Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for allowing me to read this Arc.
I absolutely love all of Carla Kovach's books and this one didn't disappoint.
You are always guaranteed a gripping read with loads of twists and turns.
Definitely worth five stars.

Totally gripping. An addictive, unputdownable, thrilling read. I was frantically turning the pages and yet bereft when it ended. A story and characters that will stay with me. Brilliant. Highly recommended.

The Broken Ones by Carla Kovach is the eighth book in the Gina Harte series. I picked up this series with The Liar's House (book 4) and I also thoroughly enjoyed books five through to seven.

The author has written a really clever and fascinating story that drew me in right from the very first page. Feisty and down-to-earth, Gina Harte is a brilliant Detective Inspector. The fabulous plotting and great pacing by Carla Kovach also contributed to my huge enjoyment of the story. I suspected many of the characters, yet as is often the case, I failed to identify the actual perpetrator.

If you love a good detective series and psychological thriller with plenty of twists and creepiness then The Broken Ones is for you. Very highly recommended. Rating: five stars.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel at my request from Bookouture via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.

Another thoroughly enjoyable thriller from Ms Kovach with a twisty and enthralling narrative and enough action to sink your teeth into.

This is one of my favourite series and I always enjoy revisiting DI Gina Harte and her team with every book. The eighth installment, THE BROKEN ONES is a gritty crime thriller that has you gripped from the very beginning as the team search for a twisted killer.

Opening with a Prologue set ten years ago, trying not to be heard by their mother he creeps into his sister's darkened bedroom to regale her with his plan. Finally they can be free of the grip in which their mother has them. But he is confused as to why her room is dark. Hailey loves the moonlight streaming in as she drifts off to sleep...so why are the curtains drawn? He tries to wake her, softly whispering her name. He sees the earphones in her ears. He gives her a gentle shake...and stops. She is cold to the touch. Then he spies empty blister packs on her bedside table beside a glass of water. His sister is dead. In an instant he knows "she" did this. Their evil mother. And she must pay.

Ten years later, it's Friday night and Amber is preparing to go out on a date with someone she met on a dating app. Her friend Lauren helps her choose an outfit - a pink jumpsuit coupled with leopard print stilettos. With a smile and an overnight bag, she smiles as she leaves the apartment block saying "Don't wait up!" As she makes her way to the bus stop, she sees someone she believes to be in need and stops to help...realising too late that she's the one in trouble.

Monday morning a call comes in from a young woman reporting her friend, that left to for a date on Friday night, missing. While it is not uncommon for Amber to stay out all weekend, it IS highly unusual that she has not text Lauren to let her know how her date went and when to expect her home. Although at first, Gina believes it just to be a woman staying out and having fun, when she receives a call mid-interview that a body has been found in a local park, she prays that it is not the missing young woman.

Gina arrives with her team at the cordoned area in the park and, after consulting with forensics, inspects the body laying in a nightdress at the edge of the lake. It is Amber. With a gaping stab wound to her abdomen and evidence that she had been restrained, it appears the poor woman also had her lips sealed shut with superglue. Now Gina and her team must question everyone who lives in the student apartment block that Amber resided in. But in searching Amber's flat, forensics find some clandestine spy cameras surreptitiously hidden where not even Amber would have noticed them. Who was watching Amber? And was she targeted for a reason?

But it seems Amber was well liked by her friends, tutors and colleagues at the local pub she worked at three nights a week. But as Gina and her team dig deeper, many secrets that people are hiding slowly start to surface. And in her sights is a chef at the restaurant that Amber was supposed to meet her date on Friday, who appears to be acting suspiciously. And her tutor, whose own alibi is shaky, seems to be hiding something. Is there more to Amber than meets the eye?

Then another student, Madison, in a neighbouring block goes missing walking to the carpark at the local hospital. Her nan sat in her wheelchair in reception for an hour waiting for Madison to return, finally asking nurses to call the police. Gina and her team begin their search in the surrounding area immediately and thankfully find the girl gravely wounded but alive. Madison, it seems, had also been on the same dating app as Amber. Could this be their link? Is the killer finding his victims via Appydater then stalking them before abducting and killing them? Madison reported suspicious behaviour of someone watching her and following her, so she was naturally on her guard when the villian tried to take her. But her training in self defence prepared her well for the knee to the bollocks and the punch to the face before she lost consciousness in the bushes.

Then when one of their own fails to appear for their shift, it soon becomes clear that the killer has targeted her and it is a race against time and a killer who will stop at nothing to be reunited with the past.

