Millie Beaumont has just married rich boyfriend, Oscar Hayat, but soon after they both disappear whilst on honeymoon. Within days, Millie's body is found on a heath in London whilst Oscar is still unaccounted for. DI Sarah Heaton and partner, DS Moomy Khan investigate amongst the world of the super rich of the UK's capital.

This book is unusual for having two female police officers as its main partnership, and I think this gave it an interesting dynamic. I'm not convinced a DS would be able to talk to senior officers in the fashion that Moomy Khan does though and I'm unsure whether or not her character would outstay her welcome with me sooner rather than later. That said, I did enjoy reading it, the plot was interesting and didn't sag in the middle like some crime novels do. I enjoyed it enough to read a second one.

Thanks to NetGalley and publishers, Hera Books, for the opportunity to read an ARC.

Alex Caan has returned to the world of crime in his latest novel, The Unbroken and he explores the world of the seriously wealthy and introduces to a new, diverse cast of characters who really make this book feel fresh in the crime fiction genre. It really does make you look closely at the idea that there seems to be one law for a select few and one law for the rest of us.

For me, what made this novel stand out were the two lead detectives, DS Moomy and DI Heaton. While they both practise the Muslim faith, they have very opposing views. I think this is a much more character-driven crime novel than it is plot-driven, but I really liked this. Alex Caan still kept me invested in the main story, and I wanted to know who was behind the crime that takes place.

DS Moomy Khan grew up a Muslim and has spent her life trying to fight back against tradition and what is expected of her by her family and her religion. It does seem that she is still trying to work out if she believes in her faith. DI Sarah Heaton, however, has recently converted, having been brought up in a Christian family in England. I was really intrigued by DI Heaton, and I wondered what it was that had prompted her to make such a decision. Alex Caan fleshes out his characters really well, and he has given them interesting back stories which don’t feel overly familiar as so many back stories often do in crime fiction.

The novel opens with the discovery of the body of a young woman, Millie Beaumont, who has recently got married to the son of a self-made billionaire, Oscar, who is due to inherit his family’s fortune. They had recently left the country to go on their honeymoon to Istanbul, so how has she ended up back in London? Was she murdered in Istanbul and her body later dumped here? Or was she kidnapped and transported alive back to the capital? As DS Moomy and DI Heaton delve into the family she had married into, schemes and dark secrets are uncovered, which prompt the detectives to think someone within the family organised Millie’s murder. But could this be the case when their son has gone missing as well?

I loved how Alex Caan delved into the Hayat family and how he examined every part of their lives as his detectives raced to find an answer to the questions behind Millie’s murder. When I first started reading the book, I felt some level of respect for the head of the family, John Hayat, who escaped persecution during the reign of Sadam Hussain and strived to make his fortune. He seemed to be someone who stood on his morals, and he was the only person who seemed to approve of his eldest son’s choice to marry Millie. Despite how much he is worth and what he has achieved in his life, he seems really down to earth. His wife, who inherited her fortune, certainly isn’t pleased with the choice her son has made, and you can see that she has a very controlling personality.

As this series progresses, I’m going to be really intrigued to find out more about DS Moomy and DI Heaton. I hope Alex Caan takes these books a lot further and I will definitely be looking out for when the next one’s out.

I hate to go against the grain here and say this story didn’t knock my socks off….3 stars.
The story didn’t grab me by the throat and have me at the edge of my seat. I felt underwhelmed as the ending felt rushed crammed in at the end.
This is the first book in the series of DI Sarah Heaton and DS Moomy Khan. Their backstories are very complex and explains the way they are today. The book seemed to focus more on them then it did on the murder/missing person case they were trying to solve. I did enjoy learning about them and kept wanting to know more about their history. The case really didn’t intrigue me. I didn’t like the rich family or their power dynamics.
I would pick up installment number two and give it another chance because I enjoyed DI Heaton and DS Khan and I’d like to know how they’re doing.

