Loving this series
I can't read them fast enough
Great characters
Made a big mug of tea ready to start part 3

Thank you netgalley, Kerry Wilkinson and Bookouture

Kerry Wilkinson writes great stories of complicated plots with very human conditions. This was book 2, which can be read as a stand-alone. Millie has another mystery to solve and most of it is shocking. Do we really know are friends and how much are they hiding. I’m torn up about Millie and Eric and I hope Alex gets what’s coming to him! Just saying. I’m invested and I can’t wait to start book 3.
Thanks Bookouture via Netgalley.

A cry for help that went too far. Secrets and revelations coming at you from every corner that only makes you have more questions instead of answers. What a great story and what a great series! I am looking forward to next book in this series to hopefully answer all the questions I have. Excellent!

Wow. Just brilliant.i loved loved loved this one. Pacy and incredibly suspenseful,those was a wonderfully tense and thrilling read.

Fifteen Years ago Millie, along with her best friend Nicola & others in her group were looking forward to a long lazy summer relaxing after exams before the next stage of their lives began. Nicola was found handcuffed to a tree by pink fluffy handcuffs, barefoot & her long hair in clumps round about her with no memory of what had happened. The girls drifted apart & hadn't spoken for years until Nicola phoned Millie to say the shoes she had been wearing that night had reappeared tied to her washing line. Someone wants to stir up the past- but why? Along with retired reporter turned local blogger Guy, she intends to find out- but will that stir up stuff she'd rather not revisit?

This is the second in the Whitecliff Bay mysteries & it kept me enthralled throughout- with the cliff-hanger ending I was delighted that I had the next one waiting to be read. Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this book

We find ourselves back in Whitecliff where Millie is still struggling with small town rumors and drama. This is the 2nd book in the series. It could be read as a stand alone but you'd miss some of the character back stories. And the first book was a 5 star read too.
The book starts with the story of an event that involved Milllie some 15+ years ago. Millie finds her friend tied to a tree, minus her phone and her distinctive purple shoes and with her hair chopped off but laying on the ground at her bare feet. She claims to have no memory of what happened and refuses to notify authorities. Fast forward to the present, Millie's friend finds her purple shoes, the ones she has not seen since that night, in her yard. She and Millie have not been in touch in many, many years, even though they live in the same small town, but it's Millie she calls for help.
As the book continues to revolve around Millie and how she will investigate her friend's nightmare, Kerry Wilkinson builds two more side stories into this book. We still have the mystery of Millie's parents' deaths and her refusal to face her ex-husband's restrictive custody arrangements. Then there is a group of protesters that will pull attention away from the main story.....until it merges. These side stories are building up to the next book in the series. So far, it's a sure winner.

The One Who Was Taken by Kerry Wilkinson is the second book in the new excellent A Whitecliff Bay Mystery series and we meet the same characters again from the first book called The One that Fell, which was great, as we know them now. However, it can be read as a standalone, but I do recommend reading the first book.

Within this book Millie and Nicola who are seventeen they're best friends and was supposed to have a summer night of fun and freedom in the local park. But when dawn comes Millie realises Nicola is missing. So distraught, she searches for her alone: and finds Nicola tied to a tree, her purple Converse shoes missing, her long hair cut and scattered on the ground. With no memory of what happened, terrified Nicola begs Millie never to speak of this again…......

What Happened to her?

Fifteen years later and with countless secrets and hurt between them both. Millie and Nicola have never spoken in over a decade. But now Nicola has found her old purple Converse strung up in her garden.

Is her attacker sending a message? Why now, after all this time?
And who is it?

Millie is the only one who can help get answers. And, as she asks questions of their school friends, she realises one of them knows more than they should about her own family secrets….........

This book is full of great twists and turns with lots of secrets that will have you gripped. I ended up reading it in one sitting I loved it and looking forward reading more OF A Whitecliff Bay Mystery series.

I highly recommend this books.

Big thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture and the author Kerry Wilkinson for my ARC of The One Who WAs Taken in exchange for an honest review.

This was a twisty tale and I throughly enjoyed this second one in this series. Very well written and the characters were good. Looking forward to the next one. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

This one continues from book 1 and cannot be read as stand alone.
The book had a YA feel to it, though all the characters are 40+ but still behave like teenagers.
There is a mystery of a missing shoe and phone re-appearing after 15 years. Millie and Guy try to resolve this mystery and there are flashbacks to those days when Millie and her friends were young. And why Millie fell out with her then best friend Nicola.
The plotline is a little strange - A group of teenagers in a small town, later married within the group - 3.5 couples (read the book to find out what the 0.5 is about). They continue living in the same town even though everyone mistrusts each other and no real friends. Millie's choice of friends made my skin crawl. Jenny and Rachel were so b***hy and rude, why was Millie so nice to them and wanted to have reunions! The ending was unsatisfactory.
The mystery of Millie's parents' death was not revealed, so I will read the next book. The author seems to have forgotten about the wild cat or was it limited to Book 1?
<i> Thanks to NetGalley, the Publisher and the Author for the ARC</i>

This is the second book in the Whitecliff Bay Mystery series.
Millie and her childhood friend, Nicola, have not talked to each other for 15 years. When Nicola reaches out to Millie for help, she is a bit baffled and confused.
Can Millie and Nicola help each other and go forward in their life?
I am interested to see where the author takes the story next.
Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture and the author for the opportunity to read this book for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Thanks to Kerry and NetGalley for allowing me to read The One Who Was Taken before the publication date.
This second cosy mystery in the series introduces the reader to the people who have been in Millie’s life from a young age, some of whom have had a considerable impact on the woman she now is.

