Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

  • Date with Death

  • Dales Detective Agency, Book 1
  • By: Julia Chapman
  • Narrated by: Elizabeth Bower
  • Length: 9 hrs and 1 min
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (333 ratings)
Offer ends May 1st, 2024 11:59PM GMT. Terms and conditions apply.
£7.99/month after 3 months. Renews automatically.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Date with Death cover art

Date with Death

By: Julia Chapman
Narrated by: Elizabeth Bower
Get this deal Try for £0.00

Pay £99p/month. After 3 months pay £7.99/month. Renews automatically. See terms for eligibility.

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Listeners also enjoyed...

The Cherrywood Murders cover art
The Bookshop Murder cover art
The Charity Shop Detective Agency cover art
Death at the Auction cover art
Mystery on Hidden Lane: An Utterly Gripping Cozy Mystery Novel cover art
An English Garden Murder cover art
The Cornish Wedding Murder cover art
The Village Hall Vendetta cover art
The Bingo Hall Detectives cover art
Losers Club cover art
Murder at the Dolphin Hotel: A Gripping Cozy Historical Mystery cover art
Murder at the House on the Hill cover art
Crimson Shore cover art
The Kensington Kidnap cover art
A Murder of Crows cover art
Murder in Tuscany cover art

Summary

Meet two sleuths from a sleepy Yorkshire village as they investigate murders and discover the secrets behind the twitching curtains. Date with Death is the first cosy crime novel in Julia Chapman's Dales Detective series, perfect for fans of Richard Osman's The Thursday Murder Club and M.C. Beaton.

Samson O'Brien has been dismissed from the police force, and returns to his hometown of Bruncliffe in the Yorkshire Dales to set up the Dales Detective Agency. However, the villagers aren't that welcoming to a man they see as trouble.

Delilah Metcalfe is struggling to keep her business, the Dales Dating Agency, afloat as well as trying to control her wayward Weimaraner dog, Tolpuddle, when Samson's first case – a supposed suicide – takes an unexpected turn, and a trail of deaths lead back to the door of Delilah's agency.

With suspicion hanging over someone they both care for, the two feuding neighbours soon realize that they need to work together to solve the mystery of the dating deaths. But working together is easier said than done . . .

Full of wit, warmth and characters you'll care about, continue the murder mystery series with Date with Malice.

©2016 Julia Chapman (P)2016 Pan Macmillan Publishers Ltd.

Critic reviews

A classic whodunit set in the spectacular landscape of the Yorkshire Dales, written with affection for the area and its people. A satisfying read riddled with dry Yorkshire humour (and dry stone walls) (Cath Staincliffe, author of the Scott & Bailey series)

Great fun! (Carol Drinkwater)

What listeners say about Date with Death

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    216
  • 4 Stars
    90
  • 3 Stars
    19
  • 2 Stars
    5
  • 1 Stars
    3
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    213
  • 4 Stars
    70
  • 3 Stars
    10
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    2
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    186
  • 4 Stars
    79
  • 3 Stars
    22
  • 2 Stars
    5
  • 1 Stars
    3

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Enjoyable listen.

Good story, well read, suspenseful & funny with interesting characters about whom there is obviously more to learn in future books. Looking forward to the next one "Date With Malice "

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

An enjoyable read

A cosy crime story with well-drawn characters. It moves along at a good pace to keep the reader engaged. Moving on to Book 2.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Completely wonderful!!

Such a fab story, wonderfully narrated and very engaging. I enjoyed it a great deal.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Loved it immensely

story is both entertaining and great listening,. It is worth both time relaxing and total escapism.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great!

This is a great light hearted crime book. It has equal measures of laughter and suspense.
It kept me guessing right until the end.
If you enjoy Agatha Raisin books you'll love this!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A good listen

well narrated, easy flowing story and engaging characters. I will continue to follow the series

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A new series to look forward to

Two interesting main characters and a wonderful dog. A good mystery that kept me guessing to the end.
Lovely description of the countryside, evoking a realistic village community .
The background plot is something that is obviously going to run and run.
Highly recommended. Good narration.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

An excellent series of books

This is my second time listening to this series. I am eagerly awaiting publication of the 7th in the series, in a couple of weeks time, and have decided to start again at the beginning, while I wait.

I first discovered these in late 2020 and listened to the first 5 back to back and loved them all. The 6th book was just as good when published a year ago.

I have just loved revisiting the start of the series, and will now move through the rest. The warmth of the characters and the excellent characterisation by Eluzabeth Bower make them well worth a listen, or even a second listen!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

good plot dales flavoured murder mystery

took a while to warm to the characters but it was a good story with a good ending and a seperate underlying mystery that i presume will be resolved in the next book. all that with a touch of romance makes this book well worth a read/listen.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Entertaining, easy listening

Looking forward to the next in the series. Really enjoyed this bit of Dales life with a mystery. Down to earth Dales humour with a murder & a progressive story line to look forward to.
The narration was excellent & she made the story come alive.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!