Zaffre, the flagship commercial adult fiction imprint of Bonnier Books UK, has acquired three thrillers by bestselling eBook author Sarah Yarwood-Lovett. The first book in the deal, The Pledge, will be published March 2026.
World English-language rights were acquired by publisher Ben Willis from Katie Fulford at Bell Lomax Moreton.
The Pledge, which is a standalone thriller, is a twisty, Glass Onion-style mystery with the super-rich, the political elite and the celebrity world colliding and meeting unfortunate ends on a glamorous, remote paradise island.
Lawyer Thea has just won the biggest case of her professional life when she receives a mysterious invitation to a private Caribbean island. Except this is no holiday. Thea’s fellow guests represent the world’s richest individuals and, on arrival, each is challenged to make The Pledge – to give half their fortunes to fight climate change. But underneath the billionaire lifestyle is a game of survival of the fittest. Soon their manipulative and misguided host is dead, and when another guest dies, it’s clear that Thea must fight for her life as she’s not just stranded on the island – she’s trapped with a killer . . .
Sarah has already enjoyed huge success as one of the most pre-ordered authors on the list of Bonnier Books UK’s digital-first imprint Embla, with her acclaimed Dr Nell Ward series selling over 500,000 copies to date. Embla will continue to publish the Dr Nell Ward series, with the next instalment coming this December and more to follow in 2027.
Sarah Yarwood-Lovett said: ‘I’m delighted to be working with Zaffre’s fabulous team on my new book, The Pledge! Our hero, Thea, may be an environmental lawyer – drawn from my legal and expert witness background – but her only green credential is envy at the next level of power and status she can’t quite attain. Inspired by my role in global sustainability – witnessing how the ambitions of corporations and ultra-high-net-worth individuals hold the fate of our planet in their hands – I throw Thea into a perilous collision of political trade-offs, hedonistic lifestyles and cataclysmic egos. And Thea sees just how deadly things turn when the trappings of wealth are stripped away, and true natures emerge.’
Ben Willis said: ‘Sarah is already a star of our Embla list, selling over half a million copies of her superb Nell Ward mystery series. Now, with The Pledge, she’s going to take the thriller world by storm. It’s a destination nail-biter with a unique environmental angle, combining the intense power play of Succession with the plot twists and psychological insight of the very best in the destination thriller genre. Sarah is a dream to work with, and we are so proud to be bringing this new strand of her publishing to Zaffre.’
Before becoming an author Dr Sarah Yarwood-Lovett spent sixteen years as an ecologist. Her unusual career has provided the perfect inspiration for writing murder mysteries with an ecological twist.
The Pledge will be published in paperback original, eBook and audiobook 26th March 2026.
