This is the first book in a new series. We meet detective Franklin Warren, newly arrived from Boston, in the small town of Bethany Vermont.

He's barely unpacked a box when he is called to investigate a fire and a death up on Agony Hill. The farmer, Hugh, died in the fire, and left behind his wife Sylvie, and four sons. His wife is pregnant. Warren quickly establishes that the barn doors were locked from the inside and suicide seems the obvious answer. But why?

Hugh was a very unpopular man. Outspoken against the new highway coming through town and breaking up farmland, as well as a host of other issues, he had many people who didn't like him. As Warren digs into his background, he meets his new neighbors in the small town, and especially Alice from next door. Alice and Hugh clearly have secrets, as does Warren.

I loved the characters in this novel, and the slow, gentle pace at which the plot unfolds. Several story lines run parallel before merging towards the end, and the pace matches the sleepy small town itself. The author does a wonderful job of describing the local area, scenery and people, bringing them all to life.

I found the ending satisfying, and hope it leads on to the next book in the series.

Overall this was a good book to read, and I look forward to reading more from this author, and especially about the characters from Bethany.

Set in the summer of 1965 in rural Vermont, police officer and widower Warren moves to a small village to find his own peace. His next store neighbor is an older widow with ties to the intelligence community of WWII. The big crime is a man, apparently drunk, dies in a barn fire - it appears to be suicide, but is it murder? The wife is a mystery as well and the four boys are sort of unaccepted by the other children. The village is about to be disrupted by the new freeway system as well. Well written with a calm sense of the country and very good character development.

This is a first time author to me. My opinion about this book was that it was very slow book. I was waiting for it to pick up but it never did! It is a mystery but it was way to slow for me.

An unlikable, back-to-the-land father of four sons and an unborn child, dies in a fire inside a locked barn.A young detective arrives in rural Vermont examines the evidence, which just doesn’t seem to line up. Townspeople who have known each other forever, some who have left and returned and others who have never left, provide some helpful details. As the detective starts to settle in to his new life, secrets are revealed about him and others. Rather dark at times, but not without glimmers of light and hope, this is an excellent opener to a new series. It is refreshing to have a story set before cell phones, but it is even more interesting to have one set at the height of the cold war and amidst the looming clouds of the draft and the rising counter-culture movements, weaving elements of each in to the story without detracting from the main plot. I look forward to future books in this series to learn more about the townspeople and a transplanted city boy detective.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books, Netgalley, and the author for early access to this mystery.

Detective Franklin Warren is new to the force in Betheny, Vermont. His first case is the suspicious death of a local farmer who wasn’t well liked in town. Signs point to suicide but Detective Warren believes there’s more to the story…

Great small town mystery set in the 60’s. Kept me wanting to know what happened next and I will be impatiently waiting for the next book in the series!

The description and beautiful book cover drew me in, but the story was agonizing to get through. I usually love a story about a small town police officer investigating secrets that a community tries to keep hidden, but this book was too slow to grasp my attention.

The town of Bethany is described as small, but there were too many characters to keep track of and I had to write them all down on my notes app to keep myself sane. The story wasn’t very suspenseful, and the plot never led anywhere after each chapter.

As much as I wanted to love this, I just can’t get over how bored I felt. I pushed myself to finish, but wish I would’ve DNF’ed it because I had zero connection with the story or the characters.

Agony Hill by Sarah Stewart Taylor is a historical mystery set in the newly changing small town of Bethany, Vermont. Detective Franklin Warren, recent transplant from Boston to Vermont state police, finds himself immediately thrown into the job when he’s called to investigates the suspicious fire and death of Hugh Weber, a local back-to-the-lander. The people of Bethany-from Weber's mysterious wife to Warren's neighbor, widow and amateur detective Alice Bellows — clearly have secrets they'd like to keep. Warren can't tell if the truth about Weber's death is one of them. The case draws Warren into a world of secrets and hidden tensions within the seemingly idyllic small town.

This book is highly character driven which Sarah developing a rich picture to illustrate life of a small town in the 60s. I found this to be a slow read because it was so character driven. Sarah is a very talented writer but I found myself not always immersed in the main plot because some of the side stories to build out the characters were a bit rambling. I overall enjoyed this book, but I’m not sure I would pick up the second book since I be like this will become a series.