Thank you to NetGalley, Hera Books, and of course, Alex Caan for an ARC of this book.

Alex Caan is a new writer to me but this is an impressive way to be introduced. The Unbroken is the first in a series which promises much. The two lead cops, Sarah Heaton and Moomy Khan, are fascinating characters with great back stories; if I had one tiny criticism, it is that a little too much time is devoted to background. However, the story is an intriguing and engrossing mystery; a well-known and glamorous couple are kidnapped on honeymoon in Istanbul and the bride turns up dead in London. Can't wait for future additions to this series.

The Unbroken is the first book in a new crime series featuring two women detectives, DS Moomy Khan and DI Sarah Heaton. I have to say I don’t know many crime series’ where they have two female leads. Girl power!

Both characters, whilst different, have a troubled past. I loved the dynamic of the vulnerability and strength that come with both these women. I was as invested in finding out about their pasts as I was with the case they were working on. Sometimes in the start to a new series, there is to much background, affecting the thrill and excitement of the actual case. This author makes the reader care about both whilst making it a page turner of a read.

The story starts off with Millie. Just the brief introduction was enough that I was as desperate for justice as Moomy and Sarah was for her. They seem to keep hitting walls in the investigation which had me as frustrated as they were. Their emotions with this case transferred from the pages over me, leaving me go through an array of emotions.

The Unbroken is a brilliant start to a new crime series. I am loving Sarah and Moomy and can’t wait to read more of this duo. I have a feeling there is more to come from their pasts that will add to the tension and suspense. A riveting read that had me clinging onto every word.

So happy that this seems to be the first in a new series that I can enthusiastically get behind. Besides being a solid British police procedural, I appreciated the diverse, multiracial cast of characters in the story, especially the possibility of the women’s backstories featuring in more stories. Issues of race,, class, abuse politics and privilege are welcome in this genre and add to an engrossing plot.

The Unbroken is a really intriguing read, starting in quite spectacular style as it does with the abduction of a newly married couple at the start of their honeymoon. The results of this abduction are tragic, the story that unfolds of the family, the couple and their complicated lives, compelling and full of suspense. It is a read that drew me in and held me rapt, but perhaps not in the ways you are expecting.

This is not a fast paced story, in spite of the almost startling opening scene which sees Millie and her husband, Oscar, fall prey to an ambush. This is a far more contemplative read than the previous two thrillers from Alex Caan, and although different in their tone perhaps, equally as enticing to read. The reason? Quite simply the characters that he has put into this story, and the way in which he has chosen to portray them. A large portion of this cast, including the two lead Detectives, are female, and far from being the shrinking violet victim types, they are strong, independant and with authentic and powerful voices.

The two main Detectives make for a really interesting pairing. One is a lapsed Muslim who in the search to find who she is and where she belongs has lost her family, her love and her faith. DS Moomy Khan's story is one that I think many people will be able to relate to, whether Muslim or not, but especially for anyone who has come from a predominantly patriarchal community. She is spiky and her introduction to the story is almost shocking, but in a sly smile on your face kind of way. She is not your conventional Detective in any sense, but the more I got to know her, the more I liked her and the more I understood her. Some of her character traits I can relate to, others felt like a case of acting up after a very restricted upbringing.

Her absolute polar opposite is her boss and possibly closest friend, DI Sarah Heaton. Sarah is a white woman who has turned to Islam as a way of finding reason, peace and perhaps penance, in her life to recover from a very dark time. She was harder to get to know than Moomy, a little from staid in character, but as the story moves on we do come to learn more about her than perhaps even I expected. She has a complicated past with one of the key witnesses in the story, one which helps the reader to understand her better, but also see the conflict that still exists within her between what she desires and what her new found faith permits.

The main story, that of the abduction, leads the pair to the door of a very rich and powerful family, a blend of old money and new, one where everybody seems to be covering up some kind of lie. It is easy for suspicion to fall upon each of Oscar's family in turn for what comes to pass, many, especially his youngest brother, Victor, who makes no attempts to hide his contempt for his family. I loved the internal conflict, the feeling that they were hiding not only from the police but from each other too. It added another layer of suspense and tension to the story and kept me guessing as to who was really behind the abductions.

