The good ol’ closed circle murder mystery is brought bang up to date in Sarah Yarwood-Lovett’s The Pledge – I mean, how much more of-the-moment can there be than a book that features greenwashing, tech bros, billionaires and even a seedy member of the Royal family?
You’ll find all this and more in a novel that also fits neatly into the destination thriller genre. It’s set on St Innocent, a secluded fictional Caribbean islandowned by Olga Helgesdotter – owner of a company that owns super luxe fashion, cosmetic, travel and homeware brands, who tops the Forbes Rich List.
It’s soon to be the destination of Thea Harrington, a barrister who has just won a significant environmental case that found the government not guilty of violating an agreement with the Climate Change Commission – much to the anger of hordes of protesters. She finds herself under siege, and with little sympathy forthcoming from her husband, Charles, who also happens to be the energy minister. So, Thea is intrigued by a mysterious invitation to get away from it all, and decides to take it.
Once on St Innocent, Thea is dismayed to discover that the other invited guests include her husband and his insufferable and hugely entitled friend Prince Hugh, the Duke of Clarence. The gathering also includes journalist Asha Sani, pop megastar Zyra, supermodel Estelle, biotech giant Kali Huang, AI innovator Uri Cato, and political influencer and financier Magnus Black III. The egos have landed.
It’s a disparate band, all of them members of Olga’s elite OneT Club, but it soon becomes clear that their hostess has brought them together for one reason – to sign a pledge that on the face of it could change the world, but in reality is an unattainable piece of greenwashing. It sounds like utter madness, but with the resort’s staff having departed, taking the guests’ phones with them, and the island having both a locked harbour and a helicopter with no ignition key, they are trapped and must bow to the will of their hostess. Then Olga is murdered and an already impossible situation gets even darker…
Thea appoints herself as lead investigator – well, she is a lawyer, after all – but when another body is discovered, the remaining survivors turn on her and she must use all of her wiles to point them away from her and in the direction of the real murderer. You’d never believe the range of murder weapons that are available on a uber-luxurious island as Yarwood-Lovett allows her vivid imagination to run riot as the body count mounts. I’ll be hard pressed to ever look at a hotel’s complimentary cosmetics in the same way again.
The Pledge is a glorious romp that lays bare a lifestyle that few of us will ever enjoy, and has great fun along the way. Thea is a driven woman who got to the top of her profession by caring little about those she trampled on in the process. Her agenda here is dubious, but bringing out her Miss Marple side is a clever move which makes the character more endearing.
The same cannot be said for Prince Hugh. He must have been conceived by the author a while ago, but this slimy monster will definitely bring to mind a certain real-life former highness who has recently been taken down several pegs and made headlines worldwide. There’s even a pet puma in the mix – and I don’t think I’ve ever written that sentence before.
This book would be the perfect accompaniment for a poolside cocktail when the summer holidays come around, and is also an excellent companion for a cuppa by the fireside. Wherever your reading spot might be, it’s a good time to grab yourself a copy.
You can read our interview with the author here.
Zaffre
Print/Kindle/iBook
£
CFL Rating: 5 Stars