1965 Vermont farms are being threatened by Highway development while the increasing draft quotas are threatening their young men. Sylvia Weber, pregnant mother of four, a farmer’s wife, loses her husband in a barn fire, possibly by suicide. Despite her fragile appearance, she proves herself strong during the ordeal. Franklin Warren, former Boston detective, has accepted a job with the police in Bethany, Vermont. In early days he finds himself investigating two possible arsons, one fatality and an overall strange atmosphere through the town. Since the murder of his wife, he has suffered trauma symptoms when triggered by acts of violence. One might question his career choice. Sarah Stewart Taylor sprinkles timely characters throughout the novel: resistance and peace demonstrators, off the grid farmers, a draft dodger and an occasional CIA operative. The storyline calls for a sequel; this reader is not interested.

Set in the 60’s, this is a small town story. It is character driven with richly described settings. This author is definitely one to watch and I look forward to the next book in the series.
Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Set in Vermont in the 1960's, Agony Hill follows a newly positioned detective with the Vermont State Police investigating an apparent suicide.

Detective Franklin Warren is dealing with trauma in his life with when he moves from Boston to Bethany, Vermont for his new job. We slowly learn about his past as we learn more about the residents of Bethany and if Hugh Weber took his own life by starting a fire in his barn or if someone ended his life and staged it to look like a suicide. Hugh's widow is pregnant and already raising four boys, Warren's neighbor Alice Bellows is a bit of a sleuth herself and she starts looking into items being stolen from the local store.

I really enjoyed the characters and look forward to more sleuthing by Alice, it's obvious this is the start of a new series. Alice's deceased husband was a spy and there is a connection to a couple men from his world invading hers in Vermont. There's also a young man who is a draft dodger who ended up in Vermont on his way to Canada. I appreciate period pieces like this highlighting what was important to people back then.

It's old-fashioned detective work because of the period of this story, there was no DNA testing in the 60's. It doesn't seem that long ago but it makes a big difference in policing and makes you appreciate how many more tools they have today to solve crimes.

A fun thriller with a good setting and lots of suspects. Historical farm and small town life, nice peaceful settings. Really enjoyed the characters: the police force and the town busy bodies. I hope this is the beginning of a new series, I will definitely be following up with future reads!

It’s a pleasure in a long life of reading to encounter, parallel in time, a writer through a long career. I’ve loved all Sarah Stewart Taylor’s iterations: the youth of the Sweeny St. George series; the mid life, mid career, mid child raising life of the Maggie D’Arcy series; and now the confident, assured – and dare I say, mature - storytelling voice in this latest book. Her newest book, set in the mid 60’s, follows the story of newly appointed Vermont State Police detective Franklin Warren. Warren has moved out to Bethany, Vermont, from Boston after a personal tragedy and a career in the police department there. He’s ended up smack in the middle of town in what was the vicarage, and the first day on the job, he’s called out to the scene of a fire.

He’s introduced in this way almost instantly to much of the Bethany community: the officers he’ll be working with, and members of the volunteer fire department who are also a part of the fabric of town life. The fire has taken the life of a farmer, Hugh Weber. He was a back to the land person, farming and living simply, and he’s left behind a pregnant wife and four sons. As Warren is dropped into the case cold, knowing nothing about the area, he relies on his new second in command, Pinky, a life long Bethany resident, to help him with the lay of the land.

Stewart Taylor is one of the most exquisite writers of setting, whether it’s the Ireland experienced by her Maggie D’Arcy character or the hills and valleys of Vermont that she depicts here, along with the hard life of the farmers who work the land in the area with varying degrees of success. She describes the beauty but also the hard scrabble life of the farm. Here, she doesn’t disappoint, as the feel of Vermont infuses every page of the novel. As Stewart Taylor is herself a Vermonter, as well as a farmer, she knows what she’s writing about and that assurance is reflected on the page.

The mystery part of the novel plays out as a kind of cloud of uncertainty hanging over the whole town, not just for the family on Agony Hill, who have been most directly affected by the fire and the man’s death. There’s a watcher in the woods, there’s another unexplained and similar fire, and there’s another crime that has no file and that no one will talk with Frank about.

