The Daughter You Left: A tense and twisting psychological thriller from Ruby Speechley

by Ruby Speechley

An ✨UNPUTDOWNABLE✨ suspense novel from the bestselling author of MISSING, perfect for fans of K.L. Slater, J D Kirk and Freida McFadden ⚡️Lightning never strikes twice… does it?⚡️

I never thought I’d have to tell my daughter, Emily, her sister was gone. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. But now, somehow, I have to do it again ­– because her father is missing.

As soon as I saw the police on my doorstep, I just knew that tragedy had befallen our family a second time.

After everything we’ve been through ­­– the crushing grief, the endless guilt – I can understand the need to run. But days have passed and still there’s no trace of Max.

He wouldn’t leave our daughter. Not like this. Not after everything.

Unless he couldn’t help it. Unless something happened.

I can’t help but is there someone else involved? Someone who knows exactly how to break a family already on the edge?

I thought I’d lost everything once. I can’t survive it happening again…

A heartbroken mother, a missing father, a whole host of secrets buried within a seemingly normal family. Don't miss this tense and twisty psychological suspense novel.

Previously published as Every Little Secret

Praise for Ruby ‘Secrets, lies and betrayal, this book has the lot! It kept me up way later than I intended racing through to the end and what an ending it was!’ Rona Halsall

'immensely readable and hugely entertaining - so compelling that I read it in a matter of hours' Fiona Mitchell

'A very tense situational thriller that had me guessing right up to the end. I loved it!' Dawn Goodwin

'A page-turning thriller with a shocking and original conclusion. Mesmerising.' Catherine Cooper

'A great take on the missing child narrative and a total page turner - I simply HAD to know what had happened.' S E Lynes

'A twisty page-turner of a novel that kept me guessing until the very end!' Mandy Byatt

'A brilliant read. Such an anxiety-inducing, suspenseful domestic thriller!' Alice Hunter

'A compelling and original page-turner!' Roz Watkins

'A talent to watch' Sam Blake

'...any parents' worst nightmare, a twisty domestic thriller with an ending that will take your breath away' S. A. Harris

‘A fantastic, fast-paced novel with at its heart the strained relationship between a loving mother and her wayward teenage son. Unpredictable and unputdownable.’ Diane Jeffrey

378 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 11, 2025

About the author

Ruby Speechley is a psychological thriller writer. Her debut novel, Someone Else’s Baby, was published by Hera Books on 25 July 2019.

You can contact her on Twitter: @rubyspeechley, Facebook: ‘Ruby Speechley Author’ or via her website: rubyspeechley.com

Reviews

[Kirsty Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked the book and story, i hated the ending.

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved the beginning but disliked it towards the end

[Di · Rating 1 out of 5]

So a family guy goes missing presumed dead, police leave a key piece of evidence with his wife, when notifying her that he is believed dead. This within the first few pages had my back up.

Then the plot thickens, said family guy is leading a double life with his second family, living in a house identically decorated to his wife’s house, even the dog has the same name, the man however does not.

Then it just gets more irksome as when wife finds out about the second family, rather than going to the police, like any sensible person, no, she starts to terrorise the second woman.

Daddy issues are to blame for this! I cannot accept the grief card of losing a daughter prior to Mr Bigamist going missing is the cause of said stupid behaviour. Just go to the police.

Characters are poorly crafted, I should feel sorry for Maddy, but I can’t. Her vendetta against a woman that was as completely in the dark about her situation is infuriating. That she will spend hours driving to and from the other families house just seems pointless. Just go to the police and everything is sorted in over a week. But of course that doesn’t sell books does it.

Of course her husband is a stranger to her we knew that pretty much from the start, but no I have to trawl through near in 400 pages, for something that within the first chapter I saw coming.


This was a book club choice which is why I read it and finished it.

[valerie gosling · Rating 5 out of 5]

Compelling

A really good read I count wait to finish reading it brilliant characters first-class plot developing slowly I really enjoyed reading this book

[Terri L Poynter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good Book

I loved this book ..I couldn't put it down..Lost alot of sleep. Lol.. It is really good...I would recommend it to everyone...AAAA+++++++

[sherry wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

great book

Very good read. Keeps you wanting to turn the page. Unexpected end. Definitely keeps you interested throughout the whole story.

[Carla · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a novel of secrets, lies and plot twists. The plot and characters are reasonably well crafted and the characters seem realistic. It is an okay escape read for those readers living normal, generally happy and fulfilling lives and will make those readers feel content that their own lives are not so difficult, unfulfilling or weird. This isn’t the type of novel that I would recommend to people who are experiencing uncertainty about their life, especially their relationship with their significant others.

[Meryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn’t enjoy this book as much as the first Ruby Speechley book that I read, it was a story full of lies, heartbreak and deceit, to start with I felt sorry for Maddie when I found out that max had disappeared but towards the end I started to hate her for the way she treated Max’s other family, either way max shouldn’t have treated either woman the way that he did.

[Melissa Suslowicz Bartz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow!!!! There were so many secrets in this one. As each chapter passed you found out what the secrets were and boy were they juicy. They will knock your socks off. I was like OMG!!!! I really enjoyed this one and I know you will too. The characters were great, the plot was awesome and that ending was mind blowing. What didn’t I like about this one is the real question. It had everything I look for in a thriller. I’ve read this authors books before and she never disappoints. I can’t wait for her next one.