When Ruby accepts a job for Diana she has to stay with her but Diana turns up dead, Ruby’s sleuthing background comes in handy:
Whilst a well written cosy murder I didn’t realise this was the third in a series which detracted a little for me but that’s my fault not the author’s. Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

This book languished on my kindle for far longer than it should have. The character, Ruby Fawcett, put me in mind of a cross between a young Miss Marple and a young Jessica Fletcher. The latter, mostly through the writerly connection. Still, the amateur sleuth angle portrayed is fresh and fun to read.

Commissioned to write a biography about a deceased Cambridge academic, Ruby is pulled into the mystery of how the woman died and whodunnit. I mean all good authors have to spend a great deal of time researching before they can begin to write.

This is the first book I've read by Clare Chase and it won't be the last one. I wish I found the first book in the series before this one.

One dark lie by Claire Chase.
A good read with likeable characters. Found it a little slow in places but I read it. I liked the story. I liked the cover. 4*.

This is the third book in the London and Cambridge mysteries series and it just get better every time. Even though is the third book in the series, it reads nicely as a standalone, but perhaps if you've read the previous book, there is some references you might understand better.
An entertaining read, worth your time and effort.

Enjoyable read. Good storyline and likeable characters.

This book can be read as a standalone, although I recommend that you read A Stranger’s House first.

One Dark Lie tells the story of the very inquisitive Ruby Fawcett, who is an Author. Ruby is asked to write a biography of a recently murdered woman Diana Patrick-John. However Diana’s brother doesn’t want Ruby to concentrate on the demise of Diana, he wants her to write about her brilliance as an academia and what a success she was. He also wants her to stay in Diana’s room in his house! As you can imagine, Nate (Ruby’s boyfriend) is not so keen on this idea.

Ruby is a brilliantly rounded character that I could see has developed since the first book, and continues to develop throughout this book. The chapters alternate between Ruby and Nate. I liked this touch as we could understand how each of them felt, and see the story from both sides. (I liked and agreed with Ruby!, although I did think her rather crazy at times!

“OK, so I know you think I work to the Famous Five school of detection..”

Ruby is inquisitively wonderful, but I often felt her too impulsive at times. I think the Author gave a good impression of the characters’ journalistic instincts and hotheadedness to get the scoop and find out what is going on, just as Ruby was in the other books. Although this makes her love-able, it also made me want to yell, ‘Ruby, use your sensible head!’ She does, however come up with some very clever thoughts, and this is one I will keep in mind:

“Recognising something as precious shouldn’t be a cause for anxiety; not unless you know it’s under threat”.

Ruby pulls out all the stops to find out as much as she can about the work she wants to write about. This involves meeting other people which are small characters in the book, but add a lot to the overall impression we get of Ruby. She is great at giving advice, and shows us the strong independent woman that she is:

“….you can make a great future, but because of who you are inside, not because of whether someone else believes in you”

I had mentioned in my review of the Author’s previous book that Ruby’s best friend could be better and more supportive, and this time she was much better and I grew to like Steph much more than I did before.

Cambridge, where the book is based, seems like a lovely place with a lot of hidden secrets and gems. as the Author has mentioned in one of her interviews, Cambridge is a great setting for a murder mystery. I would very much like to visit one day, and on that day, I would be thinking about Clare Chase and her stories.

One Dark Lie is not a hard dark murder, it is more of a steadily paced sleuthing mystery, it kept me gripped, but wont give you nightmares – unless you decide to stay in a house which has had a murder in it!

I totally recommend One Dark Lie, and will again be reaching for Clare Chase’s next book, again without needing to read the blurb. I just know it will be brilliant!

http://readdayandnight.blogspot.com/2017/03/one-dark-lie-by-clare-chase.html

Nate and Ruby are living a quiet life together, but crime seems to be following them.

Ruby finds a job researching and writing about Diana Patrick-John, a Cambridge academic. Unfortunately, Diana was found dead under suspicious circumstances in her home ..the place where Ruby has been invited to stay.

Nate is not real happy about Ruby moving under another man's roof, even if it is only for a writing job. But Nate has his own secrets, things he does not want to tell Ruby about. He calls it protecting her, and in some ways it is.

But when Ruby starts investigating the death of her subject, she finds herself in more danger than she thought possible. Where is Nate and why is he not supporting her? He's become more secretive and distant and he certainly isn't there for her.

ONE DARK LIE is the follow up to A STRANGER'S HOUSE. It's well-written with great return characters. There are lots of twists and a mystery that just doesn't quit until the very last page.

