Most Popular Books by Sarah Stewart

Looking for a new book that will make your heart race? The eleventh edition of The Minotaur Sampler compiles the beginnings of six can''t-miss novels—either standalone or first in series—publishing Spring/Summer 2024 for free for easy sampling. First in Series: Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies is the irresistible and hilarious series debut from Catherine Mack, introducing bestselling fictional author Eleanor Dash on her Italian book tour that turns into a real-life murder mystery, as her life starts to imitate the world in her books. Standalone: In Kimi Cunningham Grant’s The Nature of Disappearing, a captivating novel of suspense, a wilderness guide must team up with the man who ruined her life years ago when the friend who introduced them goes missing. First in Series: With Trouble in Queenstown, Delia Pitts introduces private investigator Vandy Myrick in a powerful mystery that blends grief, class, race, and family with thrilling results. Standalone: In classic Alex Finlay form, If Something Happens to Me is told from several distinct, compelling characters whose paths intersect, detonating into a story of twist after pulse-pounding twist. The story cements Finlay as one of the leading thriller writers today. First in Series: 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. Standalone: Anna Downes''s extraordinary next thriller, Red River Road, follows a woman desperate to discover what happened to her sister on a solo road trip through the Australian outback.

Meet an unforgettable bibliophile Elizabeth Brown doesn''t like to play with dolls and she doesnt like to skate. What she does like to do is read books. Lots of books. The only problem is that her library has gotten so big she can''t even use her front door anymore. What should Elizabeth Brown do? Start her own public library, of course! With charming verse and watercolors Sarah Stewart and David Small celebrate one of America''s oldest and finest institutions. The Library is a 1995 New York Times Book Review Notable Children''s Book of the Year and Outstanding Book of the Year.

Mars was once similar to Earth, but today there are no rivers, no lakes, no oceans. Yet multiple spacecraft are circling Mars, sweeping over Terra Sabaea, Syrtis Major, the dunes of Elysium, and Mare Sirenum-- on the brink, perhaps, of a staggering find. Johnson tells the story of how she and other researchers have scoured Mars for signs of life. She interlaces her journey as a female scientist with tales of other seekers, to offer an unlikely natural history of a place where no human has ever set foot, while providing a vivid portrait of our quest to defy our isolation in the cosmos. -- adapted from jacket

In her "strikingly atmospheric debut" ("Denver Post"), Taylor introduces Sweeney St. George, a college professor specializing in cemetery art, whose efforts to solve a century-old murder provokes another killer to strike. Martin''s Press.

This latest volume in "The Idea of Iran" series concentrates on the Sasanian period. Seizing power from the previous dynasty - the Parthians - the Sasanians ruled Iran and most of the ancient Near East from 224 until 642 CE. They are particularly fascinating because of their adherence to Zoroastrianism, an ancient dualistic Iranian religion named after the prophet Zarathustra (or, in Greek, Zoroaster). The Sasanians expressed the divine aspect of their rule in a variety of forms, such as on coins, rock reliefs and silver plates, and architecture and the arts flourished under their aegis. Sasanian military success brought them into conflict with Rome, and later Byzantium. Their empire eventually collapsed under the force of the Arab army in AD 642, when Zoroastrianism was replaced with Islam.Engaging with all the major aspects of Sasanian culture, twelve eminent scholars address subjects which include: early Sasanian art and iconography; early Sasanian coinage; religion and identity in the Sasanian empire; later Sasanian orality and literacy; and state and society in late antique Iran. The volume in question arguably comprises the most complete and comprehensive treatment of the Sasanian civilization yet to be published in English.

Enter the world of 1960s Bethany, Vermont in this suspenseful short story featuring characters from the forthcoming Agony Hill. It''s mud season in Bethany, Vermont. As spring nears, the thawing ground and melting snow-pack have created muddy, impassable roads. It''s not unusual to see a driver pushing their car or going for help. But a car with Pennsylvania plates has been completely abandoned, still stuck in the mud. Alice Bellows, an inquisitive widow who seems to know everything going on in town, can''t help but wonder what would lead someone to abandon their car like that. All that''s left in the car are two suitcases sitting in the trunk, no registration or keys. The police aren''t too concerned about the abandoned car, but Alice thinks there''s more to the story. Not sure what she''ll find or who may get hurt, she takes it upon herself to find the car''s owner and what they''re hiding in her small town.

By the author-and-illustrator team of the bestselling The Library Lydia Grace Finch brings a suitcase full of seeds to the big gray city, where she goes to stay with her Uncle Jim, a cantankerous baker. There she initiates a gradual transformation, bit by bit brightening the shop and bringing smiles to customers'' faces with the flowers she grows. But it is in a secret place that Lydia Grace works on her masterpiece -- an ambitious rooftop garden -- which she hopes will make even Uncle Jim smile. Sarah Stewart introduces readers to an engaging and determined young heroine, whose story is told through letters written home, while David Small''s illustrations beautifully evoke the Depression-era setting.