Now divorced from Alex, Millie spends much of her time trying to ensure that she does not react to his goading and taunting which would potentially impact on her access to their 8 year old son, Eric.

When Nicola calls Millie to ask for her help, it poses difficulties as most of her friends have blanked her since her highly publicised affair with an MP and the death of her parents.

The journalist, Guy Rushden, who was the source of much of Millie’s problems in the first book, is now a friend, who has praised her investigative and journalistic skills. His combined wealth of local knowledge , contacts and the newspaper archive which has taken over his house, enables him to provide Millie with information which can be helpful to the investigation.

In parallel, Will, who had been at school with Millie, is living in a squat from which he is being evicted.
He has asked Guy to write an article on the people who buy second homes which are left empty. Guy declines and Millie agrees to gather data and decide whether it is newsworthy. She soon wonders if she really knew Will.

Secrets and events from Millie’s past continue to unfold and play a part in the present. Millie and her childhood friend have not talked for fifteen years and now Nicola is asking for her help. All your favourite characters are back, and Millie’s ex-husband continues to exploit her past mistakes.

Book 2 starts not long after the events of book 1. Don’t get too hung up on the events that ended one book and you’ll be fine. The author continues to allow Millie to embrace her new reality. With acceptance comes growth and closure. Millie is getting closer to moving on and maybe even expanding her life.

On that note, she expands both forward and back. An old friend asks her to help with something that happened long ago that has suddenly come back up. This brings her back to all friends that may or may not still be people she can be friends with. What happened was never talked about, so Millie keeps everything very close.

Once again this underlying mystery is not the main attraction. I did like it more than the first. Who did this horrible thing so long ago and why are they trying to bring it back up now? This story was much more personal. It affected her life so much more. What I am enjoying most about these books is the people. Guy and Jack…even Will…all interesting characters. Each one she interacts with tells a lot about how she has approached her relationships all of her adult life.

Once again the story ends with another cliff hanger. Don’t get to invested in it, though.

Seventeen-year-old best friends Nicola and Millie were supposed to have a summer night of fun and freedom in the local park. Then Millie receives a text from Nic and finds Nic handcuffed to a tree, her purple Converse shoes & phone missing, her long hair cut and scattered on the ground. With no memory of what happened, terrified Nicola begs Millie never to speak of this again. Fifteen years later. With countless secrets and hurt between them, Millie and Nicola have not spoken in over a decade. But now Nicola has found her old purple Converse strung up in her garden
The second book in the series & whilst it could easily be read on its own, I feel the series would be better read in order as the relationships are developing & growing. I much preferred this to the first book, the pace is better & the characters seem more fleshed out. I’m growing to like Millie more & more & am intrigued to learn all of her backstory, as this is being drip fed. I also like her relationship with godfather Guy as well as Jack. There are twists, turns & red herrings about Nicola’s kidnap & the reveal whilst a surprise wasn’t unexpected. This book does end on a cliffhanger so I'm glad I can immediately dive into book three
My review is for a special copy I voluntarily read

In the second book of The White Cliff Bay Mysteries millie reunite with her childhood best friend Nicola and lears forgiveness is another form of self care millie hasn’t spoke to Nicola in 15 years because of an industrration having to do with her dad but her and Nicholas share a secret in so when something appears showing someone else knows about it she thinks Millie is the only one she can turn to. Can Millie and Guy get to the bottom of the mystery?. Jack and Richie still want to adopt and need Milly to do an interview as a character witness but Millie is reluctant because she knows Jack wasn’t so keen about being a dad and thinks he’s only doing it for his boyfriend she also has more problems with Alex and his fiancé Rachel who wants little Eric to call her mom. When she attends Little Eric‘s birthday party The gas or less than cordial to Milli and after an interaction with Alex‘s mom she’s so glad guy came as her guest but when little Eric wants to wear his friend clothes dress and Alex tries to explain why he shouldn’t Millie finally steps in. There’s a lot more to the book and I mean a lot more but I love these books and have already started book 3 because OMG when you have a good thing going you don’t want it to stop and I’m so glad I had the next one already downloaded album Millie isn’t the most likable person there’s something I love about her although she can be quite annoying at times but as I said there’s something very lovable about Millie and I can’t get enough of these books I love them and highly recommend them if you love a good mystery with great subplots then you’ll love The White Cliff Bay Mysteries! I received this book from NetGalley and Bookoucher but I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

I binge-read book two!

Effective title - who was taken? Why? What happened?

