Life hasn't been easy for DCI Hazel Todd for the last little while, the death of a loved one and a not too easy path through the menopause are both compounded by an excess amount of alcohol and very little sleep. So, when a retired teacher is killed in a hit and run outside her home, Hazel struggles to focus as she arrives at the scene.

The victim has a history which decides the direction of the initial enquiries, with Hazel’s team certain they know who carried out the attack but then another victim is found with an equally checkered but altogether different past. A coincidence or is a vigilante enforcing their own form of justice, and leaving the police in their wake?

This is the second in a new series which makes for entertaining reading with a sympathetically written main protagonist who is struggling with life and her job is what keeps her going. The initial investigation leads in a variety of different directions and was fun to try and decipher. As they worked together the team was cohesive with good relationships but I do hope their private lives will get more of an airing in future books.

I was able to read an advanced copy of this thanks to NetGalley and the publishers but the opinions expressed are my own. This is an entertaining second installment of what could become an excellent, long running series.

This is the second book of the DCI Hazel Todd series and this is a first for me having said that it didn't spoil my enjoyment of the story.

Hazel is a really likeable character who is portrayed true to life with flaws a all, it's refreshing to see a more mature lady take on a leading role.

A well written police procedural that pulls you in and has you engaged and invested in the outcome, look forward to book three!

I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read snd review this book, Death Sentence.

Hazel Todd is a middle-aged Detective in Scotland who has experienced heartache, leaving her with insomnia and a fondness for too much wine. When she is called out to a hit-and-run death of a woman who was let off easy in a drunk driving situation, her first thought is that someone was out for revenge. Hazel and her team have a tough time getting the dots to connect, but other situations arise which seem to all be related, including some issues with a lenient judge. As the story plays out, the team discovers the connections, but not before there is more tragedy and death.

This book has a well thought out plot, leaving the reader wondering how all of the players are related. It has has some usual side stories of the detectives, showing that they are human and have their own issues to deal with.

I really enjoyed this well written police procedural. Detective Hazel Todd is still recovering from her husband's murder over a year ago. when she is called to investigate a hit and run involving an elderly woman. I like the dynamics within the team, very good characterisation, and the pace flowed well. The setting of Perth is beautiful and the plot was interesting, I never guessed the killer. Overall, a very enjoyable read which I would recommend. Thanks to Net Galley for my ARC.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Hera Books for an advance copy of Death Sentence, the second novel to feature DCI Hazel Todd of Perthshire Police.

Maggie Ramsay is killed outside her front door in a deliberate hit and run. Peter King is murdered and mutilated in his own home. Hazel and her team soon find a link, both got very light sentences for serious crimes. So, it’s simply a matter of finding the vigilante or is it?

I enjoyed Death Sentence, which is an interesting police procedural with some unexpected twists and turns. It is told mostly from Hazel and her team’s point of view with the odd switch to the prime suspect and his doings.

I will start with the one fault I found in the novel. I know that Perth is not a large town, but it’s big enough for the links between the characters to be obvious plot constructions rather than likely, so a certain suspension of disbelief is required. Disbelief suitably suspended, the reader can get on with an absorbing read. There are plenty of events, some linked to the murder, some not, but as it’s not immediately apparent which are and aren’t it allows the reader to speculate freely and hunger for more information. I liked that Hazel and the team spend much of the novel in darkness about the perpetrator’s identity and that many of their assumptions turn out to be red herrings. I really liked the unexpected turn the novel took.

I like Hazel Todd. She’s in her fifties, full of experience and the menopause and still negotiating the single life after a divorce. She drinks too much and eats the wrong food in true fictional detective fashion, so sometimes you want to shake her, but other times you want to join her in a shared experience pity party. She’s real.

Death Sentence is a good read that I can recommend.

Many thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read an ARC 5 WELL DESERVED STARS! You will want to read this in one sitting because you are on the edge of your seat the entire time… I was mad at life getting in the way!

Detective Hazel Todd #2

Retired teacher, Maggie Ramsay, is found dead outside her Perth home, the victim of a hit-and run accident. An everyday tragedy - or so it seems. While DCI Hazel Todd and her squad look for the culprit, they're called to attend the death of loner, Peter King, found stabbed to death in a squalid flat. Two very different victims, two very different deaths. But as Hazel investigates the cases, she finds both Maggie and Peter are concealing their own crimes. Maggie's drunk driving caused the death of a ten year old boy a year ago, while Peter has retreated from the world to hide from his harmful past.

I haven't read the first book in this series but it did read well as a standalone. I was pulled into the story after reading the first few pages. It's well written, got lots of twists and a good plotline. Hazel Todd is a middle aged Detective who with her team are called out to a hit-and-run. Then a man is found dead in his home. Could these cases be connected? The pace is fast, the characters believable, you never know where the story is heading. I must try and find time to read the first book in this series that's set in Scotland.

I would like to thank #Netgalley #HeraBooks and the author #KerryWatts for my ARC of #DeathSentence in exchange for an honest review.

Whilst this is the second book in a series, it can be read as a standalone. I hadn't read the first (though I've added it to my TBR list) and I had no problems picking up the threads of the characters. A classic police procedural, this follows DCI Hazel Todd and her investigative team as they investigate two murders that have several interesting connections. Both were individuals convicted of crimes but given non-custodial sentences by the same judge, and there's concern that there's a vigilante on the loose. I loved Hazel--an 50-something woman dealing with hot flashes on top of everything else--and the story kept me turning pages.

Thanks to Hera Books for access to a digital ARC via NetGalley.

3.5 rounded up.

