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.

In book one of the Frank Warren series, Agony Hill by Sarah Stewart Taylor is a thoughtful mystery, full of vivid characters and a timeless quality to the story. The story introduces Frank Warren, a man who’s experienced hardship as he tries to determine the truth of Weber’s death, whether is a suicide or murder. Just as with the character of Warren, readers will also be drawn to the people of this small town set in Vermont, created with stunning visual details that lead the reader through to the resolution.

The primary characters, both Frank Warren and Alice Bellows, as well as the wife of the victim, Sylvie, are introduced with a careful quality, allowing the reader to absorb their personalities and why they are all involved in the narrative. All of the characters are vivid and all are equally important to the telling of the mystery. The story slowly unfolds the mystery until the conclusion is spread before the reader, not a surprise but a revelation, one that some mystery readers will have seen in the details spread before them. And while there are unresolved threads that may lead to future stories, the crux of the novel is resolved with a beautiful ending. 

If you love thoughtful mystery and vivid characters, I think you will enjoy this new mystery series by Sarah Stewart Taylor. The setting is particularly engaging, set in 1965 Vermont and the characters are truly compelling. I absolutely loved reading this novel and want to see more from these characters.

Rating: 5 out of 5 poems.