Thank you to Danielle @_DanielleLouis_ for organising this tour and to Kerry Watts, Hera Books and NetGalley for a copy of this novel in exchange for a honest and unbiased review.
Synopsis
Their next breath will be their last
Forty years ago, the name Rachel McMahon was synonymous with evil. After killing four men in the most brutal of ways, the world rejoiced as she was locked up.
Now Rachel has done her time, repented for her crimes, and is ready to live a quiet life back in Scotland under a new name.
But then the killings start again. As the bodies of fathers and sons appear on the streets of Perth, their deaths echoing those from Rachel’s murder spree four decades ago, DCI Hazel Todd and her squad are called in to track down a murderer taunting them at every step.
Could Rachel really have reformed – or is a copycat killer trying to finish what she started? And as the murders get closer to Hazel, it’s a race against time to stop a psychopath with their own twisted agenda…
Death Rite is publishing on the 14th of October by Hera Books in both paperback and ebook
My Thoughts
I love a new detective series so I jumped at the chance to be part of the tour for Kerry watts’ new series featuring Detective Hazel Todd and it as such a fantastic start. Kerry Watts is a new author to me and I definitely need to go and track down some of her other work now.
I was hooked by the end of the first chapter and really enjoyed how the case and clues were revealed throughout the book; fast enough to keep the reader hooked and not lose pace whilst creating intensity and tension. I couldn’t stop reading!
It has a great balance of police procedural and character development, laying the foundations and backstory for future novels. I enjoyed how events from the past and present came together and how the different leads were investigated. There is lots of insight into a variety of social class issues and how they are perceived which was quite thought provoking.
Hazel is a great lead character, and I am hoping we continue to learn more about her in future instalments. I’m looking forward to reading more.
Author Bio – Kerry Watts
Kerry Watts was born and grew up in a small town in the East of Scotland where she still lives today. She is always writing and carries a little notebook and pen with her wherever she goes because at her age ideas need to be captured before they disappear.
Kerry specialises in crime fiction because she enjoys pushing the boundaries of what it is to be human. The nature versus nurture debate fascinates her. She loves to put her characters in impossible situations just to see what happens. Her experience as a psychiatric nurse heavily influences her writing. She also wants to create characters that people can relate to who might be facing the same struggles as anyone else.
Authors who inspire her are anyone capable of creating a character who lives inside her head long after she has closed the book. Her favourite fictional character’s are Dexter Morgan, created by Jeff Lindsay as well as Hannibal Lechter created by Thomas Harris. She doesn’t have a favourite genre as a reader. Kerry will read anything. Written by anyone. If the blurb has a good feel about it she’s hooked.
When she’s not writing she loves to spend time following her other passions – dogs, particularly rescue mutts and horse racing. The sight of a thoroughbred race horse at full stretch has been known to move her to tears, not just lump in the throat stuff but full on blubbing. And for that she is unashamed. One day she’s going to buy a racehorse filly and call her Into Darkness.
She also had a small role in a film called The Rocket Post but decided acting wasn’t for her. She would rather create a character than play one.
Herding Cats 