dales. It features "resting" undercover cop Samson O'Brien who has returned home to set up the DDA (Dales Detective Agency) and his oiginally reluctant (she punched him on the jaw) landlady Delilah Metcalfe also of a DDA, but this time the Dales Dating Agency. Delilah spends a lot of her time helping Samson. Really Samson and Delilah are falling in love, but each of them is fighting it. Delilah is resisting, annoyed at black sheep Samson who took off in the middle of the night years ago leaving an alcoholic dad who quickly lost the family farm - and on going villain Rick Procter hardly paid a fair price for the property. Also Samson failed to return when his best friend Ryan (one Delilah's many brothers) died, leaving a wife Lucy and a son Natham - Samson's godson. In his turn Samson is fighting it because he thinks his return to Bruncliffe is only temporary whilst some problem is resolved. It's some as yet dark secret hanging over Samson who might go to prison. There are lots of misunderstandings but fate keeps throwing them together - yet another case to work on, and fell running together again searching for a "stolen" ram called Clive Knowles. And of course they both share a love for Delilah's Weimaraner dog Tolpuddle, happily recovered.
The book is full of humour and is set at Christmas time. There is a huge cast of characters whom we met in book one, and I won't list them all again. Mostly the book is the back story of the private lives of Samson and Delilah ( note the pun). But there is a murder mystery too. Samson's dad Joseph is now a resident at the Rick Proctor owned retirement home Fellside Court. He is happy there with lots of friends, and they all look out for each other. Deputy manager Vicky Hudson still fusses over the old folk, but there is a new manager - the enigmatic Bulgarian (or Serbian ?) Ana Stoyanova. The book opens with one of the residents, Alice Shepherd, wanting to hire Samson. She thinks her life is in danger, but seems muddled with a story about things being stolen and turning up, and it's all a bit nebulous. Samson declines Alice's money but wonders if he has done the right thing. Alas, soon Alice is found dead. In truth she had been tricked into overdosing on her medication in a clever plot involving her distinctive pill box, and a secret copy. Next Eric Bradley almost dies when his oxygen supply is interrupted in the middle of the night - another clever plot. And the next attempted care home victim is Rita Wilson who is pushed downstairs and is in a coma. All appear to be accidents and the police (Constable Danny Bradley and Sergeant Clayton) are not involved, but Arty Robinson seems to be the next target - Samson doesn't know his dad Joseph has already had a lucky escape.
And so the plot unfolds, and I'll leave it at that as I don't write spoilers. Throughout Ana Stoyanova is the chief suspect, but is that true or are things not as they seem ? And yes there are twists, and tension builds, until it is all sorted at the end. Happily too Samson finds Ralph Knowles £7k pedigree tup (ram) Clive, although here also, all is not as it seems. Samson has rediscovered some of his old shepherding skills, and sheep loving Will, Delilah brother seems won over - for this Christmas anyway.
There are lots of sub plots all handled well by Julia Chapman. One I really should mention is that, unbeknown to Samson, Delilah's ex husband Neil wants his dog Tolpuddle back. We will need to read book 3 to see what happens. Also Samson's under cover cop problem seems about to break.
In brief - it's a terrific little story and well worth a read.
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I read this book in October, 2020.
This is book three in an excellent little series - the Dales Detective Series - set in Yorkshire and with two very strong characters who have been thrown together. Samson O'Brien is an undercover policeman now falsely under suspicion of corruption who has had to flee London and return to Bruncliffe, the home he left in a sort of disgrace. Of course we now know a lot more about what really happened when he left. Delilah Metcalfe is the daughter of the well respected local Metcalfe farming family. She grew up with 5 older brothers and quickly learned how to take care of herself. She runs the DDA - Dales Dating Agency - and is Samson's landlady - he also runs a DDA - the Dales Detective Agency. The initial meeting was very prickly, but now there is a sort of on/ off romance between Samson and Delilah. Initially he fought shy of committment, thinking his return to Bruncliffe was only temporary, but now things keep getting in the way of true love. Samson's corruption charges seem to be coming to a head. He is suspected of stealing police confiscated drugs and selling them. A police friend of Delilah's ( DCI Frank Thistlethwaite) warns her that Samson is no good, and after one failed marriage she doesn't know what to do for the best.
It's a terrific setting, and the book is full of all sorts of interesting characters most of whom we have got to know - the Metcalfe clan, lots of pensioners at Fellside Court where Samson's dad Joseph now stays, young DC Danny Bradley who helps Samson and Delilah, and the nasty (but only Samson can see it) property developer Rick Procter. There is a lot of humour and there are all sorts of sub plots - eg Joseph O'Brien is now having to fight his craving for alcohol once again, Delilah is facing bankruptcy, and having to take on hopeless cases for her DDA. The ongoing story of Delilah's ex husband Neil reclaiming her beloved dog Tolpuddle does come to a malodious ending - I guess we all saw how Samson was going to save Tolpuddle way before Samson, but it was set up neatly, and almost didn't work.
