Crime solving mixed with exploring the characters really drew me into this book. I loved the setting: Vermont in the 1960s. Detective Warren has just started a new job in a small town in Vermont when he's thrown into a case. The peripheral characters were so interesting and described well. This is a new author for me but I will be looking into her other books. I'm so excited that this is the first in a series, and I'd be happy hearing more about either Detective Warren or many of the townspeople already introduced in this book. Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

Set in the 1960s, a former big city copy moves to rural Vermont and is immediately drawn into the mysterious death of a resident that no one liked. It appeared to be suicide, but Frank Warren seeks to discover why certain elements of the scene didn't make sense. The victim's blustering brother and pregnant widow add to the mystery, along with a second fire nearby.

This was a low-stress, easy, comfortable read, the first in a series. It made for good, bedtime reading, but not the heavily suspenseful kind that will keep a reader up into the wee hours.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

Suicide or homicide? That is the question Sarah Stewart Taylor's Vermont State Police Detective Warren investigates in Agony Hill.

If the answer is homicide, the farmer's widow is a likely suspect. Such a free spirit that people often think her simple minded, the pregnant mother of four attracts Warren.

His neighbor, a former spy, offers him a sounding board. His assistant, who blushes so readily his nickname is Pinky, is supportive and loyal.

Taylor's characters are fully developed and very likable. They lend themselves to a great new series.