This is very much a family led story as everything, from the abduction to the lives of the main investigative team, is shaped by their combined or individual pasts. It seems to be a slow discovery of just how far people will go to support or protect the people they love. Of the sacrifices they are willing to make for them. Yes there is a murder at its heart, but the book is very much more than that and I am really looking forward to seeing the author develop the main characters further as this is one of the strengths of his writing - creating people you believe in and are happy to go on a journey with. Definitely one to read if you like to see a strong, female led, family based drama unfurl.

Alex Cain has written a marvelous novel of two strong policewomen that share a major case of a missing couple in The Unbroken.
It slowly reeled me in an kept me reading half the night and up early the next morning!
It always amazes me how rich people think they have their own set of rules.
This time, they find out, maybe the consequences are not in their favor.
Solid five stars.

The author has done a good job of combining police procedural and a crime thriller. A good start to a series with two female lead characters and a convoluted plot with suspicion falling on all involved in turns. The conclusion fell a bit flat for me. I would definitely recommend this book and look forward to the next one.

Mommy and Sarah are strong independent women. So different in many ways. In the ways that count they are a lot alike.
They are investigating the crime of a murder. Millie a young beautiful African American girl is getting married to a young handsome white man. He is extremely wealthy. His family are in the top echelons of society. Millie grew up as an only child in a middle class family.
Two young adults so different yet so alike.
Until Millie is found murdered. Signs of torture are evident on her body. Her groom remains missing.
An intriguing story of wealth, hypocrisy, racism, love and betrayal.
So many twists and turns! You're kept guessing to the very end!

This is a new police procedural crime book series. The first chapter starts with a bang- a young educated mixed raced woman from a humble modest background called Millie is on a honeymoon in Turkey with her wealthy husband Oscar. Millie is found dead in Hampstead Heath, London and her husband is missing.

The story is told in multiple POV’s but it mainly centres on the POV of the police officers investigating the case D.I Sarah Heaton and DS Moomy Khan. They are a bad ass duo who have very low tolerance to bull. In their pursuit to solve the case they navigate the world of Oscar and his family where they encounter abundant wealth and many hidden secrets. I particularly enjoyed the different mix of cultural and class backgrounds of the characters and how they all fit into the plot. The Muslim representation was also heavy as D.I. Sarah Heaton is a convert to Islam who encounters hostility due to this, and her partner DS Moomy Khan is struggling with identifying with her Muslim faith and her Asian culture due to past trauma. This is explored further in the story with many chapters giving a background on the Police Officers dysfunctional upbringing and family problems.

I found the story enjoyable and a quick read. It is a very character driven plot. Whilst there was action and some twists I felt too much focus was placed on the Police Officers personal lives which can take you out of the crime/murder investigation trail, and this for me ended up pushing the story into a more contemporary women fiction feel and not a thriller/crime book. I will still recommend this book and will look out for the second instalment of this series.

Thank you to Netgalley and Hera Books for this Arc in exchange for an honest review.

Wow, what can I say about this book, but I absolutely loved it. I have to say I have the authors three previous books on my bookshelf which haven’t yet been read, but after this I will get there. I love the main female characters in this DI Sarah Heaton and DS Moomy Khan. Two officers who really get things moving. Putting their boss DI Scott Blake in at times a difficult position, mainly because of politics of the wealthy and influential people who seem to get away with more than your everyday average Joe.

This is a police procedural but it’s not just that, it’s about greed, wealth, power given to those with money, race, religion. The story flows, the action is fast paced and the characters are all relatable in some way, three dimensional and believable. I really hope this is just the start of this series as I really need more.