The main story starts very quietly. Jimmy Thornton's mother Marian has just died and Matty Thistlewaite, their solicitor tells Jimmy that inexplicably Marian has left half the estate to Livvy Thornton, Jimmy's sister who died some 20 years ago apparently in a hit and run accident in Leeds. Livvy's beloved dog, Red, also disappeared after this accident. The solicitor can't find Livvy's death certificate, and asks Samson to find it for him. He also asks Delilah to help Samson - Matty knows everyone will help Delilah Metcalfe, but many would send Samson packing. Of course finding the certificate turns out to be anything but straightforward. Samson and Delilah can find no death certificate, nor press report of the fatal acident, nor burial record, nor cremation certificate in the whole of Leeds. And so the search deepens, and strangely Rick Procter seems to crop up a few times. The story of the Thornton family is slowly revealed. Before she disappeared, Livvy had a worshiping admirer in Oscar Hardacre, son of the neighbouring farmers the Hardacres. He was distraught when Livvy just upped and left one night. She had had to flee her brute of a dad Carl Thornton, who was coming home drunk, and beating his wife Marian. Apparently, full of regret, he later committed suicide - but of course there is a lot more to the story as it unfolds. Along the route Samson starts getting threatening letters telling him to leave things alone, and someone takes a pot shot at him and Delilah. Oscar is an expert shot - could he have been the marksman ? But shooting ability seemed to be a shared Hardacre skill.
Marian Thornton had asked her son to look after her garden when she died, and tend her rhubarb. Needing something to do to take his mind off all the emerging complexities of the case, Jimmy goes out to split and divide the rhubarb, but finds something buried there. Is it the missing Livvy ? Read the book to find out. It's like peeling an onion -there is always another layer below.
At the very end of the book Samson is suspended and it seems the story of his alleged corruption is about to break. He is only slowly winning back the trust of the Bruncliffe folk. How will they react, what will his father Joseph think, and how will Delilah react ? We must read on to find out. As I said a great little series with so much going for it !
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I read this book in November, 2021.
This is book 4 in a very enjoyable series set in Bruncliffe, a little village in the Yorkshire Dales. There are two very strong main characters, Royal Enfield motor bike owning Samson O'Brien now running the local Dales Detective Agency, and his soon to be formalised business partner Delilah (Dee) Metcalfe, who is also his landlord. She is his official landlord as he rents an office from her, and she is his unofficial landlord, in that Samson has not yet found a flat of his own, and short of money, he is camping upstairs above the offices, unbeknown to Dee. Dee is the owner of a huge Weimariner dog, but Tolpuddle is equally devoted to Samson. There are lots of other interesting characters whose village lives we follow. Ida Capstick is the local cleaner. Her brother George caretakes the old Samson farm local baddie, property developer Rick Procter bought for a pittance from the then alcoholic Joseph O'Brien, Samson's dad. Joseph still lives at old peoples's home Fellside Hall, and Arty is still around to help Joseph when called upon. The local police are Sergeant Clayton and DC Danny Bradley, with Super Frank Thistlethwaite still on the scene. Frank is the son of ex Chief Super Gabrial Thistlethwaite, who was Samson's monitor when Samson was a local bobby. Seth Thistlethwaite, a worthy at the local pub "The Fleece" is Gabrial's brother. The landlord is Troy Murgatroyd.
The Metcalfe's still are an important local family. Farmer Ted Metcalfe is Dee's father, and her brother Will still is very anti Samson. Dee's sister in law Lucy runs Peaks Patisserie, with Elaine Bullock her waitress. Dee's husband Ryan died in Afghanistan, and her son Nathan is Samson's godson. The local vet is James Ellison, but everyone calls him Herriot for obvious Yorkshire reasons. Mrs Hargreaves is the local butcher, Clive Knowles a hopeless local farmer living in squalor (he wants Dee's Dales Dating Agency to find him a wife - some hope), and Pete Ferris a local poacher.
The whole book comprises a clever blend of ongoing plots, one off plots, and lots of little sub-plots. The two main ongoing plots are the on / off / on again romance between Samson and Dee, and the pending gross misconduct charges against Samson. The two main book plots are who is the local dog poisoner, and an incredible charge of drug peddling against Nathan. No one believes him, and so Nathan runs away from home, sparking a huge moors search for the a missing teenager. One of the smaller sub plots is Dee's attempt to find a wife for unreformed Clive Knowles whose farmhouse is a dirty hovel. The book opened with cleaner Ida Capstick begging Samson to get rid of her tiresome cousin. This is recently bereaved Carol Kirby who wants to set up a rival cleaning business in Bruncliffe. Dee suggests that she might be able to kill two birds with one stone - she will get Clive Knowles to employ Carol as a live in cleaner.
