When you’re about to interview a crime fiction author, you can never really tell what they did before writing mysteries. It’s always interesting to know, but Sarah Yarwood-Lovett has one of the most fascinating backstories we’ve come across. She’s an ecologist. Now, how do we get from there to writing cosy mysteries or, indeed, her latest – the sparkly new destination thriller, The Pledge?
We’ll hand over to Sarah in a moment, but just a quick word on The Pledge. Here, you’ll be jetted off to a Caribbean island, rub shoulders with some of the richest people on the planet. Then, you’ll realise that one of them is a predator who’s hunting everyone else on the island. Now, the rich folks really must wake up because their bank balance can’t save them. It sound’s very enticing, so we had to get Sarah to join us on the site and tell us more…
So, how does an ecologist end up writing crime novels like The Pledge.
It’s a job that takes you to all sorts of strange remote places at all times of the day and night – where you end up observing the nocturnal habits of humans as much as the protected species you’re there to survey! You can be standing in the shadows, staring at a building for a couple of hours to spot bats pre-dawn, then fingertip searching blades of grass for newts in the morning, then crawling through hedges (always thorny) to scour woodland for a single badger hair or a pawprint in the afternoon. So I realised there’s a huge amount of crossover between how an ecologist searches a habitat for signs of a species, and how a forensic officer searches a scene for a perpetrator. And that’s when the idea of Dr Nell Ward occurred to me – an ecologist who can spot clues others easily miss.
As well as having a deep love for all the UK habitats I’ve worked in, my ecology work has taken me all over the world, from living on a tropical coral atoll while doing marine surveys, to leading citizen science projects in the mountains of the Pacific North West. And I can’t deny that one of the reasons nature is a key character in my books is because I think you naturally write what you care about, and nothing delights me more than a review when someone tells me they’ve enjoyed learning something about the natural world. Sharing that love is a genuine joy.
What are crime fiction lovers going to love about The Pledge?
The Pledge is more morally grey than the Nell Ward series. Thea, the protagonist, is flawed and questionable, and trapped by decisions she’s made. She’s invited by the world’s richest individual to a luxury private island, where a cohort of billionaires will be invited to make The Pledge. But these moguls are not handing over half their fortunes without a fight. So there’s a collection of billionaires – plus a model, a pop icon, a politician, a journalist and royalty – behaving badly on a sun-soaked paradise private island turned prison. Who doesn’t love that?
Who is your heroine, Thea, and how does she see the world?
Thea is an environmental lawyer who’s just had a dazzling success with landmark case. But when she has a mysterious invitation to the island, she realises that the judicial system no longer applies. I’ve worked with and trained some environmental lawyers and worked alongside barristers as an expert witness, and that sense of responsibility, of the law being the final word, was a great grounding point for Thea – especially as she watches her world order disintegrate. A kind reviewer remarked that the book is zeitgeisty, which I loved, because Thea has to deal with people who are utterly above the law, untouchable and unaccountable.
What’s she up against?
All of the characters are antagonists to Thea! As much as she loves to hate the more obnoxious characters, they all occupy a world she aspires to, so her values are divided. But, once the murders begin, she has more direct threats to deal with. They are all cut off from contact with the outside world, on a remote, private island. And, as survival instincts kick in, they’re back to the laws of nature, in more ways than one.
Who are some of the other interesting characters we’ll meet on the island?
We have three billionaires who have made it into Forbes top five rich list, as well as the provocative host, Olga. Having worked in big tech, and having firsthand accounts of these type of personalities, I couldn’t resist exploring how characters with egos and hubris on that mega scale would cope out in the wilds. The model, journalist and pop icon have more grounding in ordinary life, so the little regard the others show everyday folk grates. Then there’s an entitled duke, who I hope is deliciously detestable. But the last guest, the politician, is Thea’s husband – and he’s her ultimate antagonist.
There’s a bit of a survival-of-the-fittest vibe, which is interesting as all these people have so far been winners in life. Can you tell us more about that and about the atmosphere you wanted to evoke for readers?
I love that observation! The island strips back that shield of privilege and pits everyone against each other on a more equal footing – so survival, of the killer and the environment, becomes very visceral. I wanted to share the sense of jungle closing in around you, and what it feels like to venture along barely-there paths, with snakes criss-crossing underfoot – because I have lived that – and why you’d be desperate enough to do it.
There are always thrills when people are being hunted by a killer, and destination thrillers are about escapism, but were there any deeper themes that you wanted to explore through the book?
I hope this is a perfect holiday read and, on one level, silly escapism with characters you can enjoy watching suffer!
But some themes are definitely core to the book. I mentioned that the selective application of justice is such a current theme, and it has such a long shadow, so exploring those characters and what happens to personalities when that’s their world, was fascinating to me. Seeing them through Thea’s eyes, when she’d been fuelled by the insatiable craving for the next social strata – to have that untouchable privilege herself – meant she’d have to acknowledge her own hypocrisy from her part in the legal system. There’s a hint of redemption – that she might realise what she truly values. As her ethics have eroded and corrupted over time – to make excuses for keeping questionable but useful company – so has her self-belief. It might take a couple of murders and more, but she gets back to her own true nature, and that means she can chart her own path, on her own terms.
And naturally, as I work in sustainability these days, I wanted to hint at some of the areas we can take better care of our planet – and ourselves.
So I hope it’s tropical and topical!
Readers may know you for your Dr Nell series, which began with A Murder of Crows. The Pledge shifts away from cosy crime fiction to a different type of escapism. Why did you decide to write a deadly destination thriller, and what are the similarities and differences between this and a cosy mystery?
I have a thousand ideas for ecology plots and twists, and I’d love to write Nell Ward all day long. But I adore a series that has an intentional end and an overall arc, so I wanted to be brave enough to do that and branch out into other genres. In the latest book, An Ambush of Tigers, Nell has to face up to some of the proceeds that her privilege is built on, and what she should do about that… as well as solving a murder, and saving lives – and her marriage.
But, like I said, ecology has taken me to some very different places so, while the stories and adventures are different, the inspiration is the same.
In a cosy mystery you have the comfort of knowing that the killer will be caught and justice will be done, all in time for tea. Whereas a thriller leaves more room for dubious morals and a less tidy ending. Or for other forms of justice to come into play, and that’s quite fun to subject your characters to!
But whether it’s a mystery or a thriller they’re both a puzzle and that’s the crux, for me – because no other type of book gives you as much value for money. You can read it as escapist fun, and let the plot reveal itself; or you can play along and try to solve it before the denouement, which is what I do, or you can return to a pre-read favourite, when you know the outcome, but then appreciate all the carefully woven in clues and red herrings along the way.
Who are some of the other crime authors and/or books that have inspired you, and why?
Obviously Agatha. I loved Lucy Foley’s The Guest List for that tense, remote island feeling. I adore Brian Price for a bit of poisoning realism. I enjoy Claire McGowan’s description nuggets, she’s great at delivering maximum flavour with minimal words.
What’s next for Thea, Dr Nell and for Sarah Yarwood-Lovett?
Ah! Watch this space for the next Dr Nell Ward book and a new destination thriller.
The Pledge is available from 26 March 2026 and you can grab a copy using our buttons below.