I love the back story of the two officers, Sarah white female misses her mum after she died, could find no solace in the religion she has been brought up into, so converts to be a Muslim which gives her the peace she craves, but there is also a guilt there about her half sister. Then their is Moomy an Asian, who has had the strict upbringing that comes with being Asian female, the restrictions she had put on her, forced into marrying someone she had never met. The repercussions of that when she comes back to the United Kingdom. Her family have told people she is dead. But she is one strong lady, who has lost all her faith through the blows she has been dealt in life. Moomy and Sarah just make a perfect police team. Both hardened in some ways but there is still a softness that’s creeps through at times.

The investigation is into a missing woman Millie Beaumont who had married into a wealthy family. But on their honeymoon Oscar and Milly had disappeared, until Milly’s body is found on Hampstead Heath. But where is Oscar? Milly was from a poorer background, as well as being of colour, something Lara Hayat was not happy about. One of her three boys marrying someone of race and of lower class. Lara and John Hayat are moneyed people who can pull strings. They have three sons Oscar, Spencer and Victor. Lara had been raised with money, whereas John was American and had made his own way in the world becoming very wealthy, their marriage had been seen as a love match. But was it really. Victor the youngest son is very driven and wants the business all to himself, even if it means stepping on both his brothers toes.

An absolutely gripping, engaging, engrossing read, I could not put this down, really look forward to the next book in the series and where is leads Sarah and Moomy.

I would like to thank #netgalley and #Hera for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest, fair and unbiased review.

This book introduced us to some police characters who were certainly different,and I liked that.We got to know them as they were working on and trying to solve a complex case where nothing was as it seemed.The plot was good and the characters were well written,and I did guess some of the story but certainly not all.Good book, plenty going on ,good start to a new series,I hope.

The body of Millie Beaumont is found on Hampstead Heath. She had just married into the wealthy Hayat family, none of whom were thrilled to have a girl of mixed heritage join their ranks. Detectives Moomy Khan and Sarah Heaton are on the case, but the Hayats remain tight lipped and the evidence is conflicting. The story of finding Millie’s killer is interspersed with snippets from the detectives’ lives. Both are struggling with previous trauma but choose to deal with it in very different ways.
A fast paced, exciting read, with interesting characters.

An absolutely amazing story. Grady police proceedings story. Very informative and insightful. Loved it x

I found that this felt more like a detective story rather than a thriller and since I enjoy detective fiction I didn't mind it in the least. It has good bones and I really hope that Alex can continue to develop these characters. It kept me intrigued and made me wanna keep reading it so that was a huge plus for me.

I felt at times that perhaps there was a tad too much happening all at once especially for the first in a series. I found that most of the book was focused less on the murder itself than the detectives and the secrets surrounding them. While both detectives had rich backstories that I was looking forward to uncovering I found myself forgetting that a murder had taken place and being shocked when it came back up. I did enjoy learning about the detectives themselves although it felt a little intense the way Moomy interacted with people and how she could just get away with being belligerent and rude and inappropriate at all times.

While I enjoyed the story and to see where it led I didn't love the book, the writing wasn't all that great but it kept me intrigued. Again learning about the detectives themselves was the most interesting part of the whole thing, And the rest of the book kind of felt built up around that rather than the murder mystery aspect. The ending therefore felt rushed and slightly confusing as the author had to find a way to wrap things up.

I hope that the next in the series gets rebranded as detective fiction rather than a thriller as Sarah and Moomy were the most interesting parts of the book.

I haven't decided if I will be continuing with the series although I am curious to see what happens with Sarah and Moomy.

5 stars

Millie Beaumont, from an ordinary family, married the billionaire Oscar Hayat in a dream wedding. There the dream ends.

A week later Millie’s body is found she died from a single gunshot to the head. Where is Oscar? Is he dead too?

DI Sarah Heaton and DS Moomy Khan are assigned the case. Ir is a big one due to the amazing wealth of the Hayat family. Even the higher ups in the government get involved. There is much pressure on the police officers. They begin an intense investigation by first interviewing the Hayat family. Something in wrong here. Lara Hayat, Oscar's mother is hiding something as is her husband John. The other two sons are Spencer who seems to be pretty much a wastrel and Victor who is as driven as his father – and perhaps not as honest.