Samson had been a local and rising pc, who was headhunted to the Met, and then worked there undercover for their National Crimes Agency (NCA). He has made serious criminal enemies who are trying to get him discredited. He is accused of stealing confiscated drugs from the police vaults, and selling them for personal gain. It's not true, but he is being set up. He gets a letter telling him of the charges he faces, and told to attend a formal interview in London. After a lot of adventures, amazingly he makes it on time, on to the train to London, but gets off again when Dee runs along the platform. "Please help, Nathan is missing." Of course he must help his godson - but is his fate now sealed for any future in the police. Has he at last chosen Bruncliffe over London, but might he end up in jail for not defending himself against the charges against him ?
The dog poisoning plot fills most of the book. In a prologue some mysterious poisoner is preparing poisoned sausages. Some jogger in a black hoodie seems to be leaving poisoned sausages to be eaten by greedy dogs. Apparently Liam Jackson's champion sheepdog Alf has eaten one, and dies. Other dogs fall sick, vet Herriot eventually suspects serial poisonings, and asks Samson for help. Tolpuddle too is poisoned , but by sheer good or bad luck only eats 2/3 of a sausage - the neighbour's cat Oscar beats Tolpuddle and steals the remaining sausage. Oscar and Tolpuddle survive. The question is, do all the poisoned sausages contain the same lethal doses of poison, or are some meant to kill, and the others just decoys to confuse. Apparently Ted Metcalfe's future champion sheepdog dog Belle is another victim, but he will still compete in the sheepdog trials with novice Ned. On the day, sympathetic applause, but then silence as the knowlegeable crowd realise its not Ned, but Belle ! There is another clever bit of misdirection at the end when Samson identifies the poisoner, and assembles a team to close in on the poisoner, but doesn't tell everyone whom he really suspects. The plan almost fails, when the famous Metcalfe temper flares and Dee doesn't stick to instructions, and launches herself at the wrong poisoner.
The missing Nathan plot is also brilliantly written and constructed. On the flimsiest of evidence two policemen - Cooper and Benson - turn up at a special event at Peaks Patisserie attended by a local reporter, handcuff Samson and shout out they are arresting him for murder. Gossip is rife - Samson is a murderer. Sadly Dee too jumps to conclusions. Samson has a perfect alibi, and is released but Cooper still thinks he is corrupt and leaks to the press a photo he had taken of the Met letter to Samson, with charges of drug dealing. Rick Proctor, visiting Mr King, headmaster at the local school, spots Nathan, and calls him over to taunt him that Samson is a murderer. Nathan fells Procter with a punch on the jaw. Although Procter tells the headmaster to forget about it, he plans his revenge. In the fracas, Nathan had dropped the tin he carried everywhere that was his fathers and contained two fishing flies father and son had tied together. Soon Nathan is having his school locker searched by Mr King - and there is the missing tin, but now stuffed with drugs (ketamine). The gossip is that Samson was using Nathan to push drugs. Samson is shunned by most of the village, and no one believes Nathan's protests that he is innocent. Nathan runs away at night, but gets lost in the mists on the moors. But Lucy backs Samson, and asks him to prove that Nathan is innocent. I'll leave you to read the book as to how he does this.
At the end of the book when the short term plots have been solved, Samson and Dee are back together, and Samson can now live in more comfort above the offices in a redecorated and refurnished bedroom. But long terms plots remain. Why was Rick Procter meeting Mr Taylor and two foreigners in the lonely moors farmhouse in whose outhouse Nathan had sheltered ? And what was in barn two ? And what about the corruptions charges against Samson? Of course, we must read on.
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I read this book in January, 2022.
This is book five in the Dales Detective Agency series set in the Yorkshire Dales and featuring Samson O'Brien, Delilah Metcalfe, and her huge dog Tolpuddle. We are in Bruncliffe where everyone knows each other and local families abound. Delilah has a farmer brother and father Will, and Ted, and a widowed sister-in-law Lucy who runs the local tearoom, Peaks Patisserie. I would love to try one of her famous "fat rascals" (large scones). The local police are PC Danny Bradley, Sergeant Gavin Clayton, and semi local DCI Frank Thistlewaite. Frank has asked Delilah for a date - more of this later. Lucy has a son Nathan who went missing in the previous book, but was rescued by Samson and the local poacher Pete Ferris. Nathan was almost expelled when drugs were planted in his school locker. Rick Procter is the local businessman and public benefactor whom Samson knows to be a villain but he can't prove it. It was Rick who tried to frame Nathan.
