One Dark Lie

I said in my review for A Stranger's House that, although I believed it to be a stand alone, I would love to see more for Nate and Ruby in the future so you could imagine my excitement when I saw this book. That excitement soon turned to dread as I remembered the old adage - "careful what you wish for" but I am very pleased to report that I loved this book just as much. This book again deals a lot with both Ruby's and Nate's lives before they met. Indeed, much of that past is front and centre in this book and, although enough is included within this book for it to be easy to pick up, to get the very best from it, it would be better to have read the previous as they are both very character driven books.
So, in this book, Ruby is approached by a stranger who wants her to write a book about his sister's life. Diana Patrick-John was an academic; well renowned in her field albeit sometimes a little controversial. When she tells Nate about it, he doesn't react favourably as the brother had already asked for his help with the circumstances around her death - oh yeah, she was recently murdered and the crime is still unsolved. Having left the investigative side of his life behind for personal reasons, he suspects that Ruby has only been asked to put pressure on him to acquiesce. This puts distance between him and Ruby which is compounded by the fact that he is spend a lot of time on his own doing something he is also reluctant to share with her. With Ruby's new job being live-in in Diana's old house, sharing with the brother and their daughter, will the gap between them widen or will they be able to claw things back to how they were?
Oh my goodness, this book packed a punch. As she had already displayed, Ruby is a rather nosy person and despite what happened last time, she goes all in to try and get to the bottom of Diana's life whilst at the same time, on the side, trying to figure out what really happened the night she was killed. This time though, she is without Nate who is off on his own mission. She retains her scruples throughout though, which has been her undoing before as she defies instruction and goes off on her own journey of discovery. I do love a good feisty character and she is just that!
Nate on the other hand is doing his own thing, for his own reasons which alienates him from Ruby. The readers can see what and why but Ruby can't so it is quite hard reading some of the pages as I was shouting loads - just tell her - please, don't destroy the good in your life. I really did get involved a bit whilst reading it, but that's only cos I really do care about the characters and that is kudos indeed to the author.
Pacing is brilliant. As Ruby's investigation quietens down, Nate's ramps up and we sort of play see-saw with the two threads in the book. Sometimes they peak at the same time and we get both barrels and that's a lot of fun too. I am so glad that I started this book on a day when I had nothing planned as I was so reluctant to put it down I pretty much read it start to finish in one go. It really gripped me that much!
There are also pretty much no wasted words in the book. No padding, no unnecessary over-descriptive bits. Every word really does count towards the story making this book all the more powerful. That in itself is very refreshing and it also means, for me anyway, that every word really should be savoured as, even the smallest thing has a bearing on the whole.
All in all, a great follow up and I really do hope that Ruby and Nate will be back as I really can't wait to see what shenanigans will embroil them next time.

My thanks go to Netgalley and the Publisher for the chance to read this book.

After the perilous murder investigation that Nate and Ruby lived through (barely), they need some time to rest and recover. Ruby accepts a job researching the eccentric Cambridge academic Diana Patrick-John. To give the story the ring of authenticity and enable her to research her subject, Ruby is staying in Diana’s home – the home where Diana died a mysterious death. The more Ruby learns about her subject, the more she’s convinced that someone had a hand in the woman’s death. She needs Nate’s help on this, but instead of backing her up, he begins to distance himself from her, and the case. This is the second book in this series and I like the dynamic between Nate and Ruby, which is changing all the time. The mystery is tightly plotted and imaginative, a good read

4.5 stars. When Ruby Fawcett accepted the job of writing a book about the life of world-renowned academic, Diana Patrick-John, it seemed a good career move at the time while simultaneously providing her with some space to consider where her relationship with former private investigator Nate Bastable was heading. The thing is, Diana Patrick-John was murdered in her house. The same house Ruby was now sharing for book research purposes with the victim's young niece, Clemmie, and creepy brother, Quentin, and the more Ruby discovers about the late Diana's life and personality, the people close to her, and the rivalries within Cambridge academia, the closer she comes to uncover details about Diana's murder.
One Dark Lie is the third book in Clare Chase's London & Cambridge Mysteries series. It works as a standalone novel, but as it is the second book featuring Ruby and Nate, I think starting with A Stranger's House makes sense in order to get the characters' full history. I loved A Stranger's House and I was über-excited to see Nate and Ruby were back. I also love the setting of the book in East Anglia. When Ruby went on a research trip to Aldeburgh on the East Coast, I was feeling rather homesick. It's always nice to read a book that features locations you are familiar with.
One Dark Lie was a very well-plotted, cozy mystery that is laced with the budding romance between Ruby and Nate. The emphasis really is on gentle. It reminds me of traditional English mysteries. The language is clean, and there is nothing graphic with regards to sex or violence.
The one tiny thing that I'd have liked to see handled differently is the change in perspective from Ruby's first-person to Nate's third-person. It's a personal preference, but I find those switches always leave me less connected. Either first or third-person narrative is fine but stick to one.
Despite that minor niggle, I thoroughly enjoyed this, and I'm hoping it's not the last we've heard about Ruby and Nate because they have become a favourite sleuthing couple of mine.
Thanks to Choc-Lit and Clare Chase for my ARC via NetGalley.