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

Agony Hill takes us to rural Vermont in the mid 1960s. The country’s turmoil is finally making its way to this little spot where change doesn’t come easy.

While this story gives us a complex mystery to solve, its heart is the people involved. We take our time getting to know them, learning about their relationships, and uncovering their secrets.

Pacing is deliberately slower. I would call this a literary mystery, definitely more of a character study than commercial genre fiction.

I was happy to take my time, as the evocative writing swept me up and brought this story to life.

Agony Hill is the first book in the Franklin Warren series. The ending is solid, no cliffhangers. I can’t wait to see what comes next.

*I received a free copy from Minotaur Books.*

I enjoy Taylor's "Maggie D'Arcy" mysteries, so I was interested in reading "Agony Hill", even though I knew it would be a different type of story in some respects. I admit that "Agony Hill" did not resonate with me the way that the Maggie D'Arcy series does, but I still found it an interesting and enjoyable story. Detective Franklin Warren has just moved to the small town of Bethany, Vermont to take a job as an investigator for the Vermont State Police, when he is called to a fire on Agony Hill, the home of the Weber family. Hugh Weber, the father, had an "office" in the back of the barn, and he was found dead in that burned down portion of the barn. The death appears to be a suicide, especially as the door to the barn was bolted from the inside, and the back door was blocked by bales of hay, so there was no apparent way for someone else to get in and out the barn safely. However, Warren is not entirely convinced that it was suicide. Yet, if it was murder, who was the murderer and why? Hugh was not a very popular person in the town, acting like he was better than almost everyone else, and when drunk, verbally abusive. The Weber family was also somewhat strange and old-fashioned, and the wife and mother, Sylvie, came across as "simple" (although it was her knowledge of farming and related subjects that had allowed the farm to survive). Weber's estranged brother has shown up, as he is executor of the will, and is expecting a sizeable inheritance (as they came from a well-to-do family). However, his inheritance will not be what he expected; while for Sylvie it will be a great surprise, as she will gain access to financial resources she never knew existed.

The fire on Agony Hill becomes more perplexing when another fire occurs, this time destroying a hunting camp. There have also been petty thefts in town, one of which has had a significant impact, as the storeowner accused one of his employees (Richie) of the theft and fired him, which greatly upset the storeowner's youngest daughter (Lizzie), who was Richie's girlfriend (and hopefully soon to be fiancée), and who now refused to talk to her father or help out in the store, putting more burden on her older sister. There may also be a stranger hiding in the woods. There was also an unusual burglary and murder months earlier involving a state department employee. Yet, when Detective Tommy Johnson, a family friend who had arranged the job for Warren, handed over the files for recent cases, the file for this case was missing. Warren only learns of the case when the local reporter asked him about it. And Tommy did not want to talk about it when confronted by Warren. Alice Bellows, who is Warren's neighbor, has a knack for solving local mysteries, and has a background, unknown to the rest of the town, which gives her special talents in that area. However, her past may be catching up to her, as an old friend/acquaintance has been watching her and leaving her messages. Which of these events are connected and how? What secrets do the residents of Bethany hold?

The story has a lot of enjoyable characters, but I think my favorite is Trooper "Pinky" Goodrich, who has an interest in criminal investigation and will be assisting Warren. His nickname is due to his unfortunate habit of blushing rather profusely when embarrassed, praised, or otherwise being the focus of attention. However, as a local, he knows the area and the residents. He is also eager and rather insightful, proving to be a good asset for Warren.

Agony Hill slowly draws you in to the mystery based in the small town of Bethany Vermont.

We meet Detective Franklin Warren, who everyone calls Warren, who has just moved to town for a new start.

He hasn't settled in yet when he is called to fire in a barn resulting in a fatality.

The small town atmosphere and the characters are so well defined I felt I was right there with them.

The book is told from mulitple POV's and this works extremely well.

Warren and Alice I just loved.

The setting is complete , the pace acccelerates and I could not put the book down.

I will be first in line for the second book in the series and I cant wait to see what happens next .

Sarah Stewart Taylor I am a fan and I will certainly be checking out her other books.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press , Minotaur Books for the opportunity to read and review Agony Hill.

This is a rich, character-driven novel set in 1965 in the small town of Bethany, Vermont. Franklin Warren leaves Boston to take a detective position with the state police. He hits the ground running as he is called to investigate a potential suicide before he even has time to unpack. Warren has doubts about the suicide and begins his investigation. He gets to know the community, and they get to know him. Warren also gets to know himself better as he deals with his own tragic life. This was so beautifully written that I felt like I was part of the story. (I loved Alice and want her as a neighbor!) Looking forward to the next book in the series!

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book to read and review.