This is a long story with lots of different plots, including three long running ones - false corruption charges against Samson, the ongoing Samson / Delilah "romance", and can Samson nail Rick Procter. Delilah, now a full partner in the Detective Agency, has installed CCTV to find out who / whose dog is persistently fouling the doorstep of Hargreaves, the local butcher. She also has a hidden camera at Kamal Hussain's "Rice and Spice" restaurant where someone is stealing from the till. Delilah also runs the Dales Dating Agency and has an apparently hopeless case - old, set in his ways, dirty and smelly farmer Clive Knowes wants her to find him a wife. Delilah has persuaded him to employ a housekeeper. Carol Kirby, is Ida Capstick's cousin, and works her magic on the farmhouse and on Clive too. However, the main story in this book concerns sheep rustling. It starts slowly when Harry Furness, owner of the local livestock mart, thinks something is amiss and calls in Samson and Delilah.
The mart is run by Harry Furness, with his new young assistant Megan Gifford. Clive Knowles's sister Ruth is the admin manager there, and Martin Butler the general manager. Adam Slater, a stockman there, has a prison record. Senior stockman Ron Watson first senses something is wrong but gets himself killed investigating, apparently trapped and trampled by stock in a holding pen on auction day. It seems an unfortunate accident. It should have been caught on CCTV but Samson and Delilah found that the CCTV was not working and it was often not working. Harry said he didn't know this, Ruth Knowles said she had told him repeatedly. There has been a lot of sheep rustling nationwide, and locally too. It seems connected in some way to the local livestock mart. Delilah studies what CCTV there is, and discovers the CCTV seems to break down regularly on auction days. Is someone there switching it off ? They suspect Ron's death was no accident, and interview everyone there - their cover is they are doing a Health and Safety audit for Harry. Ruth Knowles does not like Samson - she had trouble in the past with Samson's then alcoholic father Joseph - but she knows the Mart is closed and in trouble financially and so will do all she can to help. Samson suspects Harry himself may be implicated, and prefers to go to Ruth for help. Delilah has known and trusted Harry all her life and does not know what to think.
We now have what seems an obvious crime fiction misdirection with the introduction of three gypsies - Manfri, Leon, and beautiful and single Kezia - on the scene and camping near Pete Ferris's caravan. They have a purpose built livestock transporter parked beside them. The police and Samson take an interest. Young Danny is dazzled and flustered by Kezia. Samson tells the gypsies (and Delilah) that his grandmother was a traveller and he has no prejudices against gypsies. Much, much later in the story, Tolpuddle will turn up at the gypsy camp looking for help when Samson and Delilah are trapped in a freezer six hours away from death, and we will learn if the gypsies are thieves or heroes. I will not say much more about the rustling story but it involves a bolus - read the story to find out what this is.
When Pete Ferris had rescued Nathan from an isolated moors building now being run as an illegal cannabis farm, he took pictures through it's window capturing two prominent Bruncliffe businessmen - Rick Procter and mayor Bernard Taylor. These he is now blackmailing - £250k or he will send the photos to the police. He knows how dangerous it is to tangle with Rick Procter but thinks the reward justifies the risk. Death or Glory ! Has he just made a terrible mistake ? Pete had got on well with young Nathan and could prove it was Rick who planted drugs in his locker. He wants to help the lad, but also wants the £250k.
Carol Kirby is not only a good housekeeper and excellent cook but she helps Clive chase off the sheep rustlers when they target Clive's flock. Against all the odds Clive Knowles has fallen in love with his housekeeper, but doesn't know how to court her, and goes to Delilah for help. Strangely her advice works.
Samson's under cover police future looks bleak. He was falsely accused of stealing confiscated drugs, and selling them to his criminal contacts. The under cover unit has been infiltrated and Samson is in great danger. He doesn't know who he can trust - and he is right not to trust his liaison officer DC Jess Green. He does trust his immediate boss DI Dave Warren and meets him in a pub in Skipton. Trying not to keep secrets from Delilah he has taken Delilah to Skipton with him - and she is sitting not with Samson but in the same pub. When Samson leaves the pub to take a phone call Delilah introduces herself to DI Warren, tells him why Samson skipped an important case interview in London, and asks if Warren can arrange another. Warren is no fool. It is obvious to him that Samson and Delilah care for each other, but he warns Samson this puts Delilah in great danger. Those coming for Samson will also target Delilah and Samson cannot risk that. And so we have a lovely, bittersweet ending. Frank and Delilah are sitting in the Fleece waiting for Samson to join them but he never will. Trapped in the freezer with an unconscious Delilah he had told her he loved her. He must distance himself from Delilah for her safety no matter the personal pain and cost.
To have any future with Delilah, Samson simply must get his name cleared and we will need to read on to see what happens.
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I read this book in May, 2022.
