Maura Lyle has been employed as a nurse to Gordon Henderson. What secrets are the Henderson family keeping? Why is Mr Henderson strongly sedated? And why was Maura given the job? There are a lot of questions in this book about the Henderson family and those close to them. This is a good thriller which I really enjoyed. There are a lot of twists and turns in it and a lot of action packed into it. I would have liked it more if it had been slightly shorter.

Can the past really be forgotten? Not is Ann Troup's new book "The Forgotten Room". This is a perfect book with a very intriguing and twisted ending when all dots are being connected at the end and just makes you WOW.

An old quote says - keep your friends close and your enemies closers. But how do you know who is really a friend and who is an enemy? And how far a person can go to get a revenge? Well, welcome to The Essen Grange, the house of horror. Buckle up your seatbelts, you're in for a wild ride.

Gordon Henderson is a bitter man who has inherited the Grange after a death of his older brother. He marries Jane because it is socially profitable for him. Jane's sister Estelle moves into the house as well. However life doesn't always go according to the plan, and it seems like the universe is against Gordon Henderson. His first child is born with a down syndrome. He does not acknowledge his second child. Jane leaves the Grange and never returns. Gordon's brother's wife and son show up, threatening to take his inheritance.

Fast forward to present. Bones are found on Grange's estate. Maura, a nurse, who has been going thru a hard time after the death of her ex-boyfriend, is being offered a job - to look after Dr. Moss's private patient - Gordon Henderson. Later, she discovers that Dr. Moss has specifically requested Maura to look after Gordon. Is this a coincidence or well thought thru plan? Mr. Henderson's caretaker Estelle is missing. Dr. Moss is nowhere to be found. Gordon's bank account is empty and the man is found dead. After Henderson's death, Maura is looking for a new job. She is given a night shift at a hospital, where she comes upon a patient, Jane Henderson - who has been missing for decades. Detective Poole is on a mission to resolve a case, and he discovers that all his findings always lead him back to an old mansion. Will the detective catch the person on time before they succeed with their revenge?

A perfect book to read for a Halloween season.

When you read the final words of the last chapter of the book and the words that come out of your mouth are OMG and WOW, you know you've just read a absolutely brilliant book, which is what happened to me with this book.

The story plot was so cleverly and intricately woven like a maze, taking you down lots of different routes which you thought would reveal the answer but in fact turned out to be yet another deadend.

There was a lot of characters to keep track of, figuring out what their part was within the story, whether they were a victim or a guilty of something. It was all very gripping and I could not turn the pages fast enough.

I was truly captivated and enthralled with this book and throughout reading it, I kept trying to piece everything together in my head, and figure it all out, and wondering how it would all end. Suffice to say I couldn't have been more wrong if I tried. Absolutely amazing and a brilliant ending.

It was a well constructed book. The descriptive elements were very good. It was tense at some points and eerie in others. The outcome wasn't what I expected and it was interesting how all the characters were intertwined with one another.

What a messy tangled web of lies and deception that was! A creepy read where nobody is really who they appear to be and so many bad and sometimes creepy things continue to happen. Would not get me anywhere near that house! Thank you to Netgalley and HQ Digital for a copy of this book to read and review

A real thriller ,keeps you guessing till the end. The description of the house and layout is nicelly done creates the atmospher for the book.
Looking forward to reading more books by this author.

This book is about the tangled web a family can weave and how the actions of others impact those around them. A nurse goes to a Essen Grange to help an elderly man. She can instantly tell that something is off about the house but she really needs the job and enters the creepy house with its weird doors and passage ways that don't quiet make sense. Meanwhile, at the end of the chapter you have an ominous narrator in italics that is giving threats about what will happen next.

I did not want to put this book down, I just had to know what was going to happen next and what new mystery was going to be unearthed.

I really liked the plot of the book as well as the pacing but the writing was so confusing. There are a lot of characters in the book and I would recommend writing them down as they appear to keep them straight. There were several times I would get confused as to what was going on because I had the character mistaken for another one. I believe I would have enjoyed it a lot more if I had notes. I am still confused how some of the characters had parts in the families drama. I think the story could have been just as good if there were less people involved in the drama.

I would also get confused with when the location and narrator would change. There was a break in the paragraph but that did not always mean that the location or narrator changed. I often found myself rereading paragraphs. This could be solved by formatting changes. Please not that I read this book prior to it's publication date so this may or may not have changed once published.

I would still recommend this book as long as you write down the characters as you go. You will be in for a ride.

This was my first Netgalley book to review so I was really looking forward to it as I love a good thriller/mystery. As I'm sure you know, the story begins with nurse Maura summoned to work in what seems to a haunted and cursed house. This really drew me in at the beginning and I had many questions from the get go. These questions were answered throughout and lots of interesting characters were introduced.
Poole was my favourite character and I'll hope for a certain happy ending for him in the future. I did get a little bit confused throughout the story sometimes as there were lots of different characters introduced, all linking together somehow and sometimes I forgot who was related to who and who had done what - but that could just be me!
I was really impressed with the ending and the most important thing here was that I had absolutely no idea who the killer was. It was completely unpredictable throughout the novel which makes for a fantastic read. I hate reading a book when you can already tell in Chapter 5 how it's going to end!
So, thank you Ann for providing us with a spooky and thrilling tale which kept me guessing all the way to the end.

