Along a Dark Path

by Velda Johnston

Susan Sayre has no recollection of the first seven years of her childhood, but is uncertain she can trust the man who has offered to help her find the truth

Genres: Mystery, Gothic, Fiction

302 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1967

About the author

Velda Johnston was a writer of romantic suspense. She also wrote under the pseudonym 'Veronica Jason'.

Reviews

[Robert Fontenot]

And just like that I have now read all of Johnston’s books. This one is as off kilter as the best of them, featuring the standard gothic romance tropes of a secluded mansion, a past murder, and a love interest that likes to gaslight his potential mate but throws in past life regression, feverish horror, and a rather brutal scene involving a dog that is straight out of a horror novel.

There is some regressive handling of a character who seems to have Down’s syndrome but given the time and genre it could have been worse.

I’m really have enjoyed my trip through Johnston‘s works. While most of her novels fit pretty solidly within the Gothic romance label, there’s always something just weird about them in a way that probably alienated her perspective audience but makes them somehow feel more modern. While she will never be one of the bigger names of Gothic romance, she might just be the most interesting.

[Nicholas George]

Fairly standard young-woman-in-peril mystery. The young woman in question is Susan, who returns to her midwestern hometown to visit her ailing grandfather. Trouble is, her mother died when she was seven and she has no memories of anything before that. Johnston constructs a rather implausible story around this, but it is entertaining and well-written.

[Leslie]

Continuing my slide into my second childhood, another one of the first Gothic novels I read back when I was probably about 12. It held up surprisingly well. After the other one, it's a wonder I didn't end up with an unreasoning fear of doctors.