But there’s a larger picture Stewart Taylor draws in as well, and that’s the uncertainty and division brought about by the Vietnam War, which is in full swing. Young men are worrying about the draft and a few are already overseas. As one of the characters reflects at one point: “Was this just the way of the world, progress and resistance in an endlessly repeated cycle?” The tensions of the war are bringing about the worst and the best, highlighted in a very strong scene at the town’s end of summer parade.

This is an all-encompassing human story. There’s family anger, jealousy, violence, as well as the power of love, even if it’s displayed awkwardly or incompletely. It’s an immersive reading experience. And it’s also the journey of Warren, who is adjusting to a new town, adjusting to grief, and adjusting to a new job. This is a richly layered and beautifully told story. After my long reading of Sarah Stewart Taylor’s books, I expected nothing less.

This was a well written slow burn book. The main characters are likable and unique. The personalities of each were deep and realistic. Warren is new in town after accepting a position as a detective with the state police in the small town of Bethany, Vermont. He is hard working, kind, and determined to prove himself worthy in the tight knit community. Alice is a likable nosy neighbor of Warren. She originally grew up in Bethany and returned after her husband passed away. She herself is somewhat of an amateur detective. Sylvie is newly widowed with 4.5 children. She is an amazing mom and basically superwoman, while also humble, quiet, and bit mysterious.

Hugh Weber has died in a barn fire. Was it self-induced or murder? Before Detective Warren can find the answer, more questions pop up. Warren has to figure out if all the recent events are related.

This is a good book if you’re looking for great storytelling at a slower pace with characters that are well defined and likable. I can usually take or leave detective series, but this is one I’m excited to read more of in the future.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books for this ARC.

Pub Date Aug 06 2024

Very dark, not exactly my type of story. Reading the description made me think it would be different. 1 star

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.
Expected publication date: Aug. 6, 2024
Frank Warren decides to leave Boston behind after the tragic murder of his beloved wife and unborn child, taking a job as a detective in rural Vermont. Immediately, Warren is asked to investigate a fire on a farm on Agony Hill, with husband and father Hugh Weber trapped inside. As Warren investigates, some things become clear; the front door of the barn was bolted from the inside, making suicide a possibility. However, Hugh was disliked by many people in the local town, so murder is also something that sits heavily on Warren’s mind. As he investigates, he gets to know his new neighbours and begins to find his place in his new town.
Sarah Stewart Taylor is the author of the Maggie D’Arcy and Sweeney St. George series of novels, so she absolutely has some notable writing chops. “Agony Hill” seems to be her first standalone, and it, too, stands out for its creativity and smooth flow.
The novel is mostly from Warren’s perspective although Warren’s elderly neighbour, Alice Bellows, has a totally different but equally appealing story that we get to hear about in her words. Warren and Alice are connected only be geography, but both have tragic and intriguing stories to tell. Hugh’s widow, Sylvie, finishes the novel with an unexpected bang, wrapping up all of the plot points in an intoxicating package.
Rural Vermont in the 1960s is the perfect setting for this novel, before the time of cell phones and modern technology, when “living off the land” was more than a trend, and small communities were as close as families. Through Taylor’s descriptive words and composed writing, I was transported to the beautiful, though painfully named, Agony Hill, and submerged into the life of its residents.
Taylor has several plots going on simultaneously, and yet she connects them brilliantly. “Agony Hill” has powerful, relatable characters among a calm, beautiful setting, with secrets brewing under the surface of every farmstead. I was instantly taken in by Taylor’s “Agony Hill”, and I look forward to more standalones from her. I would like to see, perhaps, a novel that continues Alice’s story, or tells us more about her past, but I’ll leave it up to Taylor to decide where she takes us next (I’ll read whatever she creates, just the same)!

