Nell, Rav, Jame and Shannon are on Irelands west coast for the wedding of Connor and Sylvia in his family's village. The youngest brother, Sean, is the family peacemaker and has got the other brothers to attend. Brandon, the eldest, who lives locally, but is a dark brooding character and Finn, who flew in from the US.
When a body is discovered in the peat bogs, Nell is asked by a student she had met at the visitor centre to come and have a look as it isn't deep enough to be ancient. It is also wearing modern jewellery. She is quickly identified by her sister as Brandon's wife, Sioban, who had disappeared over 20 years before. The family are devastated and with other revelations, they are left reeling. When it turns out to be murder, the big question is what happened to her baby?
Will Nell, Rav and James be able to piece the pieces together to find out what happened?
This story drew me in from the beginning and held my attention right to the end. Very enjoyable.

This is the 5th instalment of this series and this time it’s uncovering a 20 year old mystery. As usual it's full of interesting characters and the huge research and knowledge from the author is very evident again Although it did feel we got a little bogged down in the science in this book more than in the other's This story is less about Nell's personal life this time and as more about Conor and the mystery surrounding his sister in law and niece which was very interesting. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This is 5th in the Dr. Nell Ward series and a nice continuation of her story but could also read as a stand-alone. This was a well written cozy mystery with some interesting twists and a satisfying ending. This is a great series with an unusual main character and always great locations. This one involves a body found in a peat bog during a family wedding in Ireland. But while most bodies found in peat bogs are ancient, this one was brand new. Can Nell save the day and the wedding? Read it and find out.

Dr Nell Ward is back and this time it’s uncovering a 20year old mystery with her old friend Conor and his family. It’s hard to believe this is the 5th instalment in Nell’s story and it’s another good one - full of interesting characters and Nell’s interest in all things botanical and ecological.
This story is less about Nell and Rav this time, as we concentrate on Conor and the mystery surrounding his sister in law and niece. It was interesting seeing Nell and Rav on the sidelines for a change- seeing how they could watch as observers rather than being front of stage.
I always enjoy seeing Nell and Rav use their skills in solving mysteries - and the huge research and knowledge from the author is so evident again in this one.

Published on the 27 th March 2024 , this is the 5th in the series featuring Dr Nell Ward. I haven’t read the previous ones in the series but it didn’t stop me enjoying this crime mystery novel. Nell and her friends have been invited to a wedding in Ireland and as expected a body is found. What follows is a whodunnit, there are lots of suspects and lots of clues along the way. What I think I have missed is the build up to Nell and Rav’s relationship, Rav is in a wheelchair because of an accident and their relationship has obviously blossomed during the series. There are a few coincidences that occur but that didn’t spoil the enjoyment of the story. I learned quite a bit about ecology and DNA sampling. I will read more of this series because I loved the characters.

A delightful whodunit by Sarah Yarwood-Lovett! I enjoyed following Nell and crew along the twists and turns of family drama that involved the discovery of a long-missing sister and wife. Now to finally get to the bottom of a cold case that wasn't taken seriously 20 years ago. Now that everyone is together again for a wedding, emotions are high and longstanding grudges don't disappear overnight. I thoroughly enjoyed this one!

My only negative critique is that it was extremely difficult to keep up with who's who and how they are related or know one another. By the end of the book, I knew the brothers and sisters and their parents, but I still am a bit hazy on how Nell and Rav know Conor, as well as a few other relationships. However, I didn't realize this is the 5th in a series, so that makes it a bit more understandable.

I have read all of this series and generally enjoy them very much, but I was slow to get into this one. Maybe it’s because they aren’t on home turf or maybe it’s that too many characters were introduced at once. There is also not enough of Nell in this book and too much of Conor’s unloveable family, except weirdly the parents who would give some depth to the relationship between the brothers. I enjoyed the DNA testing, but I can imagine some readers finding this tedious. Definitely the weak link in this otherwise engaging series.

The main character of this series is Dr. Nell Ward, an ecologist who has a knack for getting involved in solving crimes. This is book five and I've been following this series from the beginning, but it would work well as a standalone. In this book, she and her boyfriend and colleague Rav travel to Ireland for a wedding. Her former boyfriend DI James Clark is now dating Nell's spoiled cousin Shannon, and they are both attending the wedding as well. I've not felt the same about James ever since he got together with Shannon, but I'm happy to see that Shannon has toned down her worst behavior.

The pre-wedding festivities come to a halt when a body is discovered in a peat bog. Nell and Rav are a great team whether they're on an ecological project or an investigation. Both find themselves in dangerous situations and I'm glad to see them going strong without any interference from his family in this book. I like the cold case aspect of the book, but too much time is spent on the Kennedy-Delaney family dramas and not enough on Nell and Rav. The science is what makes this series unique, but the details of the DNA testing went over my head and slowed the pace of the story. I was happy to see that Ecology/Biology does play an important part in helping to solve the case. I like the way things wrap up even though not all the endings are happy, and I look forward to future books in the series.