This is book 6 in what is turning out to be a very good series with strong characters, a good blend of main plots and smaller ones, and above all a compelling personal lives story. And it's all set in the Yorkshire Dales, in Bruncliffe. Let's start by introducing the cast. The main characters are Samson O'Brien, Delilah Metcalfe, and Tolpuddle, the dog. Samson is an ex undercover policeman now falsely accused of corruption, returned to Bruncliffe where his dad Joseph used to own their family Thistleton Farm, in Thorpedale, but the then alcoholic Joseph sold it for a pittance to corrupt local businessman Rick Procter. Samson now runs The Dales Detective Agency (DDA) with Delilah as a business partner. Joseph now lives at Fellside Hall, an "old folk's home," with good friends Arty Robinson, Eric, Edith Hird and her sister Clarissa. The pensioners are a source of much expertise and amateur detection. The Metcalfes are a local family, and Delilah has a mother, two local brothers Will and Ash, and a sister-in law Lucy who runs Peaks Patisserie. Delilah runs the Dales Dating Agency (also DDA). James Ellison is the local vet, Bernard Taylor the local estate agent, and the local police are Sgnt Clayton and PC Danny Bradley. DCI Frank Thistlethwaite is from a neighbouring police force, but he is convinced that Samson is corrupt, and determined to nail him.
The book opens with young Stuart Lister, rental manager at Taylors, aware that things are not up to date, breaking into his boss's office to look at the high rental properties that only Bernard Taylor runs, and what a can of worms he unknowingly unearths. One of the main plots concerns these remote properties which are being used as cannabis farms. Rick Procter and Bernard Taylor, have gone into the illegal drugs business with villains who turn out to be the feared Karamanski brothers, Nico and Andrey of the Bulgarian mafia. Bernard desperately wants out, but Rick knows you can't walk away alive. Stuart takes photos of the rental details, notices two names involved in multiple rentals, and notes that the their reference is always a company called Kingston Properties. Stuart goes to local solicitor Matty Thistlethwaite for advice on shell companies, and later steals the Kingston Properties files - in cleaner Ida Capstick's bucket. (Ida reports the theft to Samson and Danny Bradley !)
The book also opens with the funeral of local poacher Pete Ferris who had discovered the cannabis farms, and was blackmailing Bernard Taylor.
Nancy Taylor arrives in Samson's office in a flood of tears. She thinks Bernard is having an affair, and plans to cheat her - she has found a holdall containing £125k in cash. Samson agrees, and Delilah eventually helps Samson look for evidence by tailing Bernard. Arty catches Samson hiding in a ginnel watching Taylors, works out what is afoot, and soon the Fellside Hall pensioners are in on the act too. The pensioners are also involved in one of the many sub plots. Edith is worried that sister Clarissa's new online boyfriend may be what the book calls a catfish - someone with a false online persona as part of a scam. Delilah proves she is right but asks the pensioners to leave the DDA to sort it out. Arty takes a photo of Delilah's memo pad, and has no intention of leaving it alone. It all works out in the end - Clarissa is no innocent dupe.
The other main plot is the ongoing false corruption case against Samson orchestrated with the help of corrupt police officers. DI Warren is the only person Samson can trust - and certainly not his assigned liaison oficer DC Green. Warren has told Samson he is in imminent danger and so Samson has been keeping Delilah at arms length for her own safety. We are now back to the main personal lives story. Samson and Delilah are totally and hopelessly in love with each other, like teenagers, but they have each been hiding their feelings. When one tries to tell the other events and distractions always intervene. Samson even asks his father and the pensioners for advice. Take a chance and just tell her how you feel - it is a risk worth taking because if she feels the same you will be the luckiest man alive. But always there is some urgent distraction.
We now met Gareth Towler and Bounty, head gamekeeper and his dog at Bruncliffe Manor, where an important hospitality event is about to take place for Rick Procter and Bernard Taylor to entertain some business contacts (it's their bosses in the Bulgarian malfia checking up on them). Gareth's caterer has pulled out, and he pleads with Lucy for Peak's Patisserie to take over. She agrees when Delilah says she will help - but Delilah really wants to help Samson tail Bernard. An ex makeup artist at Fellside Hall disguises Delilah as new temp Denise so successfully that she fools Samson and brother Will (but not brother Ash). Denise breaks cover when Ana Stoyanivic, former manager at Fellside Hall returns - she rushes up to hug Ana. All does not go well at Gareth's shoot with the Bulgarians and their body guards (especially Milan) out of control, and in charge of loaded firearms. Milan leaves a loaded gun lying about, Ana finds it, and hides it in Gareth's car (the gun room was locked). Someone is shot, but not necessarily by the Bulgarians. Bernard sees Denise take off her disguise, thinks the Dales Detectives are on to him for the drugs business, and that he is finished. He phones Nancy to apologise but there is a shot, Bernard is dead, but was it suicide or murder ? Each of the three first on the scene - Ana, Gareth, and Rick - is a later suspect and each contacts Samson and Delilah to help prove their innocence. Rick must be desperate to ask Samson for help as Samson could find out about all the murky dealings. But I have now said enough on this topic - I don't want to write spoilers.