The investigation leads the police all over. Intense searches by their computer wizard provide real clues and new trails to follow.

Both Moomy and Sarah are survivors (one might say), of bad family experiences. The degree of pain and humiliation they have suffered is very well told in this book. It is folded into the story almost seamlessly. Very well done.

This book is remarkably well written and plotted. One event follows another in a logical manner. It is easy to read and addictive. The reader just must find out what the Hayat's are hiding and where Oscar is. What happened to him? This is a tense whodunnit complete with surprises and twists. While some things are obvious, others are not nearly so clear. This is my first Alex Caan novel, but it definitely won't be my last. I immediately went to Amazon to look for other books of theirs.

I want to thank NetGalley and Hera Books for forwarding to me a copy of this absolutely great book for me to read, enjoy and review.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Hera Books for an advance copy of The Unbroken, the first novel in a projected series to feature DI Sarah Heaton and DS Moomy Khan of the Met.

When a woman’s body is found on Hampstead Heath Sarah knows it is going to be a high pressure case because the dead woman is Millie Beaumont who was kidnapped on her honeymoon in Istanbul a week ago along with her new husband, the incredibly wealthy Oscar Hayat. So where is Oscar?

I enjoyed The Unbroken which is a compulsive tale with plenty of twists and turns. I found the narrative engrossing, if a touch far fetched in its motive and solution. It is told from various points of view, mostly Sarah and Moomy but some others who give the reader reason to be suspicious of them. Fortunately there is no word of the why until the denouement which keeps the reader interested and baffled, well, this reader at least.

It is also a cluttered novel with lots going on. Not content with the murder/kidnap plot which would be sufficient on its own as it is quite complicated with all sorts of potential scenarios the author spends fair chunks of the novel on Moomy’s backstory and hints at things to come for Sarah, as she too has secrets. Moomy’s story is harrowing and explains much of her angry, self destructive personality but it takes up too much room in a crime novel and detracts from the main event. At least it’s credible whereas Sarah’s story is, to me, too ludicrous to be believable but I’m not a big city girl so what do I know?

Moomy is a great character, loud, abrasive and effective with a strong streak of self destruction so you can’t help but warm to her. Sarah, I’m not so sure about and I think I’d need more time with her to warm to her. She seems like a woman who needs a crutch.

The Unbroken is a good read that I have no hesitation in recommending.

Wow, this was such a great read! I don't think I've read a police procedural where both the detectives are women & I loved the dynamic between them. There were so many twists to this story - every time I thought I knew who did it, there was another revelation. This is a new series to look out for & I will be waiting to read them.

What a gritty start to a new series with a pair of kick-ass detectives for good measure.

Ok, it took a while to get to grips with DS Moomy Khan and DI Sarah Heaton, they are not what you would call typical officers, and their personal lives are rather troubling, but yet it is clear they are great at their jobs.

This is a story that is incredibly diverse, and I loved getting to know the police team and their backgrounds, in addition to learning all about the family that is at the heart of this story.

For the Hayat's are uber rich, and think nothing can touch them, but whether they actually care for each other is another matter, even when their oldest son, Oscar and heir apparent is kidnapped and his new wife turns up dead.

I had no idea how the plot was going to unravel and I was gripped as a result of it. I was eager to learn everything I could about this case, and in it meet some very misguided people.

Yet at the same time, it's what has been happening in Moomy and Sarah's recent pasts, that I feel is going to shape the series, to the extent that I'm already dying to read book 2, based on the way this one finished. I feel there is far more to them both than has already been revealed and I am so looking forward to seeing how they develop over a series.

Fast paced and addictive, this is yet another fabulous thriller from Alex Caan, which asks the question of just whether you have to obey the law if you are a billionaire.

Thank you to Hera and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.