Maybe I just wasn't in the right mood for this, as I know others enjoyed it, but for me it read rather too melodramatically, and I was expecting some kind of twist near the end, which I didn't get. ( )

The Forsaken Inn is a delightful gothic Victorian mystery, with the flavor of a Wilkie Collins and the haunting atmosphere of [b:The Tenant of Wildfell Hall|337113|The Tenant of Wildfell Hall|Anne Brontë|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1479652419s/337113.jpg|1389477]. Say what you will, I am a sucker for this kind of story. Bits of it were predictable, but then it has been around for more than 100 years, it was among the first, if not the first, published story of its type, and many of the devices she might have invented have been used to distraction. Still, nothing works quite like an original, and this has all the earmarks of originality.

Mrs. Truax runs a very old inn, with the inappropriate name of The Happy-Go-Lucky Inn. One evening she receives a young couple, married only for a day, who book a room for the night. She has a very uncomfortable feeling regarding this couple and a few strange events cause her discomfort to rise, but she cannot nail down what makes her feel so suspicious of the man and worried for the young bride. The next day they leave, nothing apparently wrong, and she feels compelled to write down all the events of the previous days to attempt to make it clear to herself why she has such an ominous feeling regarding their stay. So begins the novel...and from there unfolds a story with a number of twists and turns and surprises, that held my attention to point of requiring me to read it straight through without a break.

I very much enjoyed this novel. It is full of atmosphere. Had Ms. Green being writing before Ms. Austen, you can bet it would have made the list of reading materials for Catherine Morland. This is not Anna Katharine Green's only novel, so I will be gladly seeking more.

SUGGESTION: DO NOT read the blurb for this book. It is a major spoiler and, in fact, contains at least one total inaccuracy. ( )

A locked-room mystery of sorts although it’s not really that much of a mystery. A couple stays at an inn for a night - the man’s rather suspicious and creepy. Some years later, the woman’s body is discovered in a hidden room. Yet a woman had been seen leaving with her husband. What is one to make of this? Told from the perspective of the inn owner, one Mrs Truax, the story takes ages to unravel but it was after all published in 1890 so one has to keep that in mind. But it was an interesting gothic mystery by a woman who was one of the first writers of detective fiction. ( )

Looking for shelter one rainy evening, a rider aims to seek safety in a derelict building. A stranger warns him off and offers him a ride in his carriage to the next village. Where he gives him a manuscript to read. Dated 28 January 1775 and written by the last occupant of the derelict, it's former landlady, Mrs Truax of the Happy-go-Lucky Inn. This is her story.
An enjoyable historical mystery
Originally written in 1889. ( )

I liked the Gothic atmosphere of this story, but a lot was lost in the storytelling. Most of the characters were truly unlikeable. You begin the story knowing who the murderer is, then the motive is revealed in an extremely long narrative from a hermit. Then the ending came suddenly and was very over the top. There was a good story in there somewhere so I'm willing to try other works by this author. ( )