💖 For my friends who want a small town mystery solved by people who feel like your friends.

HUNTER’S HEART RIDGE by @sarahstewarttaylor

Thanks, @minotaur_books, for the review copy via #NetGalley. (Available 5 Aug 25)

Return with me to the 1960s in a small Vermont town while Detective Frank Warren and his formerly CIA-connected neighbor Alice Bellows investigate the death of a diplomat. Sarah’s new series (this is book two. Read AGONY HILL and bonus short story MUD SEASON–free on Kindle–first for best character development.) continues to soothe me like a hot bath on achy joints. She presents characters that are true, not flashy, in settings you can reach out and touch.

Pardon me an extended food analogy. Let’s look at books as food. Rom-coms are light, fluffy, and sweet: a meringue. (Spicy romances are dark and gooey: chocolate volcano cake.) Thrillers make you sweat, but you keep popping page after page: fresh tortilla chips with salsa. Non-fiction can be nutrient-dense but yummy (banana bread), but they can also be just dense and good for you: multi-grain toast.

Sarah’s books are hearty, nutritious, meaty, and comforting. They’re like a good stew: lots of protein and veggies to keep you satisfied, but packaged in such a way that you’re soothed. The plot is strong and perfectly paced, the mystery keeps you on your toes, but it’s the characters that pull it all together like a good, thick broth. (Can you tell I’m waiting on dinner while I write this?) Her books make me feel good. I want to be friends with her characters.

This is what I’ve been missing in recent novels: characters I care about and want to revisit again and again. Sarah has created a community that I yearn for when away. I highly recommend these books and look forward to the next installment

Sarah Stewart Taylor’s follow up to Agony Hill finds Vermont State Police Detective Franklin Warren investigating the shooting death of a disgraced diplomat at a hunting club. Warren, still feeling the need to prove himself in his new hometown, wants very much to solve this suspicious death. He and his protege, Pinky Goodrich, head out to the exclusive, and remote, hunting club to interview the witnesses. It quickly becomes clear that the victim, Bill Moulton, an ambassador who had been fired under a cloud of suspicion, had many enemies. And everyone at the club has secrets, both present and past, that they want to keep buried.

As always, Taylor has written a lovely and evocative novel, that just happens to have a crackling mystery at its heart. Stewart deftly injects the weight of world events into this small-town, with its reticent New Englanders and the people “from away” who crash into their lives. And reading about a snowstorm is a nice antidote to the current heatwave!

I really hope there will be another in this series.

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

Thank you to Minotaur and NetGalley for an advance readers copy of this book.

Having read and enjoyed the first book in this new series, I am pleased that the second is well worth reading.

This book picks up three months after the last one (Agony Hill) ended. It is still 1965, and the military role in Vietnam still is being hotly debated. Franklin Warren, a newly arrived detective in the Vermont State Police, is called in when a recently retired (some say disgraced) US diplomat is found dead in a nearby small, private hunting club.

The book brings back well-developed characters from the previous novel, some in newly-difficult situations. It also introduces several new and interesting ones, both the well-to-do at the Ridge Club, and the working class who serve them.

Though the opening is a little slow and repetitious (how many times do we need to know that Warren is in his “new home”), there is a tight plot, filled with ethical and moral dilemmas, and seeds sown for more stories to come. I look forward to them.

4.25/5 stars

Nicely done second entry in the new series from Taylor...technically maybe third entry as there is an initial short story (Mud Season) before the novels start.

My biggest happy here was a bit of a "locked room" mystery revolving around an ex-diplomat murdered in the woods at a private hunting lodge in rural Vermont. There are quite a few suspects (fellow hunters, caretakers, spouses, etc.) and of course, a snowstorm to make it all a bit cozier. LOL

The story toggles between the murder (which becomes two) investigation, a mysterious visit from a government spy and an unexpected pregnancy scare so there's lots going on in this one.

I enjoy Taylor's writing style, her attention to detail, her interesting plots and her well-established characters. I started as a fan of her Maggie D'arcy mystery series (highly recommend) and am happy that I gave this one a try as well.

Looking forward to more from Warren and Alice.

My sincere thanks to the author, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press / Minotaur Books for providing the free early arc of Hunter's Heart Ridge for review. The opinions are strictly my own.