DCI Hazel Todd is not in the best of places since the murder of her ex-husband Rick a year ago. She has to pull herself together when she’s called to the gruesome scene of a hit and run accident. The victim is 55-year-old Maggie Ramsey a retired teacher with a previous conviction for a drink/drive offence which sadly took the life of a 10 year old boy. Is this some kind of justice for that? There follows another tragedy and another… Is this a case of a vigilante exacting revenge or something else entirely?

This is a good police procedural with an intriguing sequence of events in a well thought out and substantial plot which is told at a quick pace and which flows well. I like the way you are led to think one thing with very good reason but then it takes you somewhere else equally plausible. There are several things to think about and reflect on here especially on how split second incidence can destroy so many lives.

I like the police team especially Hazel who is well fleshed out and feels authentic and it’s also good to have a middle-aged central protagonist who isn’t finding things easy. You can relate to her.

The plot starts to connect and come together with things slotting into place and it ends up somewhere you aren’t quite expecting which is all to the good. The ending is dramatic but not over the top with actions feeling understandable in the circumstances.

Overall, I definitely right like to read more featuring this Perth (Scotland) police team as I enjoyed this book.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Hera books for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

OH MY! What a hard hitting book, the first book I have read by this author, as I get introduced to DCI Hazel Todd and her team, it's a Saturday morning and she's hungover get's a call about a hit and run A female outside her home in Meadow banks gardens retired teacher Maggie Ramsay she has a history, a drink driving offence and killing Liam Wilson the family are out for revenge his brother David has been threatening her with letters and that's not all her husband receives a nasty call and is rushed to hospital, and there's more for readers as we take on more gruelling chapters.
This book is so unputdownable with loads of twisty chapters, I did not have any concerns of getting to know all the leading characters from past books, it was so easy to get into and loved all the story lines, I will most certainly be chasing up more of this authors work, Absolutely brilliant for me so I'm leaving full stars.

What a BRILLIANT gripping book this is was to read it had me trying to work out who the killer was when something else would happen to throw my thoughts in disarray.The characters and the story go so well together and i love Hazel and her team they dive in and get the jobs done they are given without a fuss.Kerry Watts certainly writes a fabulous story and i can't wait for her next book 5*

Retired teacher and ex-convict Maggie Ramsay is run down and killed just outside her home. Maggie was sent to prison for running down a young child while driving drunk. Her sentence was much lighter than normal for this crime. Is this a vengeance killing? DCI Hazel Todd, a woman with more than a few demons, and her team are tasked with finding the answers. But before they can solve this crime, Peter King, a loner with a chequered history, is found stabbed in a squalid flat. Is there a connection?
This is the second in the DCI Todd series and there's still lots to learn about her and her team. A very good read.

I love this authors books and very much love this series Hazel is one fisty lady. the story pulls you in from the first page. DCI Hazel Todd is struggling with sleeping and the murder of her ex husband she has took to the wine to sleep .she gets a call on a Saturday morning that there has been a hit and run. outside her driveway the victim is Maggie Ramsey retired school teacher. her team are on the case. but Maggie Ramsey killed a young boy under the influence of alcohol the husband thinks the driver was David Wilson. and then there is another murder a convicted pedophile. is this the work of a vigilante. this book has so many twists and turns i so recommend this series

DCI Hazel Todd and her four-man team are called in to investigate a possible hit-and-run incident.

The victim Maggie Ramsay a retired teacher was hit by a vehicle outside her house. When the police probe further they find out that the previous year, Maggie was involved in a drink-drive accident killing a ten-year-old boy in the process.

Though she was given a light sentence and only just got out of rehab last month.
Was someone out for revenge?
Soon after a man turns up dead in his home. He had a suspended sentence for possession of photos of underage girls.

The second victim raises a number of questions in the DCI Hazel’s mind. Were the two cases linked? Did Maggie and Peter know each other? Had they ever worked together?

A good detective story. Would recommend

Thank you to Kerry Watts, NetGalley, and Hera Books for the arc of this book.

I want to thank the publisher for giving me an ARC of this book. I haven't read the first book in the series but I found this book could be read as a stand alone. I really enjoyed the mystery. It was refreshing to read about a middle-aged female detective. Usually the female leads are in their twenties or thirties but Hazel is in her fifties. There were many things that I didn't see coming which I really enjoy. I don't want to give away any spoilers. I want to get the first book and read it now.

Death Sentence by Kerry Watts had a good mystery, and it was an okay read for me. I would not say it was a "nail-biting" crime thriller as I never really connected with any of the characters for some reason.

I would check out more from this author, though.

#DeathSentence #NetGalley @HeraBooks

An Unrelenting Narrative…
The second in the Detective Hazel Todd series finds the detective with two contrasting cases. The detective has to dig deeper to find a link between these seemingly different crimes. Both victims had much to hide and someone may well be seeking revenge. With a well crafted and credible cast and an unrelenting narrative this is an atmospheric and compelling read and a worthy addition to the first in the series.

Death Sentence by Kerry Watts

Retired teacher, Maggie Ramsay, is found dead outside her Perth home, the victim of a hit-and-run. An everyday tragedy – or so it seems. While DCI Hazel Todd and her squad look for the culprit, they’re called to attend the death of loner, Peter King, found stabbed to death in a squalid flat.

First time read by this author and have to say I really enjoyed reading it and will look out for their other titles.
The plot was fast paced , and the characters were believable . I raced through the book to get to the ending but was disappointed when I reached the last page which in my book is a sign of a good read !
Can't wait to start another.

Great book! I'm loving this series and these characters! This book had everything! It had suspense, intrigue, action, great police work! The storyline was very interesting and flowed nicely! No truly enjoyed reading this one! I highly recommend reading this book and series! They're well worth reading! Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!