I received an advance copy of this ebook at no cost from NetGalley and Embla Books, but my review is voluntary and unbiased.

A few weeks before I was offered A Trace of Hares by Sarah Yardwood-Lovett as review copy, I had co-incidentally bought the previous four books in the series, having stumbled across them. So before I read this one, I read the first four one after the other. I enjoyed them all well enough to keep going through them, although Nell, the main character, an ecologist, drove me a bit mad at times. Like so many of her ilk (amateur detectives that is) she interfered in police cases - and didn't hesitate to endanger herself. The former irritation always makes me want the character to be charged with something and the latter makes me see the character as thoughtless and a bit stupid. However, Nell improves as the series goes on and in A Trace of Hares she's at her best.

The book is set in Ireland where Nell and her partner and some friends have gone for a wedding. Before they can celebrate, however, a long-buried body is found. It's the sister of another wedding guest - and after that the death toll merely increases. Nell becomes involved officially as an expert and another of her visiting friends, a DI, is also consulted. So for me, the set-up is believable. The characterisation has always been good and that continues here. The murderer was a little easy to spot but the plot was engaging enough that that didn't matter.

I seem to be on a slump here lately and it’s a bummer and unfortunately Trace of Hares didn’t break my streak but continued the slump.

As a continual thriller, mystery, crime reader, I tend to read this in between more lofty books. I want to read easily, lose myself in whatever ridiculousness is provided to me, and just flow through it. Unfortunately, all I got was a bogged plot with a slew of characters that all blended together. I swear a new character was introduced every single page.

These characters blended so much together and just felt copied and pasted that it was hard to invest, keep straight, and care.

I haven’t read any of this series before and from I can tell can easily be read as stand alones. I’m not sure if this affected my reading at all but surmise it didn’t. Maybe returning readers to the series are happier than I was here

A Trace of Hares is the fifth novel in the Dr Nell Ward Mysteries by Sarah Yarwood-Lovett. It started out slow for me since it is the first I’ve read but, once I got more acquainted with the characters, I was completely hooked. The story is set in Ireland where ecologist, Dr Nell Ward, was there to attend a friend’s wedding but, before the nuptials can take place, a body is discovered in a nearby bog. The victim was identified as a relative of several members of the wedding party. She had disappeared twenty years earlier along with her three-month-old daughter. The story is divided between the two mysteries, the cold case of the woman in the bog and what happened to the baby. Like most cozies, the story revolves around the families involved, their animosities and secrets. But what I found most compelling and kept me reading long into the night was the huge role real science and nature play throughout. This is one smart completely addicting tale with interesting characters and a fascinating setting, perfect for anyone who enjoys a bit of real science with their mysteries. This may have been my first outing with Dr Nell Ward but it will definitely not be my last.

Thanks to Netgalley and Embla Books for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review

In this novel, Dr. Nell Ward and her friends are in Ireland to attend the wedding of their friends Conor Kennedy and Sylvia Shawcross. Conor is Irish, and the wedding was moved to Ireland so his elderly parents could attend. It’s soon clear Conor’s family is troubled and has been for years. The tension revolves around a missing woman, Siobhan Delaney. She and her baby daughter went missing twenty years ago. When a body is found in a bog, Nell is caught up in another murder investigation—only this one is a cold case.

Characters
It was fun to see the return of characters from the earlier books. I will say the dysfunctional relationships in Conor’s family got a little tiresome. I was looking for a bit more backstory at times, especially when it came to the relationship between Conor and his parents. The backstory that was revealed came as a shock to his fiancé, Sylvia, (as well as all of their friends) and it puts their wedding and any future in question.
Some of the revelations of specific characters didn’t create the tension I expected, but revealing any more would lead to spoilers.

Mysteries
The primary mystery in A Trace of Hares is different than the earlier books. The location is in Ireland and the murder is a twenty-year old cold case. There is a lot of misdirection in the novel, but solving the murderer’s identity wasn’t difficult. As the novel unfolds, the bodies begin to pile up, and no one is sure if there’s one murderer on the loose or more than one.
I think some of the science was a bit of a stretch, and that pulled me out of the story a bit at times.