November 1965 in Vermont, and it's deer season. Police Detective Franklin Warren is called to The Ridge Club for a suspected hunting accident. After speaking to the other members of the club, Warren's suspicious it's an accident. While waiting for the autopsy results, Warren attends a dinner party at his neighbor, Allice Bellows' house. The results are shocking to Warren, but also raise a lot of questions as to who killed the man now identified as a former ambassador. It seems most of the other members at the club are former government officials, as is one member of the dinner party Warren attended. Is that the connection needed to find the killer...While at the club gathering more information, a sudden snow storm strands Warren and his assistance, Pinky, at the club. A gunshot in the middle of the night brings everyone out of their room to find the president of the club dead in the gun room of the club that Warren was supposed to have the only key to. What is going on and can Warren and Pinky find out before there is another death...also during the story Alice has to help her new friend, the widow Sylvie, deliver her baby as they are stuck in the snow storm. And then Alice is threatened with her past secret by someone she thought was a friend...Secrets will always come back at you...

Hunter’s Heart Ridge is the second book in the Franklin Warren and Alice Bellows series set in Vermont in the 1960s. This storyline takes place three months after the first book with Detective Warren starting to settle into his new life in Vermont; he’s training a young Trooper, he’s made friends with his widowed neighbor Mrs Bellows and there’s been routine cases since his first in the area.

However, that changes when there’s been a suspicious death at a private hunting and fishing club and an early snowstorm arrives trapping both Detective Warren and his young trooper with the guests who all are potential suspects. Mrs Alice Bellows hosts a dinner party and an unexpected guest arrives someone from her past that cause her to reflect on her previous life and how it’s affecting her current life. While she’s doing that she helps pregnant widow Sylvie Weber deliver her baby early in the snowstorm and it brings up old memories of a time forgotten.

I would like to know more about Mrs Bellows and what all she was truly involved in and what shaped her.



Thank you publishers and netgalley for this eARC in exchange for my honest feedback

This second installment in Taylor's Vermont mystery series returns us to the fictional town she created in Agony Hill. Peppered with returning characters and a few new ones, she captures the quintessential vibe of New England with an early winter snow storm that traps our main character, Detective Franklin Warren, in a hunting lodge with all of the suspects in the murder he is investigating. A secondary story line follows the enigmatic and stoic Alice Bellows as she hosts a dinner party, helps her neighbors, and reflects on her own mysterious past. It's brooding and atmospheric with plenty of suspense and terrific writing, all set against the backdrop of the upheaval of the 1960s. It gripped me from the beginning until the end and I highly recommend for mystery fans who want something more than a simple who-done-it.
Many thanks to NetGalley for this ARC.

Second in this series, Hunter’s Heart Ridge continues the story of Franklin Warren, a detective who recently moved to rural Vermont, from Boston. This novel can read as a standalone, as the author gives enough of the backstory of Warren and a couple of the other characters.

Warren is called to investigate the death of a man at a hunting club. What appears to be an accident quickly turns into a murder investigation with a cast of characters effectively in a locked room type scenario. The novel is a slow but steady build interspersed with the story of Alice and Slyvie, two strong women playing out their own drama. I enjoyed getting into the heads of several of the characters and truly not knowing who could be trusted. This one kept me guessing!

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and Minotaur Books for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC.

I loved this next installment of this series. It has everything - small town vibe, great characters, secrets, spies, a locked room crime! I love, love, loved it!

A death at an exclusive men’s hunting and fishing club and an early winter storm come together in this “locked-room” historical mystery. Hunter’s Heart Ridge by Sarah Stewart Taylor is the second book in the Franklin Warren and Alice Bellows Mystery series. Set in November 1965 in Bethany, Vermont and the surrounding rural area, Warren has been with the Vermont State Police as a detective for three months and has responsibility for the southern part of the state.

He gets a call that an accident has happened at The Ridge Club where diplomats, congressmen, judges, and titans of industry go to hunt and fish. A former ambassador, William Moulton, has been shot while hunting deer. As Warren and his assistant Trooper Walter Goodrich investigate, their suspicions about the club members build. On top of this, they get snowed in at the club, possibly with a killer.

Meanwhile, Warren’s neighbor and new friend, Alice Bellows, is throwing a dinner party. She’s worried about her pregnant friend and fellow widow, Sylvie Weber. Her old CIA handler and friend, Arthur Crannock, shows up and comes to dinner. Alice wonders if his appearance has anything to do with the hunting club accident. Additionally, he’s asking what progress she’s made on the last covert task he’s given her. This is a continuing subplot from book one and I wonder how long until it becomes the main plot of a future novel in the series and that is my main quibble with the series. While the main mystery is resolved in each novel, the connection with Alice’s intelligence activities is missing and seemingly minor so far.