Agony Hill by Sarah Stewart Taylor is an intriguing, multi-layered mystery that provides an in-depth look at Vermont in the 1960s. As the first book in a new series, Taylor introduces characters, establishes relationships, and explores backstories without resolving all of them. The initial mystery – that of a man who dies in a fire – is solved by Warren, who has recently moved from Boston to join the Vermont State Police. His interest in the wife of the fire victim, a young mother isolated on her farm on Agony Hill, a road that leads to less-than-ideal farmland, is something he can’t admit to himself. Warren’s neighbor Alice Bellows, known to be interested in small, local mysteries, turns out to have secrets of her own.

As a resident of the area of the fictional Bethany, VT, I enjoyed to figure out which town it most resembled and exactly where it was situated. I could well picture the town green, the wooded hills, the dirt roads. Taylor has done a masterful job in setting up her locale, and she does a fine job with the myriad mysteries she lays out. A fine start to an atmospheric New England series.

Thank you so much to the publisher and to netgalley! This is a new series set in 60s Vermont. Franklin has recently moved to Vermont for a job with the police department as a detective when he gets a call about a fire and a body. It is a small town, atmospheric and a police procedural. It is a little slower so some reader might not connect with the character driven nature of the book - 3.75*

A body is found in the wreckage of a burned barn. Suspiciously, the barn was locked from the inside. State Police detective Franklin Warren has just moved to Bethany, Vermont and is called to investigate the fiery death. He learns that the body is that of owner Hugh Weber, a back-to-the-lander from New York, who is known to all in the town as a constant complainer. Other officials called to the fire believe Weber’s death must be a suicide and are skeptical when Warren, a former Boston police detective, suggests it might be a murder. They seem to resent Warren coming to their small town and taking over. He finds an unlikely friend in his neighbor Alice Bellow, the town’s amateur sleuth, who unbeknownst to him, also has ties to Cold War espionage. The author has created a great cast of characters that inhabit the sleepy small town. 1960s issues including the Vietnam War and the building of the interstate highway system add depth to the plot. I look forward to reading the next book in the series.

Agony Hill is the first entry in a new series by Sarah Stewart Talyor, it was also the first book I've read by this particular author. Agony Hill is set in rural Vermont in the turbulent 1960s, primarily from the perspective of Franklin Warren, a man new to the area, working as a state police detective, as he investigates the suspicious death of local farmer Hugh Weber, with the assistance of a cast of characters from small town Bethany, including Alice Bellows.
This book, while short, covers a lot of ground so to speak, in addressing what it would have been like to live in a small town in Vermont in the time period, on the cusp of development of a new highway that will change the way of life for all in the area. I enjoyed both the narrative lines we got from Franklin and Alice, with each having a distinct voice and a unique perspective on the death of Hugh. This would be a book I highly recommend to lovers of crime fiction and small-town historical fiction as well. It was well plotted and developed and overall, very enjoyable.
Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the electronic ARC of this novel for review.

Cozy mystery. Slow build. Filled with the nostalgia of small town life during the time of Vietnam. I think my favorite characters were Alice and Sylvie, both with hidden strengths. The resolution may have been too good but the very end was sweet.

I would to thank NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC.

Sarah Stewart Taylor's AGONY HILL introduces the reader to a new slow-burn mystery series that provides a small town with plenty of atmosphere (publishes August 6, 2024).

After his wife's murder, detective Franklin Warren retreats from Boston to small town Bethany, Vermont, in the 1960s. He's only in town a minute before a suspicious death occurs in Hugh Weber's barn. I liked Warren's thoughtful investigation methods although I was a bit frustrated that the author kept him at arm's length as much as she did. I would have liked to learn more about him. There's one big action that he performs toward the end of the book that shows his character, which I was happy to read but still didn't completely make up for not being able to know the new detective as much as I wanted.

Alice is Warren's neighbor. She's a dynamic character and shines through with far more of a personality. The text at one point alludes to knowing some backstory on Alice, so I checked the author's backlist. There is a short story MUD SEASON that was just published that features Alice as the main character.

As this is the first novel in a series, there is some scene-setting in Bethany. (It felt like this imaginary town was mentioned 200+ times, and, having that name myself, I had to get over the jolting feeling seeing it so often.) The reader is introduced to a bit about the Vietnam War, communes (to avoid the war), farming, the work of being in the intelligence/spy world (again, Alice is the most interesting character in this novel), and complicated family relationships.

I would compare this book to Louise Penny's Gamache series as far as pacing and vibe, and I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.

This book left me wanting more: More plot, more mystery, more characterization. More of everything except pages. Being in Vermont, it reminded me of the expression, “slow as molasses in January.” Also about as substantial. Just nothing there.