My Thoughts
This is the fifth book in this series. I’ve enjoyed reading this series, including this one. I don’t think it’s as tightly written as the first four books, but it was still a fun, quick read. 3.5/5 stars.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-copy of the book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

The tension, jealousy and power dynamics play a big part in this murder set in Ireland. When a body is found in a local bog Dr Nell Ward will use her expertise to provide the final proof when murder is uncovered. Families can be so complicated and there is plenty of twists and turns in this investigation.
Part of a good series well worth checking out the previous stories.
Thank you NetGalley and (publisher) for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

A great addition to this series. As this is the fifth, I would encourage the reader to read them in order. This book is a great murder mystery which keeps the reader guessing throughout the story, as we are enthralled with Nell’s adventure in Ireland.

The setting and the scientific detail were spot on for me in this book. The Irish tropes and the mystery itself were not unexpected but still enjoyable.

A Trace of Hares is a tense, suspense-laden mystery with abounding Irish charm. The setting shifted quickly from convivial wedding to sinister mystery as brother vied against brother, and family secrets began their slow rise to the surface. When a body was found and a cold case reopened, Dr. Nell Ward was eager to offer her expertise. I loved her scientific savvy, and her irrepressible curiosity. She is a unique protagonist, and the bits of ecology peppered through the book were a pleasure to read. While I've not read the previous books in the series, this novel swept me right up, and I am eager to go back to see what adventures I've missed.

I requested the ARC of A Trace of Hares by Sarah Yarwood Lovett in the hope that we would return to the form of the excellent first two books in the series. Sadly this was not to be.
The ecologist Nell Ward and her boyfriend Rav are in Ballygiorra, Ireland for a few days to help celebrate the wedding of their friends Conor and Sylva. While there Nell is excited to have a tour of a local nature reserve which contains a historic bog. There she meets overly intense graduate student Aiofe. The following day Aiofe discovers a body in the bog and it’s not an ancient one. This one belongs to the wife of Conor’s brother who disappeared almost 20 years earlier.
In this book in the series, I can forgive the fact that Nell manages to get more unlikeable as the series progresses. I can forgive the fact that Nell and Rav’s relationship gets more unbelievable as the series progresses. I can forgive the fact that yet again a tissue-thin plot is masked by having too many characters initially then they are all whittled down in the last third of the story in order to reach a conclusion.
What I cannot forget in this story is the lazy stereotyping. A family of brothers in Ireland is at daggers drawn. Tick. All the Irish-born characters have Irish names. Tick. I mean, this is 2024, not 1824. The matriarch of the family is referred to as Mammie. Tick. One of the female characters has raven black hair and green eyes. Tick. Then out of nowhere, a nun pops up.
This series promised so much with the first two books but ultimately has fallen over big style, in my opinion.
My thanks to NetGalley, Embla Books, and Sarah Yarwoold Lovett for the ARC in exchange for an open and honest review.

Bad Omens..
The fifth outing in the Dr Nell Ward Mystery series finds ecologist Nell in Ireland for the forthcoming nuptials of friends. Tension and bad omens abound despite the idyllic setting and when a gruesome discovery is made Nell once again finds herself seeking answers. Another engaging mystery with satisfying levels of ecological detail, a likeable protagonist, a deftly drawn cast of characters and an intriguing plot. A worthy addition to this enjoyable series.

Thank you to NetGalley and Embla books for this ARC. All my opinions are my own.

Having previous read all of SYL’s Dr Nell Ward series, I have to say, this one kept the pace, loveable characters and cosy vibes of all of its predecessors. This chapter in the series takes, ecologist, Nell off to Ireland for two close friends’ wedding and of course, Nell ends up embroiled in a murder case.

What I particularly liked about this story in the series is, it found a way to vary the nature of the case (mind the pun) so that it isn’t a matter of Nell unexpectedly ending up involved in another active murder case. Instead, this is (sort of) a cold case. In turn, this makes the likelihood of Nell’s involvement much higher and it shows a real depth in the level of ecological crime solving skills required of her.

Once again SYL brings us the loveable characters we know and adore and wraps them up in a (temporarily) cosy Irish blanket. She lovingly draws in side characters in this novel and gives them a turn in the spotlight, offering more insight not only into those characters, but the ones we already adore.

I would say that the big reveal of this one fell a little flat for me and felt a little predictable as the suspect list was narrowed down very early, however a second twist kept the tension high.

Overall, a really strong and engaging addition to an already wonderful series.

This 5th book in a wonderful series finds Dr. Nell Ward and friends in Ireland to celebrate a wedding. They’re suddenly involved in a murder when a body is found in a peat bog. I love the Irish atmosphere and the details about bogs and body preservation, and the way Nell’s background in ecology and science is woven through the story. While you could read this as a stand-alone, please do yourself a favor and read the previous books first, they’re too good to miss, and the characters back stories add to this book.
Thank you to Embla Books and NetGalley for an advance copy, the twists and turns kept me reading well past bedtime, I’, already looking forward to book 6.