This is the first book in a new series by Sarah Stewart Taylor (who I have NOT read before), and I really enjoyed it! It is set in the 60s so showcases some old school detective skills along with sleuthing in a different era. I liked the characters a lot. Franklin seemed so haunted but hid his feelings well. I liked the glimpses we got into his grief and how much this case affected him. The setting is a small town and focuses on the family that everyone knows about and thinks they are just different. I am looking forward to reading the next one (whenever it comes out).

Franklin is just getting settled into his new job in upstate Vermont when he gets a call about a fire and a body. Being the outsider and newbie, he doesn't recognize the family name or know that the deceased, Hugh Weber, was rough around the edges. He was very vocal and a newly minted drunk. He also had a large family of boys and a wife who looked young and unsure. The question is did Hugh kill himself or was there malice involved? And so the story unfolds. Franklin starts uncovering things about the town that people know about but don't address like the farm where men who don't want to get enlisted go that seems to be more of a cult. He learns that Hugh was drawn to this farm and helped start it up until a rift came between him and the owner. He learns that Hugh was hiding a lot about his finances to everyone including his wife all while he tries to figure out who had the motive to make a move. He also is trying to not follow his gut and make a move on Sylvie but he is DRAWN to her. So was it her that killed her husband who was abusive but not physically? Was it the unknown mountain man who has his own backstory? Was it someone in town who was just sick of how Hugh talked to people?

I liked the plot twist at the end. I kept thinking it might come back to that how it did but wasn't disappointed when that is how it unfolded. I liked the different POVs we got with this story and how it ever so slowly unraveled. I liked the potential for future stories and cases and the added element of the war and the threat of Russia going on. I liked the snippets we got that there were larger government spies involved somehow and think that could go somewhere. I HOPE that Franklin and Sylvie become something. There was potential there and Franklin needs someone to help him on his darker days.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review! I would definitely recommend this one for a slower small town secrets detective story.

This book is not listed as a book with sequels. It definitely felt like it could be to me. I found the book to be good and I enjoyed the characters. However it did get off to a slow start. It did pick up and got much better.

I loved the many intriguing characters in AGONY HILL. Vermont is a place I remember well from a visit many years ago, and the mid-sixties period of this novel sits comfortably in my mind. Each person in this well-written novel has a fascinating back story that allows the reader to imagine and remember a generation gone by. The Vietnam War and the changing of society in the US in the sixties were troubling times but also an exhilarating period when 'boomers' tried to change the world.

I loved Warren and Sylvie, two strong characters struggling to survive in a personal world of pain and grief. I know this book will be a great success!

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the advanced book copy, which will be published on August 6, 2024.

Sarah Stewart Taylor starts a new mystery series with Agony Hill, a Franklin Warren novel, which takes place in 1965 in Vermont. Boston detective Warren has moved to small-town Bethany after the murder of his wife and the unwarranted suspicions of his fellow detectives. He's now the newest detective on the state police force, paired up with young officer Pinky. When a universally disliked farmer dies in a barn fire with the door locked from the inside, suicide is the first conclusion. More trouble ensues when the victim's obstreperous brother comes to town as his estate executor and angrily protests the contents of the will.

Committed to proving himself in his new position, Warren tirelessly sifts through the clues and interviews suspects and persons of interest. He hasn't yet become a captivating character for me this early in the series, but I admire the author's depiction of characters such as the farmer's surprising wife and sons, Warren's neighbor--a self-appointed, unofficial investigator with secrets of her own--,and a young man fleeing from his parents' expectations and failing to find a viable way to earn a living in Bethany. Several subplots are unresolved, such as the story behind Warren's wife's murder and his neighbor's secrets, which left me hanging. I am a big fan of Taylor's four Maggie d'Arcy mysteries, so I know the author is a great storyteller. I am confident that subsequent entries in the new series will see Warren becoming a more engaging protagonist, and one that I look forward to following.

This was a little bit more complex than a regular "cozy" mystery. I liked the setting in 1965 Vermont. Its not listed as a series, but absolutely feels like the start of a new series.

