Review: Hunter's Heart Ridge by Sarah Stewart Taylor

 

Hunter's Heart Ridge (Franklin Warren and Alice Bellows Mystery #2) by Sarah Stewart Taylor

Publication Date: August 5th 2025 by Minotaur Books

Pages: 320

Source: Publisher 

Rating: ★★★★

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

It’s 1965 and the start of deer season in Bethany, Vermont with a snowstorm fast approaching.  Detective Franklin Warren is called up to The Ridge Club, a hunting lodge, when a former diplomat, Bill Moulton, is found dead in an apparent hunting accident. As Warren and his assistant, Pinky, interview the guests they’re stranded by this intense storm with downed phone and power lines.

 

Alice Bellows is unsettled by the reappearance of an old intelligence agent, Arthur Crannock. He and his wife have bought a home nearby and are in the process of remodeling. It’s been years since Alice’s diplomat/spy husband died. Years since Alice has assisted with missions, but she’s suspicious of Arthur’s motives. Alice needs to figure out if she’s in danger.

 

Sylvie Weber, now heavily pregnant, tags along with Alice to a poetry reading. Alice gets caught out at Sylvie’s farm when the snowstorm arrives in full force.

 

This was a locked door sort of mystery with the guests of the Ridge Club stranded with Detective Warren and Pinky. There are several with a motive to kill Moulton and so they’re all in danger. Especially when the guests are reluctant to divulge information. It’s a mystery that kept me guessing!

 

Hunter’s Heart Ridge is the second book in a series best read in order, even though this is a new mystery. The history and relationships from the last book carry over, deepening and progressing here. We get more of Alice’s history, parts of it surprising and personally painful for her. I worry about Arthur’s presence. I continue to root for Sylvie and Warren even if it’s difficult. As with the first book, the time period was an interesting feature, and the setting of a wintery Vermont was richly portrayed! I’m eager for the next installment!

4 Stars

Book Description:

In this sequel to Taylor’s lyrical series debut, Agony Hill, Detective Frank Warren and his formerly CIA-connected neighbor Alice Bellows return to investigate the death of a diplomat.

It's November of 1965 and the second weekend of Vermont's regular deer season. Vermont State Police detective Franklin Warren is hunting in the woods when he gets a call to return to Bethany. There's been an accident at The Ridge Club, an exclusive men's hunting and fishing club for congressmen, diplomats, judges, and titans of a former ambassador has been shot while out hunting. With the war in Vietnam picking up speed on the other side of the world, Warren quickly realizes that many of the club’s members are powerful men who may have ulterior motives and connections in high places.

While Warren's suspicions about the club members build, his neighbor Alice Bellows is throwing a dinner party, preparing for Thanksgiving, and worrying about her pregnant friend and fellow widow, Sylvie Weber, whose due date is coming up. When Alice's old handler and friend, Arthur Crannock, unexpectedly shows up in Bethany, Alice begins to wonder whether his presence has anything to do with the death at the hunting club.

As an early season snowstorm bears down on Bethany, knocking out power and phone lines and blocking the roads, Warren and his assistant, Trooper Pinky Goodrich, are trapped at the Ridge Club, likely along with a killer, and Alice, increasingly fearful that her past in the intelligence world is no longer in the past, will have to act fast to save Sylvie and her baby.

Sarah Stewart Taylor’s historical series combines the intricacy of a satisfying mystery with keen observation of a time and place during great transformation and upheaval.

Review: Agony Hill by Sarah Stewart Taylor

 

Agony Hill (Franklin Warren #1) by Sarah Stewart Taylor

Publication Date: August 6th 2024 by Minotaur Books

Pages: 320

Source: Publisher 

Rating: ★★★★½

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble |  Kobo | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

It’s August of 1965, and Frank Warren has transferred to Bethany, Vermont as a Detective for the State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation. After suffering a tragedy, the new position and move is a welcome change for Detective Warren.

 

Right away Warren is called out when a man dies in fire at one of the farms. At first glance, suicide is suspected, but Warren feels there’s might be more. Weber, a back-to-the-land farmer, was not well-liked man. His wife’s reactions to his death isn’t as expected, but from all accounts the Weber family is regarded as a bit odd.

 

Warren is a newcomer, so we’re introduced to the town and inhabitants through his eyes.  But we also get the perspective of Alice Bellows, Warren’s neighbor, a longtime resident and bit of an amateur sleuth, as well.  Alice has her own investigation(s), and I’m intrigued by her mysterious past and how it might play out in future stories. Sylvie Weber (Hugh’s widow) also has a POV. Pieces of the past revealed through her recollections. She’s an interesting character and I hope to see more of her and her children in the coming books.

 

Agony Hill was engrossing from the first page! The characters, time period, and setting of Vermont were vividly portrayed! I felt immersed in the story as Detective Warren pieced together all the facts and got to the truth. I liked seeing the relationships forming between Warren, his junior partner, Pinky, and other townsfolk. One relationship I’m especially interested in even though it’s been put in the “impossible” column for now. I'm eager for the next installment!