THE BROKEN ONES is seriously creepy with a handful of equally creepy suspects to take your pick from. The setting is just as sinister in the cold snowy landscape of mid-winter Cleevesford, giving the town a distinctively...well, creepy feel. It feels as if it is constantly dark adding to the malevolent aspect as Gina and her team race to find their killer, just as their much loved colleague fights for her life locked and restrained in a darkened room.

The eighth book in the DI Gina Harte series, THE BROKEN ONES is just as compelling as the previous ones in the series although some aspects may seem a little repetitive. For instance, her to-ing and fro-ing where her DCI Chris Briggs is concerned. Just when you thought she was getting her sh*t together with him, she second guesses everything again. This is the one aspect of the series that has me tearing my hair out in frustration. Either do or don't - stop procrastinating and second guessing! I'm just glad her daughter Hannah didn't feature in this installment because that girl grates on me with the disrespect she shows her mother, dangling daughter Grace in front of Gina as emotional blackmail.

It is also refreshing not to find Gina constantly referring to her past with abusive husband Terry. This is rehashed with every book in detail that I find redundant since readers are more than familiar with the story now. As for newcomers to the series, just a reference to it would suffice whetting their appetite enough to go back and read previous books to uncover what really happened. Gina's experience with Terry changed her understandably but doesn't define her, so that secret should remain locked away in her past never to see the light of day again. After all, how long has it been? Hannah was a young child and she's now a grown woman with a child of her own. Over twenty years at least, I'd say. Time to move that story on.

With Gina's private life is still somewhat in turmoil, I think it's about time she sat herself down with Chris and stop avoiding him and putting it in the "too hard" basket. I missed the last book (it's still in my TBR pile) so I haven't yet caught up with what took place there but I can read between the lines. I just want to slap her sometimes. lol

As for the crime aspect, I had no idea whodunnit but I wasn't surprised when it was revealed. And yet, it was still a highly addictive read. Overall, THE BROKEN ONES is a riveting crime thriller with all the suspense and creepiness that is bound to keep readers enthralled and entertained.

I would like to thank #CarlaKovach, #NetGalley, #Bookouture for an ARC of #TheBrokenOnes in exchange for an honest review.

Great as a stand alone book, but glad to know there is a series! This book kept me hooked from beginning to end, and made me want to keep reading until it was done.
I liked the characters and the story kept me guessing. Definitely recommend!

Another British crime novel for me. They never get old because they are all so good. This is my first Gina Harte novel by Carla Kovach, but it won’t be my last. This is the 8th book in the series and I had no trouble following along without being caught up in reading the series.

Gina Harte, or Guv as her team calls her, is hunting a murderer. A young college age girl is found dead in the park. The book focuses on catching her killer. There are chapters from his victims, his point of view and Gina’s. I like when you get to see the story unfold from many angles.

And can I mention there is no shortage of suspects. At one point I even wondered if her team was all vetted and if they could be part of it. Slowly all of the suspects end up being eliminated so you can figure out the villain.

There is suspense and danger in this fast paced novel as Gina and her team rush to solve the case before more people are hurt. The author does a good job in developing a believable crime and has a diverse group of characters. And she is great at red herrings for even smaller plot points as you read the story.

I recommend this for anyone looking for a well thought out crime drama.

The Broken Ones Carla Kovach
This is book 8 in the Gina Harte series although I think it would read great as a standalone. I have enjoyed every book I've read in this series so far, and loved this one too. I really like Gina as a character.
The open chapters take you into the story with a bang, and keeps you hooked and guessing right to the end. I had several theories going, who killed Amber and why, then other women start to go missing.
This is a series I will keep coming back to time and time again.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publishing house and the author for the opportunity to read an advance reader copy of this book in return for a review based upon my honest opinion.

This is book 8 in the Detective Gina Harte series. They could all easily be read as standalone books; this one included, I really enjoy this series. The characters are all well written and so enjoyable to get to know, I love how we get to know more about different characters each book. I live Gina’s personal development, such a traumatizing back story but a woman of strength more and more as she learns to cope with her past.

In this book, Amber, a young woman goes out for a date and didn’t come back, her body is found days later. Our suspect is hunting women with a specific look, when another girl goes missing, has he found his next victim and which of the police officers is he hunting as a possible victim? This had me on the edge of my seat as the multiple suspects were narrowed down; but will he be captured before another woman dies?
Great book; can’t wait for the next one!