Many thanks to the author / Choc Lit / Netgalley for the digital copy of this book. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

Ruby is a writer. Lately she hasn't been happy with her books and the direction her publisher wants her to take. When Quentin Patrick-John approaches her to write a book about his sister Diana, Ruby sees this as a new opportunity to profile herself as a writer. Diana Patrick-John was a well know academic and was murdered in her home. Her murder is still unsolved. Even though her house is also the crime-scene, Ruby moves in and stays with Diana's brother, wife and daughter. What will Ruby find when she starts digging into Diana's background and life?

Nate withdrew from the outside world after his sister was killed in a housefire. Nate thought for a long time that he was the target, but now that he's found out that it was his sister they were after he's trying to get enough evidence to put the murderer behind bars. Nate is keeping his girlfriend Ruby away from his home because he doesn't want her to get hurt. He knows that Quentin Patrick-John is bad news and he's not happy with the fact that Ruby is living with him now and is writing a story about his sister. Will Ruby's job be the one thing that they can't overcome together?

Ruby is a skilled writer. She's curious and has a brilliant mind. She's very good at connecting dots and knows where to look for more information. Even though Quentin Patrick-John is an intimidating person she doesn't let him make all the rules. She knows what she's doing and she won't stop until her story is complete. Ruby is a strong and independent woman and I loved that about her.

Nate still struggles with the pain and grief of losing his sister. I understood why he made certain choices, but I wished for him to be more open with Ruby about this. Instead of growing closer to her, Nate only drifts further away from Ruby. It saddened me that Nate thinks he has to deal with his sister's murder on his own. He knows he will be in danger when trying to bring a murderer to justice, but he's willing to take that risk and I was desperately hoping for him to succeed. Nate is determined to avenge his sister's death and I admired him for that.

Ruby and Nate are already established characters and One Dark Lie isn't the first book about them. They were formed by events that happened in the past. They were introduced in the second book in The London & Cambridge Mysteries series, A Stranger's House. Because I haven't read that story it took me a little while to connect to Ruby and Nate. One Dark Lie can be read as a standalone since Clare Chase will give you enough information to understand the story, but it slowed me down a bit because I didn't know Ruby and Nate's background. That said, One Dark Lie is a phenomenal story with lots of mystery and action. Ruby and Nate both have their own gripping journey and I was thrilled to learn more about the outcome for them both. Their story is filled with suspense and unexpected surprises. I really enjoyed reading about Ruby and Nate and think they're interesting main characters I'd love to know more about.

Advice

One Dark Lie is an action-packed story filled with mysteries and mindblowing twists. To fully understand the main characters I would recommend to start with A Stranger's House.

When I reviewed A Stranger’s House, I mentioned how much I was looking forward to spending time with Nate and Ruby again – and this book gave me everything I’d hoped for. This book could – very comfortably – be read as a stand-alone, but it was so good to see how the relationship had developed while we weren’t watching.

My only tiny reservation about that “stand-alone” comment is with the storyline (there are distinctly two) that focuses on Nate. I’m not sure, but maybe not knowing the background might lessen its impact and importance – even I found the gangland content a bit confusing. But as a device to show how secrets and lies – even for the best of reasons – can blow apart everything you hold dear, it works just wonderfully. And that sense of impending disaster… quite gripping.

I’ll admit though that I found Ruby’s strand of the story the more personally engaging. It features a gloriously complicated web of relationships, becoming more entangled by the moment, as Ruby investigates the life – and, though not part of her brief, the death – of academic and socialite Diana Patrick-John. The author creates some wonderfully complex characters – Diana’s brother Quentin, their sister Sonia, Quentin’s estranged wife, his daughter Clemmie, museum director Larry, the mysterious young man on the street corner – and allows us to sit on Ruby’s shoulder as she tries to disentangle the threads.

I do remember commenting that the last book in the series was almost “cosy” in its style – this one has harder edges, but I really think it’s better for it. I found the uncovering of Diana’s life quite fascinating – the Cambridge academic world is totally unfamiliar to me, but it’s wonderfully brought to life. And I must also pay due tribute to the way Cambridge itself lives and breathes through the pages of this book – excellent scene-setting against a vividly drawn backdrop. But there are also moments of danger and impending disaster – in both stories – that have you on the edge of your seat, and they’re exceptionally well handled. There’s gentle romance and relationship drama too – and some lovely touches of humour, mainly by seeing things through Ruby’s eyes. Juggling all the different themes, threads and moods really can’t have been easy – but the author makes it seem that way.

I’ll admit that I’m often not the sharpest tool in the box when it comes to uncovering clues and finding the villain – but this book really kept me guessing to the very end, and I really enjoyed the journey. And as for our team, Nate and Ruby – where do they end up? You’ll really need to read the book, won’t you?

