Customer Reviews

The art studio murders (Atlantic large print)

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Rather typical fairplay mystery of its time, most notable for being the only one of its kind I know of from Aarons, who was more a crime novelist/thriller writer kind of guy.

Worth picking up if you can find it at a reasonable rate -- this is one of the most underrated of the pb original guys.

This enjoyable 1950 novel has a somewaht misleading title -one that lead me to expect a classical style whodunnit .While there is that element to it ,essentially this is a thriller and a good one ,with the rare virtue of directness and pace
It begind splendidly with the attempted murder of aspiring New York based artist Henry Dana who survives being pushed onto the New York subway tracks .the police believe it was an accident are refuse to accept his claim of being pushed .They cahnge their tune when his paintings are slashed and a witness is killed before she bcan reveal the identity of the man responsible .
The scene shifts from the city to a small island off Connecticut wher once agin his life is threatened and more death awaits
The is no shortage of suspects -his agent fears that Dana will expose him as a fraud who has been stiffing other artists on their commissions ; an art critic is all too aware that his wife has made overtures to Dana ,while Dana's fried Charlie was seriousy hurt in a car accident in which Dana was driving and that cost Charlie his carrer as a sseious artist .Add to this list the ex husband of an island girl who blames Dana for the collapse of his marriage and Dana has good cause to worry about survival

The book build to a climax amidst a torrential rainstorm with violence and passion in the air

Aarons was no stylist but his prose was propulsive and machine tooled and this is an absorbing quick read for devotees of the pacy thriller.