It's a long story, with lots of twists and turns. The minor ongoing plot about some dog fouling the butcher Hargreaves' doorstep is finally solved - bit of a disappointment I thought, so obvious it would have been discovered a lot earlier. Samson's trial is now in 12 days - he tells Delilah the false evidence will send him to jail. And still Samson and Delilah have not told each other of their feelings. There is a final plot twist as the danger looming over Samson strikes at Delilah. Of lesser importance, what has happened to Stuart Lister, will Gareth lose his gun licence (and so his job), and what will Nancy discover when she starts to run Taylors ? And there is the holdall with £125k. Of course we must read on.
All in all, a great read.
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I read this book in August, 2022.
This is book seven in Julia Chapman's Dales Detective series, set in the village of Bruncliffe in the Yorkshire Dales. It's such a good series, and I think this may be the best book yet. I usually start these write up by saying who's who, but just about everyone in Bruncliffe appears in the story - Bruncliffe at it's finest - and so I will just mention a few of the main characters. Samson O'Brien is an ex undercover Met policeman who was falsely accused of stealing and selling drugs on the black market, and his boss, the only man he trusts, DI Frank Warren told him to get out of London. He returned to Bruncliffe and now is in partnership with Delilah Metcalfe. They are having a slow burning romance, and love each other but something always gets in the a way. Tolpuddle is Delilah's dog. Samson's pensioner dad Joseph lost the family farm to local baddie Rick Procter, and is now living at Fellside Court with lots of friends, all anxious to "help" Samson with a bit of amateur detecting. The local police are Sgnt Clayton, PC Danny Bradley, DCI Frank Thistlethwaite, from a neighbouring force, and DC Jess Green, the liaison officer from the Met whom Samson doesn't trust.
Samson's pending trial for drug trafficking is a week away. It has been looming over Samson all series, and matters come to a head in this book. Dangerous people, including some in the Met, don't want Samson giving evidence at his trial, and so a top hitman has been sent to Bruncliffe to kill Samson. The story starts with Delilah kissing Samson (at last), and going off to get a take away meal and bottle of wine. Returning, she is kidnapped by DC Jess Green, (spilling the food and wine) told of the hitman, and asked to put a tracker on Samson so that DC Green can follow and protect Samson. Delilah is asked to betray the man she loves to save his life, by someone she doesn't trust. She solves the problem by calling a meeting of all her many friends and relations in Bruncliffe, tells them of the hitman, admits it will be dangerous, and asks for their help. Samson is the black sheep of Bruncliffe, and not everyone is willing to take the risk. Samson's dad Joseph addresses the meeting, and tells them what really happened when Samson left. Briefly Joseph was an alcoholic, the farm was failing, and he wanted Samson to infect their sheep with Foot and Mouth to get government compensation. Samson said no, there was an argument, and Jospeh chased Samson away with a loaded shotgun. Everyone agrees they got it wrong, and everyone now wants to help. Delilah has an elaborate plan that includes Ida Capstick manning a headquarters, switching trackers, having Samson wear a bright yellow target jumper, have a decoy similarly dressed, switching mobile phones, having a sniper backup, etc, etc. Amazingly, it all sort of works after a fashion, but not before Joseph is kidnapped and needs to be rescued at the Rainsrigg Quarry climax. I liked the bit where Troy, the landlord of The Fleece, was tasked with using his people reading skill to identify the likely hitman. The story unfolds at pace, and by the end we have had to change what we thought we knew about who were the good guys and who the bad. It's all done very cleverly. Well done, Julia Chapman.
But of course, it's a series and so not everything is resolved. Samson still has to find out who planted drugs in Nathan Metcalfe's school locker, and where did the £125k in Bernard Taylor's holdall come from ? Nor has the Pete Ferris "suicide" been resolved. Rick Procter has had to suspend his cannabis farm activities with Samson on his trail. If Samson is exonerated and returns to the Met, all will be well. If not, Rick will have to kill Samson himself.
Once again, and at long last, Delilah and Samson are about to spend the night together. This time, Samson goes for the takeaway meal, and Delilah has a shower and goes to Samson's bed to await his return. But it's been a frantic day, and when Samson returns, he finds an exhausted Delilah sound asleep. He covers her with a blanket, and leaves her to rest. Soon, he too is asleep - in fact all of Bruncliffe are asleep apart from two. One is a shadow sneaking in the dark down from Rainsrigg Quarry towards his prey, and the other one awake is Tolpuddle, sensing trouble, and guarding Samson and Delilah.
There is such a lot I haven't mentioned, including lots of humour - do read the book. Will Samson return to London, or stay in Bruncliffe with Delilah ? We must read on - what next ?
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I read this book in July, 2023.