BURY THE CORPSE, MOURN THE DEAD, Sweeney St. George concedes that having lunch in Boston''s Mount Auburn Cemetery might be a bit macabre. Yet the graveyard fits her interests as an art professor with a specialty in cemetery statuary and mourning jewelry. And although she doesn''t yet realize it, this historic burial ground is one of the last places on earth her favorite student, Brad Putnam, scion of a famous Boston family, sees before someone murders him. AND TRACK DOWN A KILLER... Because of her expertise, the Boston police ask Sweeney to help them track down the antique jewelry found with Brad''s body. Her investigation soon leads to chilling information about the influential Putnams, an earlier death, and Brad''s secrets. Complicating everything is her attraction to Brad''s rakishly charming older brother Jack. Now, Sweeney St. George is about to walk a dark and dangerous path...where passion can be dangerous and where a killer waits. "Sarah Stewart Taylor has a deft touch with atmosphere, especially if you like graveyard trivia." -Charlotte Observer www.minotaurbooks.com

Questions surrounding the provenance of a Harvard museums Egyptian artifacts lead Sweeney St. George to solve mysteries past and present in the fourth book in this acclaimed series by an Agatha Award-finalist. Martins Press.

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.

"With its evocative Dublin setting, lyrical prose, tough but sympathetic heroine, and a killer twist in the plot, Sarah Stewart Taylor''s The Mountains Wild should top everyone''s must-read lists this year!" — New York Times bestselling author Deborah Crombie In a series debut for fans of Tana French and Kate Atkinson, set in Dublin and New York, homicide detective Maggie D''arcy finally tackles the case that changed the course of her life. Twenty-three years ago, Maggie D''arcy''s family received a call from the Dublin police. Her cousin Erin has been missing for several days. Maggie herself spent weeks in Ireland, trying to track Erin''s movements, working beside the police. But it was to no avail: no trace of her was ever found. The experience inspired Maggie to become a cop. Now, back on Long Island, more than 20 years have passed. Maggie is a detective and a divorced mother of a teenager. When the Gardaí call to say that Erin''s scarf has been found and another young woman has gone missing, Maggie returns to Ireland, awakening all the complicated feelings from the first trip. The despair and frustration of not knowing what happened to Erin. Her attraction to Erin''s coworker, now a professor, who never fully explained their relationship. And her determination to solve the case, once and for all. A lyrical, deeply drawn portrait of a woman - and a country - over two decades - The Mountains Wild introduces a compelling new mystery series from a mesmerizing author.

Harvard art historian Sweeney St. George investigates the murder of a man wearing Revolutionary War clothing, who has been killed during a reenactment of a battle in Concord, Massachusetts.

A little girl moves to the United States from Mexico with her family and writes letters to her aunt in Mexico about her new life.

"The bucolic setting, emphasis on family and leisurely pace make for a nice end run around traditional police procedurals." —The New York Times Book Review 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.

A dazzling depiction of the connection between diverse readers of all ages and their books, from beloved author-illustrator team Sarah Stewart and David Small. This Book of Mine is a celebration of the power of reading, of the ways in which books launch our adventures, give us comfort, challenge our imaginations, and offer us connection. From new mothers to fantasy lovers, butterfly hunters to musicians, the readers of This Book of Mine all share a common passion for favorite books—whether freshly discovered at the library or bookstore or saved from childhood and reread across a lifetime. A unique gift for bibliophiles young and old, This Book of Mine trumpets a simple truth: A well-loved book in hand brings color to any reader’s life.

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 when Vermont State Police detective Franklin Warren is called out to what looks like an accidental shooting at The Ridge Club, an exclusive men''s hunting and fishing club for congressmen, diplomats, judges, and titans of industry: 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.

Augustine''s dominant image for the human life is peregrinatio, which signifies at once a journey to the homeland (a pilgrimage) and the condition of exile from the homeland. For Augustine, all human beings are, in the earthly life, exiles from their true homeland: heaven. Some, but not all, become pilgrims seeking a way back to the heavenly homeland, a return mediated by the incarnate Christ. Becoming a pilgrim begins with attraction to beauty. The return journey therefore involves formation, both moral and aesthetic, in loving rightly. This image has occasioned a lot of angst in ethical thought in the last century. Augustine''s vision of Christian life as a pilgrimage, his critics allege, casts a pall of groaning and longing over this life in favor of happiness in the next. Augustine''s eschatological orientation robs the world of beauty and ethics of urgency. In Pilgrimage as Moral and Aesthetic Formation in Augustine''s Thought, Sarah Stewart-Kroeker responds to Augustine''s critics by elaborating the Christological continuity between the earthly journey and the eschatological home. Through this cohesive account of pilgrimage as a journey toward the right ordering of the desire for beauty and love for God and neighbour, Stewart-Kroeker reveals the integrity of Augustine''s vision of moral and aesthetic vision. From the human desire for beauty to the embodied practice of Christian sacraments, Stewart-Kroeker develops an account of the relationship between beauty and morality as the linchpin of an Augustinian moral theology.

"Taylor presents an appealingly nuanced twist on the traditional police procedural.” –The Washington Post 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.