Bethany, Vermont in the early 1960s. Franklin Warren is a new detective, brought in to help with investigations in the State. He is the extra man required to handle the crime increase from tourism and the new interstate making its way to them. Alice Farnham is his neighbor, with a secret service style past that comes to light slowly (for us, not for Warren). Mere hours after Warren is moved in, there is a fire and a dead body — a possible suicide as the man was locked in to the barn from the inside.

The book was entertaining enough — background filler of small town life, some farming, and a flavoring of some old communal types seeking a back-to-the-land lifestyle. This is definitely the beginning of a series — the detective with a history; the genteel woman with a mysterious past — team up to solve crimes. I finished the book, wanting to know what would happen, but I doubt I will read another. I found (most of) the characters pretty flat — including the two main characters. And I found the writing to be particularly cliched whenever there was an emotional scene for Detective Warren. Warren’s wife (we find out) had been murdered the previous year and he had been a suspect — but somehow almost every time Warren has a feeling, the writing descends into something I’ve read a hundred times before and I would fall out of the story because it rang false. I also did not like the ending. Could be just me.

I will not review on my blog as I did not like it.

BOOK REPORT
Received a complimentary copy of Agony Hill by Sarah Stewart Taylor from St. Martin's Press|Minotaur Books/NetGalley, for which I am appreciative, in exchange for a fair and honest review. Scroll past the BOOK REPORT section for a cut-and-paste of the DESCRIPTION of it from them if you want to read my thoughts on the book in the context of that summary.

My only complaint about this book is that it ended.

For real.

So Sarah Stewart Taylor needs to get on the stick and write more in the series!

OK, OK, I know I’m being ridiculous given that this book isn’t even slated for publication until August 6, 20204. But I’m sincere in my sentiments.

PS
Imagine my shock when the description (aka flyleaf copy) turned out to actually be accurate!!

PPS
Guess I will just have to content myself with reading her other two series. Woohoo!

PPS
I think that’s more than enough exclamation marks for one week, let alone one Book Report, don’t you?

DESCRIPTION
Set in rural Vermont in the volatile 1960s, Agony Hill is the first novel in a new historical series full of vivid New England atmosphere and the deeply drawn characters that are Sarah Stewart Taylor's trademark.

In the hot summer of 1965, Bostonian Franklin Warren arrives in Bethany, Vermont, to take a position as a detective with the state police. Warren's new home is on the verge of monumental change; the interstates under construction will bring new people, new opportunities, and new problems to Vermont, and the Cold War and protests against the war in Vietnam have finally reached the dirt roads and rolling pastures of Bethany.

Warren has barely unpacked when he's called up to a remote farm on Agony Hill. Former New Yorker and Back-to-the-Lander Hugh Weber seems to have set fire to his barn and himself, with the door barred from the inside, but things aren’t adding up for Warren. The people of Bethany—from Weber’s enigmatic wife to Warren's neighbor, widow and amateur detective Alice Bellows — clearly have secrets they’d like to keep, but Warren can’t tell if the truth about Weber’s death is one of them. As he gets to know his new home and grapples with the tragedy that brought him there, Warren is drawn to the people and traditions of small town Vermont, even as he finds darkness amidst the beauty.

I have to give this book a 3.5 star review.
Not my normal book I would grab for but wanted to give it a shot after I received and ARC for it.
Set in the early 60’s in a small town. A new detective running from his past wants to make a good impression on the small town. Little did he know the first 24 hours would really send him for a loop.
A slow but decent mystery, that seems to be the beginning of more to come.
If you like an easy read mystery that keeps you guessing this will be a novel for you. If your looking for edge of you seat twist and turns it will not be a book for you. A good novel to curl up with a warm drink on a cold night.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher. I will definitely keep an eye out to see if there is in fact a sequel

Set in a quaint little town in Vermont in the late 1950's - a time when things were simpler and more straightforward. It has an very intriguing storyline to hold your interest and test your Scooby Doo abiities. A difficult man/father is found dead inside a burned down barn with the door locked from the inside and no other way out other than a very high up window without a way up. Let's just say he won't be missed by many and there are plenty of people who aren't sad to see him gone. There's a new sheriff in town and a busybody local older woman who has a very interesting past. She knows everyone and their business and where all the skeletons are buried. This was a fun read for me. It's refreshing every now and again to go back in time and see that charming slice of life.