What I loved:
✔️the multi-level continuity; his characters/settings/conflicts appear again in book 2
✔️the delay of some backstory and the gradual reveal of characters
✔️no regurgitating of setting/characters from book 1
✔️answers some questions I had but raised more and left me with a cliffhanger
✔️quicker pace
✔️multiple settings, each with its own challenges (bandstand, squatter’s house)
✔️deftly places secondary obstacles in Millie’s path so it leads me back to the central conflict
✔️more exploration of the darker side of Whitecliff
✔️stellar use of sensory language to spotlight the atmosphere, making me emotionally involved and cautious
✔️adds just enough new characters to keep it interesting; not just walk-in characters, but ones with a purpose who aid/challenge the main characters
✔️central conflict continues to sustain my interest and the intro of new secondary conflicts is wrapped up within this sequel

What I struggled with:
✔️Millie not standing up for herself and defending the truth

Although a little more Americanized than book 1, I still loved coming across British expressions that I want to make my own. I’m using ‘blokey environment’ every chance I get!

I think Wilkinson and Bookouture have a winner in this series!

I was gifted this copy by Bookouture and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

4 Stars
One Liner: An intriguing and fast-paced mystery (not a standalone)

Millie and Nicola were best friends at high school until something tore them apart. Fifteen years later, Nicola calls Millie, asking for help. Nicola’s purple shoes were strung up in the backyard. These were the same shoes she was wearing on a fateful night someone tied her to a tie and hacked her hair into random bits.
The shoes could have been placed only by Nicola’s kidnapper. But neither she nor Millie knows who it is. They decided to forget the incident back then. But it looks like they have to get to the bottom of the issue. As Millie starts inquiring, she realizes that her memories and perspective of her school days are different from reality.
What happened then? What happens now? How will Nicola and Millie continue to keep the secret and uncover the kidnapper?
The story comes from Millie’s third-person POV.

My Thoughts:
The second book in the series begins a few months after the first one ends. This one is more compact and puts together as the primary characters are already introduced and established in the previous book.
The book has two tracks apart from Millie’s personal life. That makes it three seemingly unrelated tracks, but there’s no confusion anywhere (even when the characters overlap. It’s a small town setting, after all).
Millie and Guy’s friendship is steady in this one. I like how they work together and help each other. Guy is truly the godfather Millie needs and she is the daughter he never had.
We get more than a glimpse into Millie’s childhood and teen life in the Whitecliff. More details are revealed and add depth to her character. Millie is very much a flawed character but with a good heart. She is trying, and we can’t help but root for her.
The main mystery is intriguing, but I’m not too sure about how it concludes. As a series reader (I already started book three), I can understand the reasoning. However, some readers may not like it, considering they read 270+ pages hoping to solve the issue.
I so wish Millie would stop letting her horrible ex-husband and his snooty fiancée treat her like this. Yeah, she was wrong, but he’s no saint, either. I hope there’s a book soon where they get their due. I don’t want to wait too long for this!
The setting is just as atmospheric and brooding as in book one. Whitecliff is no happy place. Or maybe it highlights the darker side of small towns a lot more.
I like the random one-star reviews Millie reads on the internet. They don’t make sense and drive the point about how stupid, prejudiced, and annoying people can be.

To summarize, The One Who Was Taken provides more answers about Millie but raises as many questions too. This book will not work as a standalone mystery. It has to be read as a part of the series and in the order (this comes from someone who doesn’t bother following a series order).
Thank you, NetGalley and Bookouture, for the eARC. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

The amateur detectives/sometime journalists of Whitecliff Bay are back. Not content with getting themselves into all sorts of hot water in the last story this time Millie and Guy decide to delve into a mystery from Millie's youth. One of her teenage friends was abducted after a party and then released relatively unharmed the following day. But now the abductor seems to be back and is taunting his victim. Again the author only releases information tantalisingly slowly so you can't bear to put the book down. And as soon as you reach the last page you will be craving the next installment.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book

This book begins with a mystery and ends with a cliff hanger!

This is the second book in the Whitecliff Bay Series and readers will recognize many of the same characters from the first book. When Millie was seventeen she found her then best friend, Nicola, tied to a tree, her hair cut off and one of her shoes strung up. Nicola does not remember anything and begs Millie not to bring up what happened to her again.

It has been fifteen years since Millie and Nicola have spoken but someone strung up her missing shoe in her garden. Is the person who strung her up all those years ago trying to send her a message?

As Millie begins to investigate what happened to her former friend, she realizes that she and her friend Nicola are not the only ones with secrets and that someone knows something. Small towns know how to keep secrets, they seldom forget them, and everyone tends to know your business (Millie knows this better than anyone). Who has a secret in Whitecliff, that they want to keep buried? Will the truth come out? Who harmed Nicola all those years ago? Who can be trusted?

This was a great mystery that kept me on my toes. I enjoyed getting to know some of the characters better in this book. There are quite a few twists, turns and secrets along the way. With that cliff hanger, I am looking forward to diving into the next book in the series.

The One Who Was Taken is book 2 in the Whitecliff Bay Mystery series. I found it to be another quick read with likeable characters which we find out more about in this instalment. Again, like the first book, I really enjoyed this and am looking forward to reading the next book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for my ARC.