The Broken Path: The Addictive New Roberts and Bradley Crime Thriller

by Solomon Carter

A missing woman. A bloodied toy. A secret worth killing for.

Private Investigator Eva Roberts thought she’d escaped the chaos.
Until a child’s bloodied toy lands on her doorstep—and drags her back into the fire.
Hired by a desperate client, Eva uncovers a chilling network of vanishing women, false identities, and a shadowy group known only as The Path.
But this isn’t just another case.

Her home is torched. Her loved ones are targeted. And the deeper she digs, the more the truth threatens to destroy everything she holds dear.
Now Eva and her partner Dan must fight on all fronts—because The Path isn’t just a cult.
It’s a trap.
And someone’s already sprung it.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “Off to a cracking start!”
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “Explosive from start to finish!”

Perfect for fans of gritty British PI thrillers, psychological suspense, and conspiracies hiding in plain sight.
If you love The Girl on the Train, Broadchurch, or Jack Reacher with heart, you’ll tear through The Broken Path.

Start the electrifying trilogy today.
Justice won’t wait. Neither should you.

235 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 9, 2025

About the author

Hello folks,
My name is Solomon Carter, and I am the author of the Roberts and Bradley PI crime thriller series, The Last Line international thriller series, the DI Hogarth Darkest series and more. I write mysteries, crime and thriller novels and more besides.

I was born in Southend, Essex and lived there for most of my life apart from eventful student days in South London. But my life in Southend was even more eventful still. I ended up working in a string of jobs including as a jobcentre clerk, a book seller, tutor for youth with low skills and low self esteem, mortgage broker, and latterly manager of a food bank which dealt with all kinds of interesting people facing all kinds of eye-opening, jaw dropping problems. Because of these ear-to-the-ground jobs the majority of my novels are set in Southend. In 2016 I moved to North Cornwall because I liked the idea of never-ending holidays - but I also write almost every single day. My aim is to write action-packed thrillers and page-turning mysteries that readers love and my hope is to get better at what I do with every book across each and every year.

I like to give away lots of free books as part of what I do. If you would like to receive some of these and get the exclusives on offer, than you're invited to join my free readers group at SolomonCarter.net. I won't spam you, just send the occassional email with news on the latest books and forthcoming freebies.

And if you want to see the memes, personal shares and other oddball stuff I do, then you can join me at Facebook via www.facebook.com/solomoncarterwrites and join the fun there too.

What I am good at: telling stories
What I am bad at: dancing, being patient.
What I love: nature, the seaside, adventures
Writers I heartily recommend: Lee Child, Ian Rankin, Henning Mankell, Val McDermid, Harlan Coben, Robert Crais.
Writers I need to read more of: Val McDermid, Ian Rankin, Michael Connelly and others.
Other things I do beside writing: at present I like to keep my running going to balance out the sitting behind a laptop (a habit inspired by Haruki Murakami's 'What I talk about when I talk about running' - a great book).
-I am currently doing surf lessons. When in Rome, as they say...
-Getting out into nature as the weather allows.

I look forward to hearing from you.
Until then I'll keep on writing. Or running. Or surfing. Or chasing my children around the house.

All the very best,
Solomon :)

PS
if you have enjoyed any of my books, I'd be honoured if you could post a review. Those reviews really do help!

Reviews

[Craig Smedley · Rating 5 out of 5]

The return of Eva and Dan after a hiatus following the birth of their son Sam. Eva is getting itchy feet for her life before motherhood now that Sam is three, and then a good looking but strange male comes through their office door seeking the firm’s assistance to locate a missing brother. This seems the opportunity Eva has been seeking to ease her back into investigative work but Dan takes a dislike to the visitor and recommends Eva NOT take on this client. The client however is persuasive and offers to pay three times normal for their services so Eva accepts on the basis that Dan has to play house Dad looking after Sam more often. But this is a wedge that seems to be dividing Eva and Dan and they each become suspicious of each other’s motives and behaviour, to add to the intrigue.
Their long-time assistant, Joanne is co-opted for child mining and investigative duties also and between them all, a cult called The Path is uncovered and all sorts of interactions and suspicious acquisitions by the new client and his missing brother are uncovered. When Dan and Eva’s office and home is burnt down, the investigation spirals and threatening children’s toys arouse their fears and anger. So, they decide to fight fire with fire and a trap of sorts is set and the brothers meet again. Then there is an intriguing twist involving the prior girlfriend of their client who previously joined the cult and fell for the brother but has now left both and disappeared. A good story with the scene set for the next in the trilogy.

[Cidney · Rating 2 out of 5]

I absolutely love Mr Carter's Hogarth books but have never really taken to the Roberts and Bradley series. I can't really say why except they just don't gel that much with me, I don't see them as three dimensional (am not sure if this is a new book or one of the early ones, I meant to look at that), characters but more one dimensional with a little bit of two in there for good measure. I know he likes to finish off the first book with a follow through to the next in the series and with my favourite Hogarth books I don't mind that as I am so tuned into him that I wouldn't be able to sleep if I didn't have the next one ready to read, but with Dan and Eva and Joanne I don't get that same vibe so their books are unfinished, not rounded off if you like. I have a few more of their books to read so maybe they'll make me warm to them eventually!!

[Jacqueline · Rating 5 out of 5]

I simply love Solomon Carter's Southend universe. This is his first Eva and Dan book for around 3 years. The last we saw of them Eva was pregnant and now baby Sam is 3. Eva is getting "antsy" , having been Sam's principal carer, with Dan and assistant, Joanne, now an important part of their private investigation business, helping out. But having been out of the business for so long, she's anxious to get back to it and prove to herself and Dan, that she hasn't lost her instincts and skills. Unfortunately the case she takes on proved to be far more than she imagined. Eva and Dan could lose everything, even each other. In other words, the usual thrills and tensions - and a whole lot of danger! Fantastic read, and I can hardly wait to read book 2 in the series!

[Julie Powell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Three years after Sam was born, Eva is keen to get back into the action, so when a new client asks about a missing person, she's on the case...not everyone is pleased.

It's a twisty case full of lies and misdirection. The relationship between Eva and Dan is as tense as ever, both are rather annoying characters. However, I enjoyed the mystery and suspense and the revealing of the tangled Web.

Well-written and engaging.