In the 1960s, a Boston detective in need of a fresh start accepts a job in a fictional Vermont town as a detective for the state police. As soon as Franklin Warren arrives, he is thrown into investigating of a series of seemingly-related crimes, including a potential suicide or murder, arson, and assault—all while wrestling with his own demons. Dimensional characters, an intricate plot, a nod to time-appropriate, relevant socio-political issues, and a satisfying outcome elevate the reading experience of this mystery. I understand this book is meant to be the first in a series, and I look forward to the next installment.

Thanks to Net Galley, Minotaur Books, and Ms. Taylor for making this ARC available to me.

This reminded me of the British show Midsummer Murders. It was quaint and gentel, even with a suspected murder and arsonist on the loose.

Detective Warren had barely slept in his new home before a call to investigate a barn fire had him making his way to Agony Hill.The Weber’s were a strange family, with a drunken, angry father and dishevelled, but polite children. The father was found dead in the barn fire, the doors bolted from within. Was it as simple as suicide or had someone caused him harm.

The story unfolded slowly but the pacing was perfect against the backdrop of a sleepy town, not yet modernized but on the cusp with a highway being built to it. All the characters were salt of the earth, it was hard to imagine any of them killing a man. I so enjoyed the dialogue and thought processes of Warren and his neighbor as they considered the clues for each of their investigations.

I look forward to seeing what other investigations Warren and Alice Bellows have. Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.

I enjoy reading police procedural novels. I have been reading quite a bit of them, and I am always fascinated by the work and time that goes into solving a case. My fascination grows even more when the book is set in the early days of forensic science. Agony Hill is one of those books.

I was also pleased to see that Agony Hill takes place in Vermont. I can count on one hand the number of books set there in the past year.

Agony Hill is the first book in the Franklin Warren series, but it can also be read as a standalone.

Agony Hill takes place in 1965, and the author mentions the Vietnam War and the draft. The author does explain in her note (at the beginning of the book) that she didn’t use the spelling that most small-town papers used for the war (they separated Vietnam into Viet Nam). She didn’t want to confuse people; I am happy she did that. I am also glad there weren’t too many scenes with anti-war protests (actually, there was a brief scene of a veteran marching against the war in the parade).

The main storyline of Agony Hill is centered on Warren (a recently hired detective from Massachusetts), Sylvie (the wife of the victim), and Alice (an amateur detective who is more than she seems). The book is slow. Usually, I’m not too fond of it when books start and stay slow, but in this case, it worked. It allowed me to digest the clues that Warren uncovers, try to figure out who Alice was and the motive behind Hugh being killed. It took me a long time to read, but I enjoyed it.

I have never read a book in which people were so happy to see someone die. I get that Hugh Weber was unlikable, but to have no one, not even his wife or children, mourn for him was a bit much. Of course, the more Warren uncovered about this unpleasant man, the more I could understand why people felt that way.

I liked the main characters (Warren and Sylvie). Each had a compelling backstory, which added mystery to the main storyline (Warren’s background and everything about Sylvie).

I do want to mention Alice. I loved her. She was the epitome of your busybody, widowed neighbor. However, as the author got into her background, it was surprising to discover that she was so much more. Alice has a lot of layers to her, and I feel that the author isn’t done yet with this character.

The mystery angle was well written. The author kept me on my toes about who killed Hugh and why. I had several suspects on my list but started mentally crossing them off as Warren began talking to people. I was shocked at what happened and even more surprised at what Warren did. But, having thought about it, it was the right call.

The end of Agony Hill was interesting. I liked how the author wrapped everything up, but I also liked how she left a little room for the next book. I have a feeling that Bethany, Vermont, is going to be a hopping place now that Warren is there.

Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books, NetGalley, and Sarah Stewart Taylor for allowing me to read and review this ARC of Agony Hill. All opinions stated in this review are mine.

This mystery set in small-town Vermont in 1965 has a general feeling of a simpler time and yet the characters all felt so much more real and multidimensional to me. It's clear from the beginning that everyone is hiding something, and those secrets are slowly uncovered as we follow Detective Franklin Warren as he tries to solve a case involving a death (murder or suicide?) and two mysterious fires. Then there's his next-door neighbor, Alice Bellows, whose late husband worked in the OSS in WWII and who has mystery-solving skills of her own. You can almost feel the summer heat coming off the page as these two work on figuring out the truth, and while there's a satisfying ending, there's also a sense that we have more still to learn about these characters.