The ending was very poignant. A few of the characters were quite memorable.

Overall, I enjoyed the ending more than than the setup. The first 50% was pretty repetitive and uneven tonally, but the back 50% were more interesting and less repetitive. We also got more DCI James, who was pretty much my favorite character despite her limited page presence (I'd read a book about her, just her).

I would say the inclusion of the killer's POV throughout the early parts of the story bordered on hokey and actually dertacted from the creepy atmosphere of Essen Grange. It took me right out of the story every time.

The conclusion was more or less satisfactory. The mystery was convoluted but interesting. So was the killer.

Thank you to NetGalleh, the author and publisher for allowing me the chance to read this book.

Books about spooky old houses are definitely my 'thing' and The Forgotten Room didn't disappoint! Maura Lyle is a nurse returning to work after her life went spectacularly off the rails. (The reason why is dripped slowly through the story). Her first job is as a live-in carer to the elderly Gordon Henderson, who owns a crumbling gothic mansion called Essen Grange. The surrounding land has been sold for housing development and Maura has hardly moved in when the first dead body is discovered in what used to be the garden.

I loved this book because of the setting - spooky old house, yay! - and the cast of eccentric but not remotely lovable characters who could have come straight out of a Dickens novel. I loved the heroine for the pragmatic way she dealt with all the horrible things life threw at her. I wasn't so keen on all the mentions of bodily fluids, but that's because I'm a squeamish kind of person. If you're a squeamish kind of person too, I'd better mention that there is a very short but gruesome paragraph about two thirds of the way through the book, when one of the characters comes to a sticky end.

It did get a little confusing trying to untangle the various family relationships and I didn't quite buy the final twist - although I thought it was very clever. This was one of those books where I smugly decided I knew how the story was going to pan out, only to have the denouement knock me sideways. It didn't tie everything up neatly either, another thing I liked. And that 'forgotten room'? Chilling...

For me this was a 4.5, rounded up to a 5, and I'd recommend it to anyone who likes gripping murder mysteries with a slightly gothic twist. Although cosy crime fans had better turn right around and start running...


Thank you to Ann Troup, HQ Digital, and Netgalley for my copy of this book, which I received in exchange for an honest review.

Maura Lyle had been going through some struggles in her life but she’s determined to get back to her nursing career and her love of helping her patients. Maura had been contacted to take on a private care job at Essen Grange taking care of Gordon Henderson and when told she was asked for specifically she decides to take on the job. After arriving at Essen Grange however Maura begins to wonder just what she’s gotten herself into when she first glimpses the foreboding manor.

After arriving Maura finds herself with a patient that is going to be tougher than she thought dealing with when at first meeting he bites into her but she remains calm and soon has it under control. However when the other employee of the house leaves Maura finds things begin to happen within the house which put her on edge. The secrets within Essen Grange seems to run deep and it becomes obvious there is danger lurking within the walls leaving Maura to question just how long she can remain at the estate.

The Forgotton Room by Ann Troup is a mystery read with a twinge of horror within with the creepy setting in the story. Perfect for this time of year I was quite excited to dive into this book and see just where the story would take me. When finished however I’m a bit torn on how I wanted to rate this one as it’s one of those book that there’s a lot of good but some things that didn’t quite agree with me too.

Starting out I was quite interested in Maura and what was happening within the walls of the house as she arrived for her nursing job. The story was one that grabbed me right away and had quite the intensity as things begin to happen. However, as it went on the style changed and I wasn’t quite a fan of it at that point. You start with Maura’s point of view along with some bits of a creepy unknown person but midway or so the police are involved and the point of view is changing over to them. Towards the end that becomes more of a telling the reader instead of showing them events type of writing which was where I thought it sort of fizzled from the intriguing first section.

In the end I’ve decided to rate this one at 3.5 stars overall. It’s certainly a dark and creepy tale which was quite what I was hoping for but the end just seemed to rush to tell how all of the events connected instead of taking a bit slower route to resolve everything like the pacing the first half or more of the story had been.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Welcome to the Henderson House of Horrors

The Essen Grange is an old and ominous presence looming within a new suburban development. Ivy blocks the light of day from illuminating the festering secrets that lie within.

Maura is struggling to get her life together after the death of her ex-husband when she is offered a position as the carer for Gordon Henderson at the Grange. Gordon is a curmudgeonly old man, but not incapable of caring for himself. So why was Maura requested by name to be there?

The discovery of remains on the developing land sets off an investigation that raises more questions than answers. As DC Poole and his team hunt for clues, it seems each corner finds another person dead until there’s nearly no one left to question. Magpie feathers punctuate each death — as the old rhyme goes: seven for a secret never to be told.