This is book 8 in the Dales Detective Agency series by Julia Chapman. It really is such a good series! I greatly liked how J K Rowling had planned the whole of the Harry Potter series, and that the significance of what appears in early books only becomes clear in later books / at the end. So too, Julia Chapman has planned this whole series. This book picks up a lot that has happened before, and leads us to the conclusion. Much of this book reads like the final in a series as the three main plots running throughout all come to an end. Plot one was the false corruption charge against Samson O'Brien, undercover cop with the Met's National Crime Agency. Everyone in the team was corrupt except Samson, he was being set up. His boss even sent a hit man to get rid of Samson, but all of Bruncliffe came together to save Samson after his dad Joseph O'Brien explained what really happened when Samson had first left Bruncliffe. Ongoing plot two is the slow burning romance between Delilah Metcalfe, and Samson. She greeted Samson with a punch on his jaw when he first returned to Bruncliffe. Now on his second return she greets him with a passionate very public kiss. They are a couple, and are now sleeping together. However the ending may not be quite so clear cut. The final ongoing plot concerns the corrupt property developer Rick Procter. He used iffy finance from the Karamanski brothers, Nico and Audrey, of the Bulgarian mafia to finance Fellside Hall, and when he fell behind with the payments they suggested a mutual arrangement - he used Bernard Taylor/ Taylor's Estate Agents to supply a series of remote rental properties where he ran cannabis farms using trafficked slave gangs supplied by the mafia. Taylor's rental income was also used to launder the drug money. Taylor's estate letting agent Stuart Lister was on to the scam, and so went missing / disappeared instantly on a foreign holiday. Now Bernard is dead, his wife Nancy has inherited, and has asked the Dales Detective Agency to look into the £125k cash she found in a holdall. It's this plot three that comes to it's conclusion here.
Lets start by reintroducing the main characters . Set in Bruncliffe in the Yorkshire Dales, Samson O'Brien runs the Dales Detective Agency with his business partner, Delilah Metclafe, and her Weimaraner dog Tolpuddle. Ida Capstick is the cleaner who lives in Grove Cottage with her brother George. Ida's cousin Carol Kirby lives with Clive Knowles at Mile End Farm. James ("Herriot") Ellison is the vet. Lucy Metcalfe, Delilah's sister-in-law, runs Peaks Patisserie. Lucy's son Nathan is Samsons's godson. Troy Murgatroyd runs The Fleece, the local pub. The police are PC Danny Bradley, Sergeant Gavin Clayton, and DCI Frank Thistlethwaite takes a keen interest in all Bruncliffe matters. Kamal Husssain runs Rice n'Spice Restaurant. He has a daughter Nina. Rick Procter, a local property developer (and much worse) swindled Samson's dad Joseph out of the family Twistleton Farm - Rick is now running a cannabis farm there. Joseph now lives in Fellside Hall with his pensioner friends (and amateur detectives) Arty Robinson, Eric Bradley, Clarissa Ralph, and Edith Hird. The nurse / manager there is Serbian Ana Stoyanovic. Matty Thistlethwaite is the local solicitor at Turpins, solicitors.
There are lots of personal lives stories, and subplots, but the main one is of course the Samson / Delilah relationship. Neil Taylor, Delilah's ex husband is back in Bruncliffe. Neil and Delilah are getting on better, and Samson is jealous, but he has no reason to be, and a few Samson/ Delilah kisses banish any doubts. Tolpuddle is delighted that his two favourite humans are together. Teenagers Nina Hussain and Nathan Metcalfe are seeing a lot of each other. Delilah, wearing her Dales Dating Agency hat, is running another Seniors' dating night. All the pensioners at Fellside Hall are going, including Samson's dad Joseph. Samson is not sure what he thinks of that. There are also early signs of a romance between vet James and Lucy Metcalfe.
And so to the main plot. The book opens with two men being chased by two gunmen and their rottweiler dog. We later learn that the men are brothers Grigore and injured Pavel. They are both from Transalvania in Roumania. Pavel had been trafficked and Grigore had come to rescue him. They escape by crossing a bog on Twistleton land - the rottweiler follows, but is trapped in the bog, and ends up doped and dumped on the vet's doorstep. Grigore and Pavel have a series of adventures, live off food pinched from Seth Thistlethwaite's allotment, and steal a change of clothes from the Hargreaves washing line. Later they end up hiding in the Capstick barn. George had thought the place haunted before he discovered them. They had worked with the same ancient tractors that Georges was restoring, and so were instant friends. George is feeding them in secret - Ida is amazed at George's new huge appetite !