Warren, formerly from Boston, must adjust to life in a rural community where he doesn’t know anyone. He’s a sincere and empathetic as well as being a talented investigator. It also turns out that he’s good at mentoring. Alice is somewhat enigmatic. She comes across as a kind and thoughtful person with hidden depths and abilities who loves to garden. Trooper Goodrich is eager to be Warren’s assistant investigator. The other characters have an appropriate depth for their roles.
Once again, the author does a great job of world-building. The early snowstorm is almost another character and plays a significant role in the story. This was also a time of change and conflict and the war in Vietnam is discussed throughout the book.

This is more of a historical police procedural that is heavy on characterization and world-building, but has a well-developed and intricate plot as well as some occasional action and a couple of sub-plots. While somewhat slower paced than many police procedurals set in modern times, the pace felt appropriate to the setting and time of the novel. Secrets play a large role in this novel and are woven throughout the storyline.

Overall, this is an excellent historical crime novel set during a time of change with two fascinating main characters. Readers should be aware that more details on why Warren moved from Boston to Vermont are included in book one. They’re briefly touched on in this novel. The great and vivid storytelling and fantastic characterization have made this novel a winner for me. If you enjoy old-fashioned detective work prior to cell phones, the internet, and DNA testing, then this is a series to consider. I can’t wait to find out what is next for Warren, Alice, and the other residents of Bethany.

St. Martin’s Press – Minotaur Books and Sarah Stewart Taylor provided a complimentary digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own. The publication date is currently set for August 05, 2025. This review was originally posted at Mystery and Suspense Magazine.

Thank you to St Martin’s/Minotaur for my #gifted e-ARC via NetGalley

Coming fast up on US Thanksgiving of 1965, Vermont State Police detective Franklin Warren and his partner Pinky are called to handle a dead body found at the local hunting lodge for the rich and powerful. But the facts about what first looked like a hunting accident don’t add up. Meanwhile, Warren’s close friend and neighbor Alice Bellows is hosting a dinner party when her former CIA handler shows up acting suspicious. But when an early winter storm hits and knocks out all communications, things get really dangerous with a killer in their midst.

I loved how Vermont’s beautiful natural appeal was featured around the story. The multiple points of view also added to the building tension. This was a unique blend of police procedural, locked-room mystery, and psychological tension.
I did feel a bit at a disadvantage (character-arch-wise) by not having read the previous book in the series, but I would still call this a stand-alone story. I also struggled for a bit to keep all the people at the lodge and the people at the dinner party straight, but it got way easier about a quarter of the way through. The writing was beautiful and deep, treating much broader topics than the murder; Vietnam is an active specter being discussed and hanging over the young men, just as much as the ghost story of how Hunter’s Heart Ridge got its name.
I walked away with many thoughts having been stirred up—thoughts on misogyny, injustice, and power—and I’m so glad.

Triggers: murder, medical trauma, misogyny, abortion

Perfect! A murder mystery with plenty of suspects, motives, and red herrings. Warren and Pinky are on the case. And Alice reveals more of her background as she muses about the reappearance of an old acquaintance and tries to help a new friend. More, please!

Agony Hill was the first in this new series from Sarah Stewart Taylor. Agony Hill was really good, and I wanted to find out what happened to Warren, Sylvie, and Alice.

Turns out there was another death in Bethany, Vermont. This time at a private hunting and fishing lodge just out of town. It was assumed that the death was an accident. After all, so many hunters in the woods, a stray shot might have gotten him. But there were other things that made it a bit suspicious. The victim was a recently retired ambassador. Not retired of his own accord, but forced out.

Warren and Pinky are on the case. They get the body to the coroner and begin questioning the group that is on property. It seems that many of the members might have good cause to have shot the man. Alibis abound and suspicions arise. Which one of these men could have wanted him dead? Or was it simply a stray bullet that got him?

Everyone is present in this follow up. Sylvie is still pregnant with her late husband’s baby. Alice is hosting a dinner party for friends, Warren included. Pinky has matured a bit since the last investigation, and definitely appears to be Warren’s right hand man now.

It’s a great group of characters that will be fun to follow through the series. So much intrigue where Alice is concerned. Will Warren & Sylvie become more than acquaintances? I can’t wait to see what comes next.

I like this little slice of Vermont. While I wouldn’t call these ‘cozy’ mysteries, the town of Bethany is fairly cozy. I hope that we’ll get to see more of Jenny and the others in the next installment.

Enjoyable read.

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Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the advanced reader copy of this novel, all opinions are my own.

