AUSTWICK based novelist, Julia Stagg, has changed her name and turned her hand to crime for her latest series of books.

Writing under the pseudonym Julia Chapman, she has left behind the French Pyrenees that formed the backdrop for her last five novels. Instead she has brought her books closer to home, setting her new detective series in the Yorkshire Dales.

Date with Death, the first in the Dales Detective Series, is based in Bruncliffe, a fictionalised version of Settle. It features Samson O’Brien, a disgraced detective who has returned to his home town to clear his name. Reluctantly thrown together with Delilah Metcalfe, owner of the Dales Dating Agency and a woman who has no time for Bruncliffe’s black sheep, he discovers a trail of deaths that lead to her back door. With suspicion hanging over someone they both care for, the feuding neighbours must set their differences aside if they are to solve the mystery of the dating deaths.

"It’s what known as cosy crime," said Julia. "Think Midsomer Murders but with fewer murders and more sheep."

The first three books in the series have been snapped up by Pan Macmillan in the UK and Minotaur Books in the USA, with publication to take place in six-monthly intervals.

"I’ve been very busy trying to meet what is a tight deadline but it’s been a delight writing about the Dales," she said.

"The landscape is so distinctive, it’s a character in its own right. After the last couple of years writing about France from a distance, it’s also been a joy to be living in the area that features in my work. Being able to go out on long bike rides and call it research is a luxury."

Date with Death is published on Thursday, March 9 but Julia has shunned the bright lights of London for the launch of the new series. Instead she will be celebrating publication at Settle’s Victoria Hall at the end of March.

"It seemed the natural choice, bringing the launch here to the Dales where the books are set. It’s also an ideal way for me to thank people in the area who have helped with research over the last year or so. We’ve got local band Revival of the Fittest playing live on the night so it should be a great evening. And of course, everyone is welcome."

Date with Death is published March 9, when it will be available from local bookshops and online. The series will be launched at Settle Victoria Hall on March 31 at 7pm.