If you want to be taken back in time to 1965 Vermont, this is the book for you. This entire book screams Vermont. It took me back to visiting my grandparents in the hills of Chelsea, Vermont. Where they had a small family farm. The animals were gone by the time I was born, but their vegetable gardens were insane. My father talks about when he was growing up on a small dairy farm in Royalton, Vermont. He remembers how weird it was for the interstates to go through and how people had to give up their land for cheap. Living in a small town is unique. Everyone knows everyone. They know your entire life. There is always someone who makes it their mission to know all the gossip that is going on. That would have been my grandmother, you wanted to know something, you called her. Sarah Stewart Taylor nailed it. The entire book screams Vermont and I loved each second of it. I also want to see how many times I can put Vermont into my review.

Franklin Warren is just settling into his new job and apartment in Bethany, Vermont. He is a detective for the State Police and is trying to ease his way into his job and meet the towns people. The easing lasts for about two seconds, when he is sent to his first investigation. Hugh Weber was killed in a barn fire. Something does not sit right with Warren from the get-go. As the investigation continues and the odd behaviors of Weber become apparent to Warren, he is made to dig deep into the past and into Weber's family. Weber considered himself one of the Back-to-the-Landers. Someone who gave up city life and any money he had to work the soil with his own two hands. Along with his four hard working sons and a wife that will not quit. What lead to his death and at whose hands is the question? The final twist I did not see coming and you know I love that.

This story is told from multiple points of view. Which gives you a read of the town's pulse. Each gave you a bit more information as they each had their own unique way of sleuthing. I loved the attention to details and the deep dive Taylor did to understand the history. The weaving of each character's past into the story made you want to know more about each one and what makes them tick. Thank you to my neighbor, Sarah Stewart Taylor, well one town over. I think if you are in Vermont we are really all neighbors, we are so small. And to Minotaur Books for my gifted copy of this amazing read. I cannot wait for the next!

Detective Warren has a new job, living in a different house, far from Boston in a small Vermont town. It’s 1965 and police forensic science is unheard of. I chuckled as I read about a setting and time period described as historical fiction when it’s in my lifetime. Sure made me feel old! A fire and a body up at Agony Hill is Warren’s first case to investigate as he learns about the town and it’s residents. He has to investigate fire and suspicious death with limited tools. He’s the first Detective this region ever had and the chief of Police isn’t helpful or welcoming. Warren reports to the State Police Bureau which appears to make the local chief resentful. Warren has personal heartbreak in his past and seems to be struggling with deep loss. The newly widowed wife is mysterious. She seemed to have secrets and a deeper persona under the façade she presents to people. There’s a stranger in the woods, neighbors with motives beyond coveting land and the inscrutable neighbor next door to Warren. She has traveled and been overseas, has a nose for information and deeper secrets to uncover. I found all the characters were people I wanted to know more about. There’s definitely more to learn about their backgrounds and secrets. This is the first in a new series by an author also new to me. I would certainly read more, I appreciated the time period, setting and people. The mysterious fire kept me constructing new theories.
Thanks to St. Martin’s Press for the Advance Reader Copy of “Agony Hill” via NetGalley, by Sarah Stewart Taylor, publication expected 08/06/2024. These are all my own honest personal thoughts and opinions given voluntarily without expectation of compensation.

First, I must confess. I have loved every book I’ve read by Sarah Stewart Taylor. She knows how to evoke settings and moods with the most beautiful prose.

Her newest book, Agony Hill, out August 9, 2024, is another stunning example of her writing mastery. A historical mystery, set in 1965 rural Vermont, just as the interstate highway is coming to the fictional town of Bethany, Taylor is able to weave in the growing pains of a rural town about to encounter a steady influx of outsiders, along with the tensions of the Vietnam War protests, both as thick as the humidity that grips this hamlet in the doldrums of August.

The residents of Bethany are wary of outsiders, which could spell trouble for newcomer Franklin Warren, the newest hire in the nascent Vermont State Police. Warren comes from away, brought in as an investigator because of the new-fangled criminal investigation skills he learned as a detective with the Boston Police Department. Before he’s even unpacked, he gets called out to investigate the apparent suicide of farmer and recluse Hugh Weber, who was found in his burned-out and locked-from-the-inside barn.