This was a fantastic sequel to AGONY HILL. The characters in this series are so realistic with flaws, personal tragedy and are so relatable. I love Frank Warren and Pinky, the two "staties" on the case in this locked-door style mystery. The police are called to a hunting lodge for what appears to be a suicide or hunting accident, only to discover it was murder. As they investigate, they become trapped with the suspects by a terrible snowstorm. As in the first book, there is a secondary storyline and we learn much more about Alice Bellows and her private history. Really love this series. Ms. Stewart Taylor is one of my favorite new authors I discovered this year.

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. 5, 2025
Sarah Stewart Taylor’s “Hunter’s Heart Ridge” is the follow up to Taylor’s “Agony Hill” series of novels. In this sequel, Detective Frank Warren is called to investigate after a diplomat is shot during a hunting retreat, while his neighbour, former CIA wife Alice Bellows, continues to uncover more unsettling information about her close friend Arthur Crannock.
The novel takes place in 1965 Vermont, during a transitional time where veterans are clashing with young people over the necessity of war and both sexual and racial tensions are still high. At a hunting lodge in Vermont, a diplomat and his (white, male and rich) friends come to reconnect over drinks and guns but by the end of the trip both the diplomat and another man are dead. Stewart Taylor connects readers with the time and place through her well-developed characters, especially Frank Warren, who is a relatable detective and a veritable outsider among the Vermont elite that make up the suspect pool.
“Ridge” features both Warren and Alice as the main characters, with chapters rotating between their points of view. There are a few other characters that we hear from, such as the young hotel maid, Jenny, and widowed mother Sylvie Weber, who made an appearance in the last novel as well. Although both “Agony Hill” and “Hunter’s Heart Ridge” are in the same series, there is enough to differentiate them that it is possible to read either as a stand-alone but, as always, I don’t recommend it. The intricate relationship and background details that make this series so great may be missed if the books aren’t read in succession.
The suspense in “Ridge” is top notch, as the suspect pool is confined to the lodge during a snowstorm, turning the characters against each other in pure locked-room-mystery fashion. As Warren investigates, another body drops, and he is up against the clock, which tightens the noose and creates next-level tension. The ending itself was unexpected, as I didn’t guess the suspect until Taylor revealed it and it worked so, so well! I had complete sympathy for the suspects, which only grew as their story was told, and the ending was satisfying while also being bittersweet.
The connection between Alice and Warren is still flimsy, as they are neighbours who share a base level friendship at best, and this novel didn’t really do much to bring them any closer. Warren and Alice are both great characters, but their storylines continue to exist separately, making it seem like each should have a dedicated novel, instead of a combined story with thinly connected storylines. I love both characters, though, and I have a feeling Taylor will continue to draw them closer and closer together as the series goes on (and I look forward to it).

Detective Frank Warren returns in this second book of the Bethany, Vermont series, set in 1965. His neighbors and others from the first book, Agony Hill, are also present. While you don't need to have read the first book to enjoy and appreciate this one, I definitely recommend both books!

This story opens with a death at the exclusive hunting club just outside of town-- a former ambassador has been shot. Or has he? It looks like murder, so Frank and his assistant Pinky Goodrich begin the investigation. A huge snowstorm arrives to complicate the investigation, burying evidence and trapping both police and suspects at the lodge.

Alice Bellows, who we learned in the first book has certain knowledge and a background that is CIA-adjacent, may know more about the victim, who definitely had secrets and problems. She's also suspicious about the reappearance of an old friend, a man still involved in the spy game. And she's concerned about her neighbor who is pregnant and ready to deliver.

The snowstorm, a second murder, and uncovering even more dangerous secrets keeps the plot moving quickly, and the multiple points of view help the reader to see into all the corners of the plot.

Taylor does an excellent job of intertwining the different storylines, and uses the blizzard to great effect in heightening the suspense. Setting, characters and a well-solved mystery make this another excellent start to this new series.

It is November 1965 and early in the deer hunting season when Franklin Warren is called to the Ridge Club for what looks like an accidental shooting. The Ridge Club is populated by movers and shakers including some in the government. When Franklin arrives, he discovers the body of former ambassador William Moulton. Franklin and his assistant Pinky begin to investigate, and it soon becomes clear to Franklin that the death was a murder.

As Franklin is interviewing the various characters who were at the club when the shooting occurs, Alice Bellows is planning a dinner party and worrying about very pregnant neighbor Sylvie Warner. She is also dealing with the reappearance of her old friend Arthur Crannock who is still in the CIA agent. Alice has trouble believing that he is in the area only to supervise the remodeling of a nearby home he and his wife bought.

