A review by themagicalworldofnian
Een date met de dood by Julia Chapman

funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Een date met de dood (Date with death) by Julia Chapman - review 

3⭐️

For the Scheltema YA book bingo one of the challenges was to read a cozy crime, which is a genre I had never read before. But I will definitely be picking it up more often now. It is such a fun genre. I really enjoyed this read.

Date with Death is the first book of the Dales Detective series by Julia Chapman. It starts of with Delilah Metcalfe, a business woman who is trying to keep her head above the water, while her two businesses are not performing that great. When Samson O’Brien arrives into the city after being away for a long time, he did not receive the warm welcome he expected. But he still plans on opening up his own little detective agency in his hometown. And what other place is free for rent than the business of Delilah, who really needs the money. 

Delilah has both a webdesign business and a dating bureau. But what will happen when multiple of her clients of the dating bureau end up death. And who else is going to research than the new detective in town.

I really liked how the characters were built and you got to know them and their backstory better and better. You really got to know the town and its people. However, there were a lot of characters and point of view switched which sometimes were a bit confusing and annoying

The chemistry between the characters and all the relationships was also very well written and really enjoyable. 

Overall I really enjoyed this read and definitely recommend this if you like a small town murder mysterie, with great character development and chemistry. 

Ps. note I have read the Dutch translation.