I appreciate this ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review – I wish it could be better.

This murder mystery was light and distracting, and enjoyable to read. The main character, new to this rural community was tasked with getting to the bottom of an unexplained death...murder, suicide, or accident? In the process, you meet the lovely and smart elderly spinster next door, the family of the deceased, and some other characters. Agony Hill was not overly complex but it was entertaining.

Bethany, VT is now the new home of Detective Franklin Warren, Warren to most people. It's the mid 1960's and changes are coming to the quiet rural area and not everyone is happy about them. Before Warren even gets settled he's called to a fire at a farm where the barn caught fire and the owner's body is found. This is one of the people who not everyone in the area cared for and he is one the people who wasn't happy about the changes coming and let everyone know it. So was the fire an accident or was it murder or was it suicide as the picture seems to point to...Warren's neighbor, Alice Bellows has a way about her of getting information out of people and she thinks she can be of help to Warren but without him actually knowing. Warren soon finds himself adapting and finding he likes the quiet life and the town's people even with their secrets.

AGONY HILL ( Franklin Warren #1) by Sarah Stewart Taylor

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books for the ARC ebook to read.

3.5 stars
Taking place in Vermont in the 1960s. Franklin Warren is relocated to Bethany, Vermont as a detective. We sense there is something he carries from his past that has affected him. On his first day in Bethany, Warren is sent to investigate a fire up on Agony Hill that killed Mr. Weber, a member of the community whom many disliked. Things don’t add up for Warren and he has his work cut out for himself; as the people of Bethany harbor many secrets.

I loved the feel of the small sleepy town atmosphere and the character driven mystery surrounding the town. It is a bit of a slow burn at first and has a dark feel to it, but overall it is a good read. This is my first read by this author but look forward to the second book in her series, as well as, checking out some of her other books.

I do not believe that I have previously read a Sarah Stewart Taylor novel, but having read this novel, Agony Hill, I know I will want to read another novel written by Taylor. I very much enjoyed Agony Hill. Taylor captures small town life in rural America. Farming is hard work and always a gamble to succeed. For some people, farming is big business, but for many small farms, life is a struggle. I like the pace of Agony Hill, in which the plot is slowly revealed, as are the lives of these characters.

Agony Hill is told through the voices of several narrators. The ending, though a nice twist, was not a total surprise. I liked how well Taylor captures rural life, where everyone knows everyone and thus there are no surprises. The characters are developed slowly, with backgrounds fleshed out just enough for characters to come to life.

Agony Hill is the first novel in a series. I am a fan of historical mysteries, and I will look for the second novel in this series. A big thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for providing this ARC. I really recommend Agony Hill and will suggest it for my book club.

The first in a new series, Agony Hill did not disappoint! This book transported me back in time to the slower way of life of the 1960s. Set in a small rural town, with lush farmland descriptions with a quaint town with a green, this mystery was such a welcome change of pace for me and I loved every minute of it!

When the town outlier dies mysteriously in his own barn, locked from within, the new detective in town has no choice but to get to know the town’s people as he questions them about this mysterious death. But he has his own skeletons in his closet.

I enjoyed getting to know this town right along side Warren, and I enjoyed the colorful cast of characters. They were well developed and added to the charm of this historical mystery. But don’t be deceived, this novel isn’t cheery and cute. It’s serious and dark and brooding. Agony Hill is smart, sharp, and leaves you always guessing. I was surprised by the ending for more than one reason, and I look forward to seeing where this series goes!

I received a free digital copy of the book from the publisher, all opinions are my own.

Agony Hill vividly weaves in the "back to nature' culture of the times with life in rural Vermont in the 1960s. The main character, Franklin Warren, comes from Boston to this small town - just in time to deal with a fire and a murder. Warren deals with multiple conflicts, from state police to locals, as an outsider from Boston to a small rural Vermont town. I found the book hard to follow at first. It seemed as though there were too many plot threads that were just being introduced before they could be tied together. I hung in there until I could follow the plot.

Three and a half stars

The novel is set in Bethany Vermont. The time frame is the 1960s Vietnam era. A newly hired detective (Warren) is tasked to investigate two fires. One seems to be a suicide. The second an accident caused by a young man trying to avoid the army. Detective Warren investigates both fires. He accepts the suicide as just that. He also accepts the fire caused by the draft dodger. His penance is to rebuild the cabin with donated wood. Another character of the village is Alice Bellowes. She is a snoop but uses her snooping to right wrongs in the village. The resolution is shocking when Warren solves the suicide case. He admonishes the people involved never to reveal what really happened. Justice is served thanks to Warren.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an pre-publication chance to read this novel.