Thank you to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for the advanced reader's copy of this book I received in return for an honest review. This book will be published August 6, 2024.

I thought this was really well written and I look forward to reading more from this author in the future. I think it will find readers at our library, so we will definitely be purchasing for the collection.

Agony Hill was my first introduction to Sarah Stewart Taylor. I found the book to be a bit of a slow read, and not quite as much mystery as I was hoping for. It was an all around enjoyable read though, just not quite what I expected.

I enjoyed meeting Warren, the law.. Just gutted in his life and hired in a new post he is immediately called to a fire on Agony Hill.

Set in a small rural town in Vermont in the 1960s, Sarah Stewart Taylor’s AGONY HILL has all the right atmosphere for a mystery. A young detective settling into a small town, a barn fire that leaves a farmer dead, and an elusive widow with plenty of secrets - coupled with small town gossip, it’s perfect. We follow the investigation alongside Detective Warren, meeting a cast of unforgettable characters (including his neighbor, a Miss Marple-ish Alice). The context of the book during the Vietnam War is important, and Taylor manages to create an underlying tension that is noticeable but not a distraction.

It was an enjoyable read, but it leaves the reader with the kinds of unanswered questions that make the book ideal for a series, and it was clear almost immediately that this was intentional. Our glimpse into the characters’ histories is so fleeting that it feels too unresolved and almost half-hearted. I also found myself wanting just one sleuth - either the actual detective *or* the amateur investigator Alice.

Even though it didn’t quite land for me, I would probably read the second book in this series - if only to have some of those questions answered. I also loved the town itself and thought it was perfectly described in a way that made it feel real.

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the advance reader’s copy. All opinions are entirely my own.

This is the first book I’ve read by this author and what stands out most to me is her prose. I loved the way she weaved words together, the world and characters she created.

Set in 1965 this is a slow thriller to get through. There were times when I wanted it to hurry up and get to the juicy part but I also understood that this was a story to be savoured not rushed through.
I loved Alice and the dual life she led and would love to learn more about her.

This is perfect for someone who loves historical fiction with a bit of murder mixed in to it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book.

I love this author's Maggie D'arcy series so I thought I would give this a try. Unfortunately, this wasn't for me. It's more literary fiction than mystery. It's also VERY SLOW. I was bored for the entire book; it was a real struggle not to DNF it. The writing is lovely, though, and you can definitely picture the Vermont countryside. However, more than one plot line is introduced but not continued. What was the point of Warren's neighbor, Mrs. Bellows? Maybe there will be more to her character in future books? This is book one in a new series but I can't see myself reading more of them.

I really liked the setting of this mystery/thriller - a quaint, little, fictional Vermont farming community. It's the summer of 1965, and some people's lives are in a state of upheaval. The US's involvement in Vietnam is raging, and some of the owners of the picturesque farms in Bethany, Vermont, are being strongarmed into either dividing or selling their farms in order for the interstate to be built. It's a promise to bring more life and commerce to the sleepy haven of Bethany. As can be expected, most townspeople are not happy with this so called "progress."

Our protagonist, Detective Franklin Warren, arrives as a transfer from Boston to Bethany ready for a quieter lifestyle. He has supposedly been placed here as a favor to his father by the police chief whose life was saved by the senior Warren in the war. Franklin has some demons of his own to overcome as we learn he found his wife brutally murdered upon arriving home from work one evening in Boston.

The new detective has really no time to settle in because a local farmer, Hugh Weber, is found deceased in his burning barn on the evening of Detective Warren's arrival to Bethany. Is it suicide (as the door was bolted from the inside), or is it murder (as Weber had many enemies).

What ensues is a long trail uncovering many suspects who could have had motive to end Weber's "back to basics" lifestyle.

The plot will keep you enrapt as you travel through the scenic Vermont hamlet with Detective Warren on his journey to solve the case. The reader will also learn that many things aren't as they originally appear.

Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, for the opportunity to preview this mystery with a mix of historical fiction and an array of interesting and some quirky characters.