When the truth is revealed, the creepy old house appears to have been hiding much more than decades-old secrets. What is forgotten cannot be healed. And someone has set out to make sure they all remember... and pay.

The tangled web of family ties gets a bit sticky at times leaving the reader unable to speculate, only to go along for the ride. But what a ride it is. With quick pacing that stays in media res, characters that combine the flavors of Detective Mystery with Familial Drama, and a creepy house that seems straight out of a Gaiman story, this atmospheric modern gothic will have you reaching for your favorite Charlotte Bronte classic when all is said and done.

Thank you to NetGalley, publisher HQ Digital, and author Ann Troup for the ARC of this book.

4/5 stars. Read my reactions as I read and a light discussion here: https://greykatreviews.wordpress.com/2017/10/02/discussion-the-forgotten-room/

Maura takes a temporary job as a live-in nurse to an elderly man in a creepy old house. When a body is found on the estate and then the old man is murdered, Maura ends up kind of tangled up in a web of family secrets. There were a lot of twists, mostly of unexpected relationships between characters. In fact, it was sometimes difficult to keep track of all the connections and who was who. This was definitely not a happy, cheerful book. As the dead bodies kept piling up, more secrets were revealed and discoveries made, many of the events were pretty grim or disturbing, but it really didn't feel like it was for shock value. These terrible things really did add to the story. I actually really enjoyed this a lot, more than I expected to. 4.5 stars, rounded down to 4.

Thank you Netgalley and H.Q for the eARC.
Maura Lyle has had a hard time of it. She found her husband and her sister in her bed and if that wasn't bad enough, he subsequently dies while in police custody. Badly needing a change Maura, a nurse, accepts a job at Grange Hall looking after an old man suffering from dementia.
As soon as she arrives seeing the Grange, she has an ominous feeling of foreboding, which only deepens when she meets the housekeeper and the old, cantankerous man.
When a skeleton is dug up near Grange Hall, it's only the first of a number of dead bodies in and around the home. When the old man is found dead, asphyxiated, Maura is hauled into custody, accused of his murder.
DS Poole, who heads the investigation, is an unpleasant part of Maura's past, as is Dr. Moss, the shadowy doctor who tended and medicated the old man. It's like Maura has stepped into a nightmarish scenario without end. The house seems to emanate evil and it influences everyone in and around it.
Once you start the book it's difficult to put down, it just gets better and better. The ending is creepily sad because of the perpetrator's past, but ultimately quite satisfying.
I will definitely be reading Ann Group's previous books!

I received an ARC from NetGalley to read and review. The below is my honest, unbiased opinion. Thank you, Ann Troup, the publisher, and NetGalley, for allowing me to review.

THE FORGOTTEN ROOM by Ann Troup is a thriller novel with mystery elements. Can the past be truly forgotten? When Maura Lyle, a nurse, enters Essen Grange, she senses unease. Her new patient, Gordon Henderson, is hiding secrets of family betrayal and tangled webs of lies. Maura discovers that Essen Grange is a house of dark, cruel intentions that she can no longer ignore. Now, the house's darkness has turned on her. Can Maura escape the danger lurking around every corner before it's too late?

This was my first Ann Troup novel, and she didn't disappoint. It was thrilling and mysterious; the plot was unique, the characters developed, and the setting was undeniably creepy. The fast-paced story line made this a quick read. I recommend this fantastically written thriller.

Excellent book. I adored the storyline and the characters. A real page turner. I would this recommend this book.

Wow! what a wonderfully Gothic, creepy read. I totally didn't see that ending coming. Its a well written, well fleshed out storyline with intriguing characters and a thoroughly scary locale. perfect read for the upcoming holiday of Halloween.

I totally recommend this book.

** Thank you to the author/publisher/Netgalley For the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a fair and honest review **

Maura Lyle wants to put an unpleasant chapter of her life behind her, so she accepts a nursing position at Essen Grange where she will care for Gordon Henderson. Unfortunately, Maura’s life will not get any less complicated as a body is found on the estate just before she arrives. What’s worse is the PC Poole, whom she met before under less than auspicious circumstances is now heading up the murder investigation. More unsettling incidents occur, and Maura has to wonder if she’s made the biggest mistake of her life. The cover of this book put me in mind of the Gothic novels I loved as a teen. Troup keeps the Gothic vibe going, but adds more sophisticated elements to it. A really fun read

Eerie, atmospheric and haunting, The Forgotten Room had me up til all hours (in a mildly terrified, good way). Maura is a relatable, likeable protagonist, with a realistic outlook on life - and when she takes a job at Essen Grange she almost immediately wishes she hadn't. The characters Maura meets are more Addams Family than happy family, and the house is full of mystery and hidden secrets. Ann Troup writes beautifully, creating an addictive story with a sinister undertone throughout. A first-class page turner.