4.5 Stars

Book Description:

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.

Review: A Stolen Child by Sarah Stewart Taylor

 

A Stolen Child (Maggie D'arcy #4) by Sarah Steward Taylor

Publication Date: June 20th 2023 by Minotaur Books

Pages: 352

Source: Publisher 

Rating: ★★★★

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble |  Kobo | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

Maggie D’arcy is now a proper Garda in Dublin investigating the murder of a model/TV reality star in her flat. What’s more troubling is that her two-year-old infant, Laurel, is missing. The clock is ticking because with every hour that passes the likelihood of finding Laurel alive goes down significantly.

I was excited that Maggie is now a Garda, even though working as a beat cop again was a little discouraging to her it’s a big step at making detective. However, being that the department was shorthanded and Roly, the detective in charge, knew her value she was invited to help with the case. Maggie had good instincts and the experience they needed to figure out this case, and it was a twisty one!

Conor and Maggie are still settling in together, mixing their families, and so it wasn’t always smooth sailing, like real-life, but I’m so happy they’re together!

I’ve loved this series from the very first book! I enjoy that the setting is now in Ireland. The city of Dublin came alive with Ms. Taylor’s writing. There’s a mystery to solve with each installment, but also the ongoing story of Maggie and her relationships with Conor, her daughter Lilly, and her career as a police detective. It’s been an exciting journey and one that’s best started from the beginning. I’d recommend the series to any fan of police/crime procedurals with a strong personal aspect!  

4 Stars

Book Description:

Sarah Stewart Taylor is known for her atmospheric portrayal of an American detective in Ireland, and her critically acclaimed series returns with A Stolen Child.

After months of training, former Long Island homicide detective Maggie D’arcy is now officially a Garda. She’s finally settling into life in Ireland and so is her teenage daughter, Lilly. Maggie may not be a detective yet, but she’s happy with her community policing assignment in Dublin's Portobello neighborhood.

When she and her partner find former model and reality tv star Jade Elliot murdered—days after responding to a possible domestic violence disturbance at her apartment—they also discover Jade's toddler daughter missing. Shorthanded thanks to an investigation into a gangland murder in the neighborhood, Maggie’s friend, Detective Inspector Roly Byrne, brings her onto his team to help find the missing child. But when a key discovery is made, the case only becomes more confusing—and more dangerous. Amidst a nationwide manhunt, Maggie and her colleagues must look deep into Jade’s life—both personal and professional—to find a ruthless killer.

Connect with Sarah Stewart Taylor:

Instagram | Twitter | Facebook

Review: The Drowning Sea by Sarah Stewart Taylor

The Drowning Sea (Maggie D'arcy #3) by Sarah Steward Taylor

Publication Date: June 21st 2022 by Minotaur Books

Pages: 352

Source: Publisher & Purchased Audiobook

Rating: ★★★★

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Audible | Kobo | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

I’ve been a fan of the Maggie D’arcy series from the start and was eager to dive into the newest installment. For me, Maggie’s personal life is just as interesting as the mystery at the center of each new installment. Maggie has reunited with a man she met while trying to find her missing cousin in Ireland 23 years ago. They had a passionate few weeks together, but ended up parting ways for reasons that you’d have to read the book to understand.  That mystery was solved in book one, with Maggie assisting the Irish Garda, establishing the relationship between Maggie and Conor, and set up the rest of the stories to come.

After the events from the last book Maggie is no longer working as a homicide detective in Long Island which leaves her and her teenage daughter, Lilly, free to spend the Summer in Ireland with Conor and his son. Maggie’s planning to move to Ireland and needs a way to break the news to Lilly. Maggie will have to start at the bottom of the police force in Ireland and the training is a bit of an issue for her and Conor. Spending the Summer in the beautiful coast of West Cork is just the respite they all need to recharge. However, Maggie always finds herself a few mysteries to solve.

A young Polish worker goes missing and the rumor is he either committed suicide or fell off the treacherous cliffs into the sea. His girlfriend insists neither can be true. Also, Mrs. Crawford, owner of the idyllic cottage they’re staying at, has some childhood memories returning and she’s sure she remembers a blood-soaked rag hidden and a governess that went missing around the same time. Mrs. Crawford asks Maggie to look into it for her. These mysteries don’t seem like much danger at first, but the ending had me holding my breath for a second or two worried about how it’d all turn out!

Sarah Stewart Taylor has a way of writing that brought Ross Head to life, with its stunning seaside cliffs and views! I’d love to stay in the cozy cottage described, minus the trouble Maggie encounters, of course. Although, maybe that might be a little fun, as long as it wasn’t too dangerous.

The Maggie D’arcy series is best started from the beginning as the relationships and history are important to each story. I highly recommend the series for any who enjoy police procedurals with excellent characterization and beautiful, atmospheric writing.

