In 1965, as the Vietnam War escalates, a small group of wealthy, powerful men gather at a Vermont lodge to drink and hunt deer. Shortly after they arrive, one of their number, William Moulton, a supporter of the war and a former ambassador to West Germany, is found dead in the woods.
State Trooper Franklin Warren, first introduced by author Sarah Stewart Taylor in “Agony Hill,” (2024) is dispatched to investigate when “Hunter’s Heart Ridge” opens. The surviving members of the group speculate that Moulton died in a hunting accident or, perhaps, killed himself; but Warren promptly determines the man was murdered in a most unusual way. He was stabbed through the heart, and then someone fired a rifle shot through the stab wound as if trying to conceal the cause of death.
The group, like the rest of the nation, had been hotly debating the wisdom and morality of the war. However, it soon becomes evident that most of them had a variety of additional reasons to dislike Moulton. As Warren proceeds with his investigation, it becomes evident that nearly everyone is lying to him about one thing or another, although it is not clear whether what each of them has to hide is related to the murder.
Then a sudden, early season blizzard strikes, bringing down the telephone lines and stranding Warren with a house full of suspects, including members of the lodge service staff.
“It’s like a movie, isn’t it,” says one of the kitchen help. “Or an Agatha Christie novel.”
Yes, except that the story’s pace sometimes drags. A subplot involving Franklin’s friends Alice and Sylvie builds on characters who played a role in “Agony Hill,” but it adds little to the main story and will be lost on those who have not read the previous novel.
Nevertheless, the main plot is clever and suspenseful, and as usual in Taylor’s novels (this is her tenth), the settings are vividly drawn and the characters — especially an excitable teenage girl named Jenny — are quirky and memorable.
Bruce DeSilva, winner of the Mystery Writers of America’s Edgar Award, is the author of the Mulligan crime novels including “The Dread Line.”
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