My first time reading this author. It was such a good read keeping the reader on the edge of your seat. Such a quick and easy read. Can’t wait to read more from this author

Another brilliant book in this great series.
The book begins with a missing woman being reported and then shortly after, a woman’s body is found by a lake.
Gina and the team realise this is the missing woman and she was a local student.
As they start to ask questions there’s more than one person they’re interested in speaking to but who is the killer?
We also have chapters from the killer’s perspective and he’s clearly very troubled.
Another woman is left for dead but Gina manages to find her in time so another life is not lost.
Both women were on the same dating app and after discussing it at the station a few of them are on it too, including Briggs.
One of the team goes missing and their family know something bad has happened so Gina and the team have to pull out all the stops to find her before it’s too late.
This is a fast paced crime thriller that I loved reading. It’s great to read a long standing series but you could also read this as a stand-alone.
Thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

Hush, don't speak! 🤐 Amazing tension start to finish😲!

This latest DI Gina Harte thriller really kept me guessing. And, unlike the two previous books I've read in this series, Gina's anxiety-ridden past takes a backstage to the investigation of a kidnapping killer who just won't stop until he finds his dream victim. And, as happens so often in our age of tech obsession, a dating app is central to the case.

The police chase is filled with numerous suspects and acquaintances of the victims, leading to lots of leads, many red herrings, and a tad of confusion on my part. I sometimes found it impossible to remember what I'd learned about a character when they cropped up again after dozens of chapters of action and interviews without them mentioned. Fortunately, Kovach helped jog my memory but not quite soon enough to my liking. But that was the only issue I had with an otherwise fantastic read. Having the case take a very personal turn for Gina and her team added a great touch and made the race to stop the criminal just that satisfying bit more urgent.

If you appreciate a police procedural whodunit with strong female protagonists, I think this is one you will enjoy. And, the strong women are not by any means limited to the police team😉. Go, Madison!

I think I am now a convert to this series.

Thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for providing a complimentary copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest opinion.

I’d like to thank Bookouture and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘The Broken Ones’ by Carla Kovach in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Amber Slater’s preparing for a date with a man she’s met on AppyDater but she disappears somewhere between her student apartment and the restaurant, found three days later lying in a lake with her lips glued together. As DI Gina Harte, DS Paula Wyre and the team are investigating another student is attacked in the hospital car park and she survives after fighting for her life. Gina knows she has to put every effort into finding the man responsible before he can take another victim.

‘The Broken Ones’ is the eighth in the Detective Gina Harte series and I’ve enjoyed reading each and every one. I never tire of reading more of Gina and her hard-working and reliable team and learning how her relationship with DCI Chris Briggs is progressing. This latest thriller has all the drama, suspense and twists and turns I’d expect from a book by Ms Kovach and I’ve been gripped from the very start with the conclusion so exciting I had to keep reading just one more chapter until I’d devoured the book in just over twenty-four hours. I can’t wait for the next one.

I think this one has the most tension of the entire series. The case is twisted and the killer chapters are interesting and dark. I was completely wrong about who it was.
My favorite part of this series is the team. The interactions and the way they are a family unit comes through.
I liked that Gina has developed so much from the first book. I really like that her past with her ex wasn't mentioned much and we didn't have all the daughter drama this go around. My only complaint is Gina and Briggs. The back and forth is getting tired and the longer it goes on, the less I like Briggs. Which is sad because he was one of my favorite characters. I really hope the author gives readers some resolution to the relationship soon, one way or the other.

Sometimes it is what isn't in a story rather than what is in a story that makes you enjoy reading it. With this being the 8th installment in the Gina Harte series, I was very excited to read very little about her ex-husband. Yes, what he did and how she ended it will always be a part of DI Harte but this installment gives me hope that she has stopped letting him continue to control her life. Please! Because other than that, I really enjoy the characters in this series and the crimes that they investigate. The premise of the story isn't new but Ms. Kovach was able to still keep the reader guessing until the end. I am happy to say that I am looking forward to the next book in the series.

The Broken Ones is the eighth book in the DI Gina Harte police procedural series set in Warwickshire. I’ve read them all in order but you really don’t need to, as each one is a separate mystery, and while I have enjoyed them all, they are starting to become a bit formulaic and repetitive, whereas I think new readers will be more impressed. It could be that I read the right book at the wrong time: one of the downsides of reading a lot of ARCs is feeling I must meet deadlines despite not really being in the mood for this genre just now - I’ve just read too many British detective series in the last couple of years. Looking back at my 5 star review of the last one, this has all the same elements and it’s probably just as good a book, I just wasn’t feeling it the same way this time.

A popular student heads out on a blind date on a freezing January night, but never arrives. When her body is found on the shore of a lake, stabbed through the heat with her lips glued together, Gina and her team wonder whether her use of a popular dating app led her killer to her. Then another student is attacked and the suspect pool widens, but everyone they interview seems to have an alibi. Why is the perpetrator targeting dark haired women and who will be next?