Then an early season snowstorm begins trapping Franklin in the club with all the suspects and Alice at Sylvie's isolated farm with a woman in labor with the baby in a difficult position.

I enjoyed the setting of rural Vermont and the 1960s time period. It reminded me of the conflicts at home about our role in Vietnam as demonstrated by the two generations of men at the hunting club and of the Cold War sensibilities of worry about Russian influences and spies.

Fans of historical fiction will enjoy this story. Being the second book in a series, we learn more about both Franklin and especially Alice in this episode.

It’s November 1965, and Vermont Detective Franklin Warren receives a call to head out to The Ridge Club, a longstanding rustic retreat for Washington movers and shakers. One of them, former diplomat Bill Moulton, has been found dead in the woods in what looks like a hunting accident. Warren quickly finds that it was, instead, murder, and the likely culprit will be one of the handful of men at the camp and those tending to them. This will require Warren to try to pry information from the notoriously close-mouthed group.

At the end of a day of investigating, Warren attends a dinner at his neighbor Alice Bellows’s house. She has a background in the intelligence world, including some knowledge of the men at The Ridge Club, and provides insightful information. Warren’s deputy, Walter “Pinky” Goodrich, is also an invaluable source of local history. The next day, back at the club, Warren discovers more about the victim and the others at the club; information that goes back 20 years. When a sudden blizzard snows them all in as night falls, and the phone and power also go out, Warren is faced with the threat of more deaths, as it seems the perpetrator will go to any lengths to hide the motivation for the murder.

While Warren and Pinky are in their own snowbound danger, Alice has her own fraught situation. Her friend, Sylvia, a widow with four boys, has gone into labor, with complications, and Alice must do whatever she can to save Sylvie and her new baby while waiting for dawn to break and roads to be cleared.

There is a great sense of time and place in this novel. I have experienced many a New England November, and author Taylor’s descriptions take me right there. This is not just a regional murder mystery, though. The time is also important. It’s 1965, and there is great debate about what role the US should take in Vietnam. It’s a subject that divides the men at the club. Does it also factor into the killing of Moulton, or does the motive for his murder lie closer to home?

Taylor devises a suspenseful plot that kept me guessing until the very end, along with strong characters and atmosphere—and even a little bit of romance. I’m hoping she plans another installment in this series.

Frank Warren, who was introduced in Agony Hill and Alice Bellows are the two main characters in the second in this series. Both had worked in the state department, and Frank has moved to Bethany, Vermont after a personal tragedy. He is now a detective, and he is faced with the murder of a former ambassador, allegedly the victim of a shooting accident. However, the story is more complicated than that. It incorporates a locked room mystery, referring to the Posh Ridge Club, and then the setting of a heavy winter blizzard that seems to blanket the plot and makes the mystery more complicated.

The time is the fall of 1965, and Vietnam is heavy on people's minds. Eventually there is a second murder, and Warren and his assistant, Pinky, are stymied at who is behind the murders. It is also a deep mystery for the reader, the murderer being quite a surprise.

At the same time, Sylvie Weber, a local heavily pregnant woman who has recently lost her husband, goes into labor, and Alice helps with the birth as the storm is still keeping local people from traveling even short distances.

The character developments in the book are the most interesting part of the book, and the juxtaposition of the men hiding from the storm inside the club and the storm raging outdoors provide a curious plot.

Thanks to Saint Martins Press and Net Galley for the opportunity to read this book.

I enjoyed Sarah Stewart Taylor's Agony Hill, which was the first in this series set around the time of the Vietnamese War. The novels take place in a small town in Vermont.

Characters from Agony Hill are in this second book as well. These include, of course, detective Frank Warren and his young who is nicknamed Pinky. I also enjoyed again meeting up with Warren's neighbor Alice (she has a good back story), Sylvie (an important person to Warren and a key character in the first novel), and others in the town.

This time, a former diplomat has been killed at a hunt club. Did his death relate to his profession or his messy personal life? There are many characters and suspects for readers to consider as perpetrators. Things intensify when there is a snowstorm and a second murder, leaving many of the characters stranded at the hunt club.

Readers will want to know what was behind the deaths. They may also be interested in a glimpse of a fraught time in the country's history.

While it is not necessary to have read Agony Hill to enjoy Hunter's Heart Ridge, I think that readers will enjoy both of these titles. Why not read both?

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this title. All opinions are my own.