Things have gone badly astray at the Dales Detective Agency, and the place is in disarray, with a mess of paperwork and dirty cups. Samson had disappeared without saying goodbye, back to London to help clear his name and provide evidence against the corrupt policemen . Delilah is trying to run both the Dating Agency and the Detective Agency, and also install a new computer system at Taylor's Estate Agents. There is a huge workload, and they are not coping. Ida has been promoted to detective, and is helping out. Nina Hussain turns up asking for a holiday job - she wants to be a detective when she leaves school. When she makes an excellent brew of tea, Ida says you're hired. Nina is a clever lass. She enters all the cases on a white board, and gets them to assign priorities - creating order amongst the chaos. Ida had begged Delilah to phone Samson, and get him to return, but Delilah is a proud and stubborn Yorkshire lass. She wants Samson to return of his own free will. A Mrs Lister had been phoning and phoning, but getting no response. She turns up, and won't leave until she sees Delilah. She is estate letting agent Stuart Lister's mum, and doesn't think he has gone off on holiday. She shows Delilah a computer photo / postcard that Stuart had apparently sent her from Thailand, but he hadn't signed it with his usual couple of kisses. That plus going off without any talk of holidays, or saying goodbye is highly suspicious. Later pensioner Clarissa says Stuart did not take the photo - it's an old one taken before the terrible tsunami damage. Much, much later Delilah's brother Will says he knows who took the photo - Neil Taylor. Samson does return - and Delilah greets him with a passionate kiss.
The story now really takes off, and I'll only mention a few aspects. Ida discovers the source of George's appetite, and takes Grigore and Pavel into her kitchen to feed them properly, trying to convince herself that they are good people. With the language barrier communication is impossible, so Ida calls in Ana Stoyanovic to help. Ana does not speak Roumanian, and in turn calls in Manfri, the gypsy, but he is quite far away. At first, Grigore and Pavel fear they have been betrayed by Ida, but Grigore falls for Ana - she is an angel with a beautiful face. He will trust these people. Rick Procter had asked Ida to clean out Stuart Lister's flat, and there Ida finds her stolen bucket. It has lots of estate agency files in it. Eventually these find their way to Samson and Delilah, and he recognises the name Kingston Holdings on the files. This was the company that installed the new lockers at Nathan's school. Planted drugs had been found in Nathan's locker, and Samson is trying to find who did it. At Mile End Farm, Carol Kirby, Ida's cousin, is taking some night air (to get away from Clive's snoring) when she sees across the field, that the old Pete Ferris caravan is on fire. She had spent hours cleaning it, and she rushes to investigate, and sees someone running away, but is very seriously injured when a gas cylinder explodes. Lying in a coma in hospital, Clive never leaves her bedside - Carol means the world to him. We know that Pete Ferris had tried to blackmail Rick Procter - hence Bernard Taylor's holdhall of cash - and been killed, but disguised as suicide. Rick is planning to buy Taylors and has told Neil Taylor that the business is iffy (it was) to reduce the price. Neil realises that Delilah may discover this and so he tells her to stop work on the new computer system and reinstate the old. Rick finds out about Delilah's computer work and may need to "deal" with her. We also read of a mysterious captive, someone from Bruncliffe, only just alive, but held prisoner in some dark room. Of course, it's Stuart Lister - who else could it be?
The net is closing in on Rick Procter, and so he decides to cut and run, stealing the next and imminent drug "rental" payment by accessing the Taylor computer system, and changing the bank account to one of his own. Delilah visits Rick without telling anyone where she is going, and is invited in for coffee. She spills some, and looking for a wipe in a drawer, finds two fishing flies her brother Ryan had tied, Nathan's prize possessions, stolen and kept as a souvenir by Rick. She tackles Rick, but her coffee had been poisoned, and she falls unconscious. She is bundled into the boot of Rick's Range Rover. Taken out for a walk in the torrential rain by Arty and Joseph, Tolpuddle finds Rick's car parked at Fellside, and catches Delilah's scent. He goes crazy trying to get at the boot but is hauled away. Delilah is dumped in the same room where barely conscious Stuart is lying. Worse still Rick seems to be leaving incendiary devices all over the place (including at Twistleton Farm) to destroy any evidence. Samson had realised that all the cases Dales Detective Agency were working on were related, but now Delilah is missing. Has he lead the love of his life into mortal danger? Where is Delilah ? It's all hands on deck, the three policemen, Samson, Nathan, Nina, George, Grigore, Pavel, and the Fellside pensioners. Arty sends out a Whatsappp message to the same Bruncliffe group that formed to protect Samson from the hitman about a month ago. It all builds to as good a climax as I have read in long time. Delilah injured again, captive with Stuart, and the smell of smoke. Read it all for yourselves.
Samson loves Delilah, but has been exonerated, and asked to rejoin the National Crime Agency, the Met job he loves and at which he excels. She loves him, but says love can't thrive if you try to change people. Will he stay or will he go ? We get the answer I think in the last chapter - so now there probably will be another book in the series. Two other questions : Rick's property will be auctioned off under the proceeds of crime legislation. Who will buy Twistleton Farm, can Samson afford it. And what about Fellside Hall? Will all the pensioners be homeless ?
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