We all have a favorite genre, but sometimes it feels right to delve into something a little darker, a little gritty and filled with mysterious angles, twists and those “Never saw THAT coming,” moments. You are going to find them in ONE DARK LIE by Clare Chase, the story of two people, each on a mission of discovery. Nate is driven to protect Ruby, an author who takes her due diligence a little too far as she becomes wrapped up gaining the meat and potatoes for her next great read, a tale of a real-life murder that just happens to take place with the very walls of where she is staying...

Travel back in time to find out how these two characters became who they are today. Share their pasts, their pain and heartaches, their fond memories and follow along as ruby gets caught up in playing sleuth as she follows the bread crumbs to a conclusion that you may not see coming!
Dark, tense and people with things to hide, Clare Chase has done a wonderful job of putting together an edgy read that can be followed with or without reading previous books.

I received this copy from Clare Chase in exchange for my honest review.

Series: London & Cambridge Mysteries - Book 3
Publisher: Death by Choc Lit (December 12, 2016)
Publication Date: December 12, 2016
Genre: Cozy Mystery | Thriller
Print Length: 241 pages
Available from: https://www.amazon.com/Dark-London-Ca... | Barnes & Noble
For Reviews & More: http://tometender.blogspot.com

Having read and thoroughly enjoyed the previous book A Stranger's House by Clare Chase I was so keen to read this book. And, I was not disappointed. For all you fans of mysteries this book will feed your addiction to good old fashioned sleuthing!

The story carries on from A Stranger's House but it can be read just as well as a standalone although I would urge you to read the previous book just to add further to your enjoyment of the series. Again we are introduced to Nate and Ruby. Now in a relationship, Nate is unhappy that Ruby takes up the job offer to write about the life of Diana Patrick-John, a murdered academic. Nate is worried that Ruby and her nose for a good story will not be able to resist the urge to investigate the murder while she is writing the book. He is also worried that Diana's sleazy brother has another agenda in hiring Ruby. But, Ruby being fiercely independent and not one to take advice easily decides to go ahead and move into Diana's old home to write the book. She does not feel she has Nate's support but he himself has some secrets that he doesn't want to reveal to Ruby in order to protect her from danger, despite placing himself right in the line of danger in an attempt to protect Ruby and bring the murderer of his own sister to justice. Both are being inexplicably lead into worlds that could threaten the survival of their relationship and in fact their lives.

During her research into Diana, its not long before Ruby finds put that Diana's life isn't everything that was publicly portrayed. In fact, the entire family is such an intricate web of lies and deceit and before long Ruby finds herself caught up in trying to solve the murder.

This book had me totally hooked from the very beginning. So much so that I simply could not put it down. The easy writing style carried me along and I have been recommending this book to work colleagues, long before I even finished it. Its just that good! I love that Ruby is such a strong female lead with a real nose for a good mystery. She doesn't rely on Nate or need his validation to do what she wants. She's a brilliant character and I love her! Throughout the course of the book there are little snippets of secrets and clues hidden throughout and lots of surprises and open mouthed moments for me! With a complicated but expertly written plot to tease the reader throughout, One Dark Lie will weave you into its mystery and suspense. More please Clare Chase!!! A very highly recommended read from me.

This isn't just one mystery but two, woven beautifully alongside each other and very cleverly plotted so you don't know how it's going to turn out until right at the end. There's also a love story to add to the mix, and it was lovely to catch up with Ruby and Nate again from the previous book, A Stranger's House. Just as you didn't know whether Ruby would find out what happened to Diana, the lady whose biography she was writing, or whether Nate would get justice for his sister, you didn't know whether these two find their happy ever after. It's written with a gentle but sure touch; not a race to the finish but more a ramble, giving you time to enjoy the scenery and taking you down paths you would otherwise have missed. Really enjoyed it.

https://rhodabaxter.com/2017/03/20/book-review-one-dark-lie-by-clare-chase/

This is the second book that I have read by Clare Chase in the London & Cambridge Mysteries series after reading A stranger's House and loving it I couldn't wait to crack on with this book. And I certainly wasn't disappointed.

In this story Ruby takes on a job writing a biography about a murdered lady called Diana Patrick-John. She begins to uncover Diana’s secret live being drawn into the fact that who actually killed her. Can she rely on Nate to support when he behaviour comes rather strange.

Having met rough and ready Nate and Ruby in A Stranger's House it was nice to catch up with them again I do think they make a brilliant team. And I feel this story works well has a standalone.

This is one fast paced enjoyable read that had me guessing until the end. I devoured it in one afternoon I couldn't put it down. There is something about Clare’s style of writing that I find very atmospheric and easy to read. I found myself flying through this story.

If you are a fan of mystery suspense this is the book for you which I highly recommend giving it 4 stars.

This definitely kept my interest, and I wish I had read the two others that came before it in the series! In any case, the characters seemed well developed and the plot moved quickly, with lots of red herrings thrown at the reader. Great story by a talented writer!