A Trace of Hares - Nell Ward Mystery #5

 

A Trace of Hares is the fifth book in the Dr. Nell Ward cozy mystery series by Dr. Sarah Yarwood-Lovett. Released 27th March 2024 by Bonnier on their Embla Books imprint, it's 300 pages and is available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. For Kindle Unlimited subscribers, this book is currently included in the KU subscription library to borrow and read for free. The previous books in the series are also currently available on KU to borrow.

This is a diverting series featuring an intelligent female ecologist who is again drawn into amateur sleuth mode when her attendance at a destination wedding in Ireland turns up a recently deceased body in a peat bog. Although it has the bones of a cozy mystery, there are elements of procedural and some slightly more graphic violence and descriptions than are usually present in cozies.

The main protagonist is a conservation ecologist and it's a profession which she shares with the author. It's an oft-said proverb that authors should write what they know, and Dr. Yarwood-Lovett has done just that; describing the realities of crawling through muck, and some of the less salubrious aspects and realities of field work. 

The book is full of science tidbits and trivia and that's one of the big highlights. Without being pedantic or lecturing, the author pulls back the curtain on tantalizing bits of nature most never see. There are technical terms bandied about, and there are some places which require a little more attention on the part of the reader - but they're relatively few and far between and I think most readers will have no problem understanding the jargon from context.

Four stars. It does move slowly in places, but the author does a thorough job of building up the characters' back-stories and settings. This book has a self contained mystery arc, and so it works well enough as a standalone. With five books extant currently, and a 6th to be released in 1st quarter 2025, it would be a good choice for a binge/buddy read.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.