I enjoyed this gentle read and felt the story was well told. An ideal beach read.

Not an Author I had read before, but this made me want to read more.

An entertaining read that kept me reading until the wee hours of the morning. An interesting thriller that you will love!

Omg talk about a roller coaster read wow this book kept me on the edge of my seat threw out I just couldn't put it down this writer keeps you hooked and once your hooked your not letting go I found this book thrilling the characters were fantastic and well thought out and the little clues all the way threw keep you guessing until the end this book stays with you long after you close the book this book is well worth the read I promise you wont be disappointed

I must say, I would love to have a hairdresser like Ruby! She would get rid of not only bad hair days, but all other problems I have in life....
Ruby is asked by one of her clients to investigate the disappearance of her daughter. This sets the tone of a thrilling read, against the backdrop of a hair salon and all!
This was an entertaining read - recommended!

It was lovely to catch up on our friends from the first book Before I Left. Once again an enjoyable nostalgic read from the 60s in the company of Ruby and friends. I look forward to reading more in the future.

I could not get into this book, and DNF at 23 percent, I don't know if its the book or just the type of mood i am in. But i most likely will not be picking this back up.

Story line was not believable. Long and drawn out. Ending kind of left you hanging. Was not really impressed with this book.

Before I Found You by Daisy White was a fun mystery from start to end. I really enjoyed the main protagonist, Ruby, as she works to solve a 10 year mystery involving a missing child and a wrongfully accused mother. I look forward to reading more booKS by White in the future.

I have mixed feelings about this book. It's not bad but it's not great either.

Set in the sixties, there's little atmospheric detail apart from the occasional reference to the Beatles, which is very jarring. It's very anti breastfeeding, unnecessarily so, which is also disappointing. Finally, the ending is rushed, and lacks the drama it should have inherently, given what happens.

Having said all that, it's a mildly interesting mystery and it engaged me enough to want to know what happened.

Even though this is book 2 you don't need to have read the first one to understand what is going on, just keep reminding yourself that it is set in the 60's and there were no mobile phones or internet.

The book starts off with a young girl being found on a beach and the police not being able to find out why, or how she got there.

From there the story turns to an alleged murderer trying to find her daughter, who she was accused of killing 10 years previous.

The woman, Beverly, approaches Ruby, our main character, and her team to investigate what happened and to try and help her find her daughter.

The story is a nice change from some of the books I have read as it is set in the 1960's so there are no modern investigative tools to be used and no mobile phones or internet, so all research has to be done manually.

The story flows nicely although I thought there were a couple of loose ends that could have done with tying up.  I can't wait to read the next one, and also go back and read the first.

This is well written and could be read as a stand alone, but I highly recommend reading Before I Left first so that you can have a better understanding of the relationship between Ruby and Mary.

This was a great book. Very suspenseful right up to the end.

I'm always nervous diving into sequels, especially when I loved the first book in a series. But, Daisy White doesn't disappoint with the second instalment in the Ruby Baker mysteries. Right from the opening scenes I was drawn back into 1960s Brighton with the party scene, the fashion, and of course, the whole series of events surrounding Beverly Collins and her daughter. Just like the first novel, we are thrown right into the thick of things with the action kicking off in the first chapter and only getting more intense from there

I will say though, while this novel can certainly stand on it's own, it is one that is best read in sequence as it frequently refers to events and people in the debut novel. Without reading the first book, the references to Ruby's murders and Will's involvement take a little time to become clear. But with that out of the way, the dynamic between the characters is engaging, realistic, and wonderful in it's imperfection. I loved how Ruby is afraid of Will, how Johnnie has to deal with the realities of his ex, and how perfectly the mood of a tight-knit and highly judgemental community is portrayed.

Once again White takes on some heavy hitting issues including the illegality of homosexuality in the 60s and the risks that these individuals endured on a daily basis, the harsh reality of postpartum depression and how it effects everyone involved, the censure and judgement that accompanies being an unwed mother, as well as police corruption and human trafficking. However, these elements are balanced out with a touch of romance, gossip at the Salon, and some cracking fashion. There is just enough grit to turn your tummy, but not so much that you're hesitant to turn the pages - which was a huge plus as I read this sucker late at night and would have had issues sleeping otherwise!

It was neat to see the threat against Mary and Ruby transfer from being external, to an internal one where the forces threatening to tear the girls apart were the darkest depths of their own selves. I definitely felt that more time was spent developing the girls back stories, and as a result I found myself starting to connect with them much more easily. I do hope, however, that we'll get some more tidbits about Johnnie's adventures in London and some morsels about Will as these were two areas that were kind of left off like loose ends. Fortunately though, this is shaping up to be an exciting series and I'm sure that more details will be revealed with each instalment. 

And finally, I have to say that I adore the almost frenzied feeling of the plot. With so many instances and events taking place, and over such a great period of time, it was exciting to see them all come together in one final crescendo. Ella's moment of triumph was entirely unexpected, as was the cliff hanger ending (pun intended!). 

Would I recommend this book? Hells yes! Quick and gritty the Ruby Baker novels are shaping up to be some of my favourite period mysteries. The fashion sparks the imagination, the situation are real enough to be revolting, and they're set not so far in the past as to be distant. I love the spunk and determination of the girls, and look forward to seeing what case the Ruby Baker Investigation Agency takes on next.

Firstly I just wanted to say that this is the second book following on from Before I Left. However I read this as a stand-alone book having not previously read the first book.
I really enjoyed the book and loved the mix of characters. There are lots of personal issues that are dealt with as well as the main plot to keep you interested.
A really good read that keeps you interested from the start.

