On a sun-hazed afternoon in the Florida Keys, a child goes missing from the beach.

Dr Mirren Fitzpatrick appeals to the world to help find her eight-year-old adopted daughter. The family are on holiday from Ireland, far from home and desperate to return there as they arrived – together.

Yet the police are immediately suspicious of Mirren. She was drinking at a bar – alone – shortly before reporting that her youngest child had disappeared. As rumours abound about Mirren's past a trial-by-media ensues, and she is turned from a figure of pity to the villain of the piece.

And then a small body is found dumped in the ocean. Is Mirren a heartbroken mother, or the architect of her daughter's fate?

A stunning debut from a brilliant new voice in Irish crime fiction, perfect for fans of Gillian Flynn and Ashley Audrain. Breaking will see readers question their own notions of motherhood, guilt and the inescapable consequences of the past.