THE latest of Julia Chapman's Dales Detective books is out soon - and hold onto your hats, it gets steamy.

Its not just Tolpuddle the Weimaraner who has to put his paws over his eyes; this is when Samson and Delilah finally get it together.

Oh, how we've followed Met Police detective Samson O'Brien as he returned to Bruncliffe in disgrace. How we have watched him re-establish himself in the home town where he was considered a black sheep, not least for taking off to that there London. And how we have watched as his relationship with town firebrand Delilah Metcalfe went from a business arrangement to so much more.

Over the course of the last seven books, the pair and their Dales Detective Agency has tackled murders, drugs, cat poisonings - and the pinching of clothes from washing lines.

There has also been Eastern European hard men up to no good and the somewhat dodgy but successful businessman, Rick Procter.

Bruncliffe is a thinly disguised Settle and all the action takes place in the area, with occasional forays into Skipton or Leeds.

Even the Craven Herald gets a mention, or at least it's Twitter account. How times have moved on.

Book eight, Date With Evil feels very much like everything is coming to a climax, and that's not just Samson and Delilah.

A Date with Evil the fattest of the books so far, I believe, takes off at a furious pace and steams along right until the explosive end. If you are a bath reader, be prepared for the water to go cold.

Several of Samson and Delilah's cases start to collide and threads are pulled together: I thought this would be the end, the last of the Dales Detective series, but no, once again we end on a cliff hanger.

Will Samson head back to the bright lights of London, or can he be persuaded to settle back down in the Dales?

Date with Evil will be savoured by fans of the series, and will equally fire the imaginations of a whole new set of devotees.

It has just been announced that the books are to be made into a television series - the burning question of course is just who will play Samson and who will play Delilah? Not to mention Ida Capstick and all the elderly inhabitants of Fellside Court.

Date with Evil, published by Macmillan, comes out on April 13. It will be available to buy at all good book shops, including The Stripey Badger, Grassington, Limestone Books, Settle, and The Grove Bookshop, Ilkley.