For audiobook lovers, the audios are fantastic! I alternately read and listened to all the books, and I was a little concerned because the narrator changed in this installment. However, Aoife McMahon was excellent with all accents. Maggie’s is a strange sort of Long Island/Irish mix and she nailed it, as the did the past narrator. The Irish accents were good, too, subtle, and genuine feeling, to me anyhow.

4 Stars

Book Description:

In The Drowning Sea, Sarah Stewart Taylor returns to the critically acclaimed world of Maggie D’arcy with another atmospheric mystery so vivid readers will smell the salt in the air and hear the wind on the cliffs.

For the first time in her adult life, former Long Island homicide detective Maggie D’arcy is unemployed. No cases to focus on, no leads to investigate, just a whole summer on a remote West Cork peninsula with her teenage daughter Lilly and her boyfriend, Conor and his son. The plan is to prepare Lilly for a move to Ireland. But their calm vacation takes a dangerous turn when human remains wash up below the steep cliffs of Ross Head.

When construction worker Lukas Adamik disappeared months ago, everyone assumed he had gone home to Poland. Now that his body has been found, the guards, including Maggie's friends Roly Byrne and Katya Grzeskiewicz, seem to think he threw himself from the cliffs. But as Maggie gets to know the residents of the nearby village and learns about the history of the peninsula and its abandoned Anglo Irish manor house, once home to a famous Irish painter who died under mysterious circumstances, she starts to think there's something else going on. Something deadly. And when Lilly starts dating one of the dead man's friends, Maggie grows worried about her daughter being so close to another investigation and about what the investigation will uncover.

Old secrets, hidden relationships, crime, and village politics are woven throughout this small seaside community, and as the summer progresses, Maggie is pulled deeper into the web of lies, further from those she loves, and closer to the truth.

Audio Review: A Distant Grave by Sarah Stewart Taylor

 

A Distant Grave (Maggie D'arcy #2) by Sarah Stewart Taylor

Publication Date: June 22nd 2021 by Macmillan Audio

Pages: 426

Audio Book Length: 12 hrs 33 min

Narrators: Marisa Calin

Source: Publisher

Rating: ★★★★½

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Audible | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

The story opens with Maggie dealing with some of the repercussions from the last story, and it’s not good. There seems to be a DA gunning for her, hampering her efforts to bring “someone” to justice. I’m being vague because of spoilers for the last book.

Maggie’s about to leave on vacation with Lilly, her fifteen-year-old daughter, and meet up with Conor back in Ireland when a man is found murdered on a beach in Long Island. When it’s discovered that he’s from Ireland, Maggie’s vacation turns into a bit of a work assignment. Why the man was in Long Island and who killed him? The connections are surprising and twisty!  

There’s a lot going on, from the murder to Maggie’s problems with the DA, her issues with Lilly and her continuing relationship with Conor. I was fully invested in this “page turning” mystery and I didn’t want to stop listening so I could get to the bottom of so many things!

Ms. Stewart’s writing was beautiful, breathing life into her characters making it easy to relate and root for Maggie, Connor, Lilly and even Gabriel. The settings were vividly described, giving the story an eerie and atmospheric feel! I could almost feel the biting cold of Long Islands shores and see the rugged beauty of County Clare while listening.

A Silent Grave is a pleasing mix of police procedural/mystery/thriller and Maggie’s personal life. It’s a series best read in order. Even though the previous main mystery is solved, there are quite a few plot points unresolved and continued in A Silent Grave. Also, the romance started in the first book is ongoing and like most real-life relationships it’s not all smooth sailing. I’m 100% rooting for them!  I believe they’re a couple that can go the distance. I’m happy with how things are left at this point. 

I think there will be more Maggie D’arcy mysteries coming, and I couldn’t be more thrilled!

I listened to the audio version of The Mountains Wild and A Silent Grave with Marisa Calin narrating.  I was impressed with her expertly performed Long Island and Irish accents! She switched back and forth effortlessly and they sounded authentic to me. I listened at 1.25x the normal speed.

4.5 Stars

Book Description:

In the follow up to the critically acclaimed The Mountains Wild, Detective Maggie D'arcy tackles another intricate case that bridges Long Island and Ireland.

Long Island homicide detective Maggie D'arcy and her teenage daughter, Lilly, are still recovering from the events of last fall when a strange new case demands Maggie's attention. The body of an unidentified Irish national turns up in a wealthy Long Island beach community and with little to go on but the scars on his back, Maggie once again teams up with Garda detectives in Ireland to find out who the man was and what he was doing on Long Island. As the strands of the mystery lead Maggie to a quiet village in rural County Clare and back to her home turf, they also lead her in range of a dangerous and determined killer who will do anything to keep the victim's story hidden forever.

With the lyrical prose, deeply drawn characters, and atmospheric setting that made The Mountains Wild one of 2020's most anticipated summer reads, Sarah Stewart Taylor delivers another gripping mystery novel about family, survival, and the meaning of home.