Something about the suicide doesn’t sit right with Warren and he must sift through a townful of possible suspects who may have had reason to kill Weber. But like Warren, Weber was also a transplant to Bethany, a back-to-the-lander from New York City who didn’t inspire good-will among the denizens of this small town. And there happen to be other non-natives, all with secrets of their own, including Warren.

Agony Hill is a fantastic summer read full of memorable characters and satisfying secrets. You’ll be clamoring for the next Frank Warren book in the series before you have even turned the last page.

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the opportunity to read an advance reader copy.

This historical mystery, set in Vermont in 1965, concerns the death of a farmer in what looks like an apparent suicide.

Franklin Warren is on his first day on the job as an investigator for the State Police of Vermont when he is called to the scene of a fire. Arriving at Agony Hill, he discovers the burned body of Hugh Weber in his locked-from-the-inside barn.

As Warren looks into the case, he gets to know Sylvie Weber and her four sons and he also gets to know the people who might have wanted Hugh Weber dead. Hugh was an angry man who managed to alienate most of his neighbors and the town people of Bethany, Vermont.

Hugh had come from New York with the intention of leading a simple life as a farmer. He married a much younger woman from a farm background. He was especially irritated that the interstate highway system was coming to Vermont. He was a frequent author of letters to the editor of the local newspaper. He was also a jealous man who resented any interest shown in his wife and her writing talent.

Warren finds himself quicky getting to know other people in the town as he investigates. He finds his new next-door-neighbor Alice Bellows to be especially helpful for her insights into other town people. She is also an amateur detective and a woman with secrets who hasn't managed to outrun them. Warren is also helped by his young police assistant Pinky who has lots of local knowledge.

This was an engaging story about the near past when the Vietnam war is looming over everything. Draft dodgers and others opposed to the war contrast with patriotic parades on the village green. And, at least in Alice's case, remnants of World War II are also lingering.

I enjoyed this historical mystery for its intriguing characters and interesting setting.

One of the things that drew me to this book was the story of a small-town crime where a lot of the town’s secrets can end in murder and mayhem. I love stories about small, rural towns full of so-called “upstanding” folks that turn out to be just as nefarious and unscrupulous as the rest of the population (think Linda Castillo’s Painter’s Mill). This story had the added ingredient of being in 1965 with the background of the Vietnam war as well as the impending industrial progress, in the form of an interstate highway coming right through this rural town where there were clear sides of those that wanted the highway and those that didn’t.

The book summary introduces the primary storyline of the investigation of the apparent suicide of a local farmer, Hugh, who leaves behind a wife and four children and one on the way. Hugh was NOT a nice guy and extremely unpopular and disliked among the townspeople. So, suffice it to say, there are a few suspects. Frank Warren, a former Boston cop, who needed a new start after some trouble back in Boston (that isn’t revealed until the second half of the story), who struggles to connect with some of the townspeople he comes across during the investigation.

There is also another storyline of Warren’s neighbor, Alice, who is desperately trying to keep the secrets of her past life from coming out. However, she is quite the busybody with everyone else’s personal info and secrets as well as their behavior and their comings and goings. There is also the storyline of who is the stranger that some believe is living in the woods surrounding Hugh’s property. None of this is a spoiler since it was all revealed very early in the story.

Most of the story revolves around the investigation of the Hugh’s death along with the aftereffects of the reading of Hugh’s will. Hugh’s brother, Victor, is not happy at all with the results and he proceeds to harass Hugh’s widow. The widow, Sylvie, is an odd one and I’m not sure what to make of her throughout most of the story. Even though I had no idea if Hugh was murdered or committed suicide, it didn’t really matter, I found that the ending was very satisfying as well as a little sad. Leaves some questions that I am sure will have an effect on future installments.

This is a character driven story, which I enjoyed because characterization is such a vital element of a story. It is most certainly not a fast-paced, action-packed kind of story that I read so much of. However, the pacing was steady and I didn’t find it slow, dragging or boring – at all. The storyline was intriguing and the writing was well done and I liked the ending. I’m looking at an overall rating of 3.8 that I will round up to a 4star rating. I will definitely be continuing with the series and for now, I will check out the prequel that looks like it provides some background info on Alice. I want to thank NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for sending me this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

#NetGalley #StMartinsPress #AgonyHill