I really enjoyed this book. Ruby is trying to find out what happened to Beverlys daughter. Beverly was sent to prison for 10 years for murdering her daughter. Beverly knows that she is innocent and wants Ruby to find her daughter and find out why Beverly was framed. This is a good read that has been very well written. There is a lot of action and a very clever plot. Definitely worth reading.

I went with 4 stars on this second installment in the Ruby Baker Investigations Bureau series. The series is set in Brighton England in the 1960's. As an American reader, I had a little difficulty setting the scene in my mind, and was a little confused by some of the dialogue and references. All in all, I enjoyed the novel. I found the characters complex and interesting. The pacing is even and there are a few twists and turns I wasnt expecting. My wavering between 3 and 4 stars I think is due to my personal reading difficulty rather than to any notable flaw, hence the 4 star rating.
If you like series with a quirky main character and strong secondary characters, enjoy a mystery, and find the time period interesting, I recommend you start the series at the beginning. Though Before I Found You can stand alone, there are reference and situations that will make more sense if youve had the original experience and background.

2.75 rounded up to a 3.

There is something charming and old fashioned about the mystery surrounding Ruby Baker in Before I Found You. The writing made me feel like I had picked up an old Nancy Drew, which is wonderfullly nostalgic. I received the book as an advance copy in exchange for an honest review, and was unaware that this is the second book in a series. As the story began, I felt like I was missing something-and I was! The heroine/amateur detective, Ruby Baker, alludes to a mysterious and dangerous (and murderous?) past...but being unaware that I was reading a sequel it left me confused and wondering when that aspect of the backstory was going to be explained. It never really is.
Ruby is a solid character, if somewhat two-dimentional. It might be just the "modern sixties girl" thing but it left me wanting to feel the scandal implied in what was happening to the characters, and it just isn't scandalous anymore in 2018. All of the elements of a fabulous thriller are here: 10-year old mystery of a missing girl-the mother has been (wrongly???) imprisoned for her murder and is about to be relased. A young girl mysteriously appears on the beach in the middle of a storm but refuses to speak. Some kind of non-specific nefarious underground seems to be possibly in charge of the police and may have set up the mother. The trouble is that it's all a bit murky.
What I couldn't ever understand was why Ruby, new to town, becomes the amateur detective. I couldn't understand why her fellow beauticians trust her to solve the mystery, and why the police would worry about her at all.
It's never entirely clear what brought her to Brighton.
I plan to read the first of the series and come back with an updated review. As this book stands there were simply too many details that didn't make sense without the context of what brought Ruby to Brighton, and what she was running from. Her roommate, Mary, and her baby Summer seem like important characters but then they simply aren't and I was left wondering so many things!

This is the sequel to Before I Left, set in Brighton in 1963, and picks up a few months later, with Ruby and Mary still living in the flat above Johnnie’s salon with baby Summer, and working there during the day. At night, Ruby parties with her friends, while Mary is struggling with postnatal depression.
Walking home past the beach on a stormy night, Ruby finds a teenage girl screaming into the waves, rescues her and takes her to the police. Traumatised, the girl refuses to speak, and no one knows who she is. Soon after, Ruby is approached by Beverly, a young woman recently released from prison after serving ten years for the presumed murder of her young daughter, although no body was ever found. Beverly insists she is innocent and, having read about Ruby’s investigative exploits, asks her to find her missing daughter, Ella. Despite the disapproval of many people, who believe her to be guilty, Ruby agrees to help, and ropes in her friends from the salon and local paper to try and solve the mystery.

I did like this better than the first book, and it could easily be read as a stand-alone, as there is plenty of backstory, which also would be useful if you had read the first one a while ago. I found the mystery more interesting and the characters more appealing than first time round. Again, I liked the sixties setting, and the plot development. There’s a contrast between the innocent life in a sixties seaside town, and the darkness revealed beneath the surface.

On the negative side, the writing is simplistic and there are too many tedious details about making cups of tea and sweeping floors that we really don’t need to read about. I personally don’t like the first person present style of writing that is so popular these days, especially in young adult fiction. The ending was very abrupt, leaving things open to continue the series.
3.5 rounded down, because overall I liked rather than really enjoyed it.

Thanks to Hachette Australia via NetGalley for the ARC, which I received for free in exchange for an honest review.

Beverly Collins was sent to prison 10 years ago for the "murder" of her daughter. All the evidence pointed to her even though her daughters body was never found, everyone on her estate thought she did it.

After being released, Beverly contacts Ruby Baker, a trainee at a Brighton salon, who in her spare time runs a detective agency with her friends. Beverly asks Ruby to find her daughter as she believes she is still alive.

At the same time as Beverlys release, a young girl is found on the beach, another girl tries to wander off with a little girl and a body is washed up on shore. Are all these events linked to Beverlys return or are they just the usual incidents in a busy seaside town?

It was an Interesting story set in the 1960s but I felt it dragged along for quite a bit of the story and then came to an abrupt halt when it wrapped up, or rather it didn't really as it felt like more could have been said. (The story ended at 88% of the length of the book).

Some of the descriptions of certain Brighton incorrect, hilly streets when they are not and the beach to have sand, it always seems too stony. At one point Marys baby appears to do things beyond her 4 months age.

Plus there was the bizarre "slang words" list at the end of the book, which would have made more sense if it included only 1960 references rather than modern day ones too.

I received this book from netgalley in return for a honest review.

This is the second book that I have read by this author and the second that I have really enjoyed! This one works well as a stand alone but if you want to follow the series you are best to start with the first book as you learn more about the background of the main characters and this runs through in the background of both books.

This has a really good plot with some twists and surprises that I didn’t see coming – I really enjoyed going back in time to read the story and catching up with the characters. Five stars from me for this one, the series is getting better for me! I am looking forward to more from this author!!