Agony Hill (Frank Warren Mystery, 1)
In 1965, the small town of Bethany, Vermont, is struggling towards modernization; the new interstate is gouging swathes through pristine farmland, and farmers are barely compensated for their loss. Crack investigator Franklin Warren, happy to leave his dark memories in Boston, has made the move at the behest of Tommy Johnson of Vermont’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation. He is barely unpacked when called to the site of a barn fire, where a farmer’s body has been discovered in an annexed room, the door locked from the inside. Likely to be ruled a suicide, things do not add up for Warren or the sharp-witted Trooper ‘Pinky’ Goodrich, who Warren immediately commandeers as his deputy. Why sleep in the barn, why bolt the door, what started the fire?
I read this in one sitting, becoming quickly immersed in the strongly character-driven story and Taylor’s nuanced handling of the events, not felt so much in the crime itself as in the larger picture—the locals and what they are withholding. Small sideline events grow into more pertinent issues in Taylor’s deft hands, eliciting the townsfolks’ protectiveness towards each other, including the taciturn pregnant widow and her four unusual sons. Atmosphere runs high with an underlying feeling that we are only privy to part of the story, which adds to the overall need-to-know for the other part. Behind-the-scenes events are as important as those which are obvious, and untoward things happen which are not necessarily part of the mystery, keeping the twists and turns lively. Haunted by personal tragedy, Warren’s forgiving nature is touchingly revealed through his all-too-human reaction to certain scenes. I was not particularly surprised by the culprit, but it did not matter, because this is about ordinary people finding their way through life’s drama. It is the first in a planned series, which was my hope as I finished the novel.