The books in this series are all dark, suspenseful crime thrillers, which are very well written, plotted and paced, and this one is no exception. The cover looks great, as ever, although why it features a balloon I have no idea. Gina is a great Detective, and is finally starting to move on from her past trauma, albeit at a snail’s pace, although I wanted to knock her & Briggs’s heads together for being so emotionally incompetent with each other. I like the way her team work together, and the loyalty they show towards one another. There’s a great cast of minor characters, and I was genuinely worried about some of them, and suspected one after another, as I was supposed to, without ever guessing the true villain.

I do struggle with the premise of the same detective coming up against similar crimes against women in a small town over and over again, sure, they’re not all serial killers, but Gina certainly has investigated a lot of crazy predators within a short space of time! I do highly recommend both this book and the whole series to fans of this genre, even if I didn’t love it like the last one, and I do want to continue the series, but would like to see Gina’s team investigate some different types of murder. I also disagree with the tag-line which promises a “jaw-dropping twist” - it takes more than a cleverly concealed killer to make my jaw drop!
Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC which allowed me to give an honest review.
The Broken Ones is published on March 1st.

Nail bitting suspense! I read this book in a day - it is that good.
Please note I have not read previous books in this series - did not hold me back , but maybe become my next obsession.
Amber's body is found beside a lake. Clearly she had been held captive, stabbed in the heart. As a young woman attending university, Amber was living her life. And was murdered.
Gina is trying to grasp a lead - but everyone is lying. Her philandering lecturer. Over protective father. Smitten neighbor. Gina and her team struggle through the stories.
Fast paced, amazing suspense. Did not guess the killer.
Great book!

Everything I love! Fast paced, likable characters and an unpredictable ending. This is book 8 in a series, but you don’t need to have read the previous books in the series.

Carla Kovach is back with another intense and thrilling instalment in the DI Gina Harte series! With her trademark pace, sensational plot twists and cast of lovable characters, “The Broken Ones” is another excellent crime thriller that is impossible to put down.

After a woman’s body is discovered in the lake at a local park, DI Gina Harte and her team are on the case. Before they’ve managed to find any leads, another girl is attacked. She escapes, but it’s clear that this predator has a plan. When someone close to the team goes missing, it becomes a race against time to find the killer before it’s too late...

I absolutely love Kovach’s series of crime novels and every time I read a new one it’s like slipping on a favourite comfy jumper. I’m immediately drawn into the plot and the police team characters feel like old friends. However, despite the comfort of familiarity with Harte and the gang, Kovach quickly sets the scene for terror and suspense. As with the other books in this series, “The Broken Ones” hooks you in with a gripping prologue and opening sequence. Kovach has a real talent for grabbing readers’ attentions with an explosive opening and not releasing them until the final revelation is laid out. This instalment of the series effortlessly builds a thick, underlying sense of dread that permeates throughout the novel. I read the entirety of this novel on the edge of my seat - it’s relentless in its suspense!

As expected, Kovach creates a rich and vibrant world in her narrative. The cast of characters are diverse and well drawn, but also plausible. This is particularly strong in the characterisation of the perpetrator, who is particularly unsettling as they are so believable. The lead police characters are all back and as enjoyable to read as ever, but “The Broken Ones” is very much Jhanvi Kapoor’s story and I really enjoyed reading more about her life and character. In a police procedural series, it’s really engaging to have a large cast of reappearing characters who are each given their space to develop and come to life. In addition to the regular characters, there is a very well constructed cast of supporting players. Kovach is adept at creating the necessary red herrings and misdirection that makes this an unguessable read and she achieves this in part with her characterisations. There are plenty of logical suspects who keep us on our toes and I genuinely could not work out who the villain was until Kovach wanted me to!

This series is screaming out to be adapted for television, as it has all the hallmarks of an engrossing crime drama. Kovach’s visual storytelling, fast-paced plotting and accessible writing style makes “The Broken Ones” a highly enjoyable and engaging read. I didn’t want to put it down and it is a quintessential page-turner. Kovach is well and truly up there with other crime writing queens of “just one more chapter”. I hope to read many more books in the Harte series and highly recommend them to other fans of police procedural thrillers.

Excellent continuation of a great series.
Carla Kovach is back with another book in the DI Harte series, this time focussing on social media dating apps and the repercussions. The focus of the plot centres around university shared accommodation and a number of potential characters committing a crime. The plot develops at a good pace but involving the personal lives of DI Harte and her team.I found this book as good as any of her previous instalments and a satisfying and believable outcome. For those who are fans of this series, book 8 doesn't dissapoint.