I often comment that I love being at the beginning of the life of a book (and in fact I organized a guest post here. by Julia Chapman when the first book in her Dales detective series, Date with deathIt was launched in 2017), but today’s publication is something different when Julia celebrates the launch of the tenth and last book of the series, Date with fate. Julia has kindly provided an guest publication that looks ten things she loved to write ten books in a series. My great thanks to Chloe Davies for contacting each other.
Date with fate PAN Macmillan publishes today, March 27, 2025, and is available for purchase through the editor’s links here.
Date with fate
From death to danger and malice and mystery, Samson and Delilah have resisted many storms. Finally, things should go without problems. Except that life is never so simple in Bruncliffe, right?
As the couple is harassed by concerns about their next wedding, a charismatic celebrity has been calling the door of the Dales detective agency, looking for their services. Samson is initially reluctant to help, for many reasons. But things intensify rapidly after a shocking murder in Fellsis Court and, when a friend suspects, Samson and Delilah must put aside their personal problems to catch a murderer.
In a case that will bring many of Bruncliffe’s secrets in light, this final research for Dales detectives can be the one who breaks them forever. . .
Ten things
An guest publication by Julia Chapman
Writing the Dales detective series It has been an absolute joy. When I left ten years ago, I did not dare to dream that the series would cover a decade (although I was planning the plots of about ten books from the beginning!). Like all authors, I knew that the longevity of a series would be determined by success and, in publication, success is not always easy to achieve. However, here I am! The tenth and last book Date with fate It is reaching the shelves in the United Kingdom and the series is an international best seller. I feel proud. I feel sad when saying goodbye to a wonderful community that I loved to create. But I also feel excited about what I am writing next!
The ten best things I loved to write the Dales detective series (Cue your own pop music!):
10. Ovejas and vintage tractors: I never thought I would have become so well informed about the sheep races and old tractors! Yes, I have favorites: Swaledale (Suffolk a second nearby) in the sheep category and the Ferguson TE20 tractor (or little gray). But I’m not just me. Now they send me photos of sheep (especially roses, if you know, you know!) And small gray of readers around the world
9. Throwing things that are perfect for a plot … This is very difficult to explain, but on countless occasions, while reflecting on a complicated plot, something will happen in the real world that fits perfectly with the puzzle in which I am working. And on a remarkable occasion, a plot arrived long before the book was written. This was the case with Date of justice (DD9), where I heard a radio program about Newts and had to sit about that knowledge for four years. His work title was a date with Newt!
8. The perfect excuse to mount: I love being on my bicycle. Writing this series gave me an excuse to explore the valleys on two wheels, which included a lot of driving uphill! But it was worth it. Seeing the world I was writing that really gave me the opportunity to enjoy the landscape.
7. Using the landscape as a character: when you have robust stone walls, steep falls, dramatic limestone pavement, all combined with a climate that is as capricious as Troy Murgatroyd’s moods, it is an absolute gift for a writer.
6. Being able to exhibit Yorkshire’s valleys: I really enjoyed shining in the pieces of the valleys that are less known. Things like the Hoffmann oven in Settle, or even an auction of cattle, such a fundamental part of life here and, nevertheless, an aspect that few ‘offcumden’ know something.
5. Research: Some authors hate him. I adore it. Bringing my teeth to a new theme and really digsing deeply is one of the greatest pleasures in writing. Whether it is types of poison (there is a dictionary full of them, who knew it?), Auctions of cattle, electronic labels, the aforementioned tritones or, in the last book, the world of Haute Couture, there is something fascinating in immersing myself in an area beyond my experience. And talking to experts in those fields has also been a privilege.
4. Tolpuddle: When I found the fact that the Weimaraners are excellent companions of falling (as I said, I love the investigation!), I knew I had found my partner for Delilah Metcalfe. The fact that they are also prone to anxiety attacks simply caused this gray shadow to be perfect. I had no idea when I presented it on the page that Tolpuddle would become one of the most popular characters in the series. Even with his beer allergy …
3. He fell running: I took fell running when I moved to the dales fourteen years ago and I am not exaggerating when I affirm that the majority of the series of detectives dales was “written” while I was dating. There is something to be there alone (except the sheep and the alls!) That allows my creative energy to really flow.
2. Ida Capstick: Some readers could expect it to be in the pole position. And I have to be honest, it was a difficult decision! Ida crossed the pages of the first book and made it clear that it was not going to be the peripheral character he had planned. She has been an absolute joy of writing. His pragmatism in a world that often makes no sense. His acute humor that can get the pain from a moving scene. And his tea. Oh your tea! I will miss her a lot.
1. The readers: the reaction to the series worldwide has launched me to the reaction to the series. People have really led Bruncliffe and their community to their hearts and, for me, that is the best thing that these books have come out. They also give me a lot of support, often in ways that do not even realize. A photo of pink sheep here. A comment about going there. And the beautiful messages I receive through social networks. Without readers, there would be no Dale detective series. So make an arc, lovely lot. You are my number 1.
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What a fabulosa Julia. Thank you very much for providing an idea of the series Dales Detectives. I wish you all the success with your next writing company.
About Julia Chapman
Julia Chapman is the author of the Dales Detective series, which follows the adventures of Samson O’Brien and Delilah Metcalfe while solving cases in the Dales of Yorkshire. Born with a passion for the trips that keeps her moving, Julia has followed her restless feet towards Japan, Australia, the United States and France. He spent most of that time as an English teacher as a foreign language, but also ventured into the sale of books, the areoso, the waitress and once it was ‘Chick-Bicking of the month’ in a supermarket in southern Australia! His first series of books, The Fogas Chronicles, were written while running an aubergy in the French Pyrenees with her husband. Published under its real name, Julia Stagg, the novels are set in that spectacular mountain area. Now, after spending many years wandering, he is pleased to call Hales de Yorkshire Dales, his distinctive landscape and his way of life that provide the stage for their cozy series of crimes.
For more information, find Julia on Facebook The detective Or follow her in Bluesky and Instagram.
