Terror in the Town

by Edward S. Aarons, Edward Ronns (pseudonym)

A devil killer terrorized the New England fishing town, and the manhunt was on! But the strangler always escaped--to strike again!

Genres: Mystery

159 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1947

About the author

AKA Paul Ayres, Edward Ronns.

Edward Sidney Aarons (September 11, 1916 - June 16, 1975) was an American writer, author of more than 80 novels from 1936 until 1962. One of these was under the pseudonym "Paul Ayres" (Dead Heat), and 30 were written using the name "Edward Ronns". He also wrote numerous articles for detective magazines such as Detective Story Magazine and Scarab.

Aarons was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and earned a degree in Literature and History from Columbia University. He worked at various jobs to put himself through college, including jobs as a newspaper reporter and fisherman. In 1933, he won a short story contest as a student. In World War II he was in the United States Coast Guard, joining after the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. He finished his duty in 1945, having obtained the rank of Chief Petty Officer.

Reviews

[John Pringle · Rating 5 out of 5]

TERROR IN THE TOWN is one of Edward S. Aarons’ best standalone novels, and also his most highly praised book. The writing is consistently suspenseful, consistently of a high quality. I especially like the fact that the protagonist is a woman, and a strong female character at that. I also love the way Aarons maintains a shroud of mystery over the husband. You’re never too sure if he’s trustworthy or not. That said, in terms of a whodunit I did work out who the killer was by the halfway mark. Not that it’s obvious, mind. There are half a dozen possible suspects who all have ample opportunity to commit the murders. One thing I couldn’t work out, though, was the motive, and this is where Aarons really delivers the goods in style, neatly tying all the threads together with a satisfyingly gripping climax.

[Bev · Rating 4 out of 5]

Terror in the Town (1947) by Edward Ronns [Edward Sydney Aarons] finds a coastal Massachusetts fishing town terrorized by the killings of three lonely spinsters. The women were known to live alone and were strangled by someone with powerfully big hands, possibly powered by a maniac's rage. Everyone is quick to blame Manuel, an unbalanced man who has recently escaped from the home where he's been stashed for everyone's safety--including his own.

Verity Farland, recently married to the town's newspaperman, is new to the area and sees things from an outsider's perspective. She begins to wonder why the killer is targeting women who were at a certain bridge party--a party that she herself attended. The killer also leaves behind ransacked libraries and a trail of missing jewelry. A maniac might collect trophies from his victims, but would he be interested in searching the women's books? There is also the fact that all the women owned a share of the Morgan, an old whaling ship that is rumored to contain treasure and if it doesn't, is worth money to the owners if they can agree to sell it to a film company.

Verity isn't sure that Manuel is the culprit, but she also doesn't know who it might be. There are so many people roaming around town in the night--from the Sheriff's deputy to her husband's drunken assistant to the doctor who seems to be on extra-friendly terms with some of the ladies in town to the town handyman...to her very own husband. No one is where they're supposed to be at night and her own husband won't stay put. And after all, they didn't know one another very long before they got married....and he was rumored to be a bit wild before he settled down with her. Can she trust him? And if not him is there anyone she can trust?

Ronns builds up the suspense quite nicely in this fairly short book. His writing is economical, but completely on-point. He doesn't really give the reader a chance to catch their breath, moving things along rapidly until the climax. He manages to provide several possible suspects and motives and draws enough of a cloud over them all to keep us guessing. Once a few clues fall into place, it's possible to spot the villain of the piece but it's not obvious. A thoroughly enjoyable suspense/thriller. ★★★ and 3/4. (rounded to four here)

First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.

[Marty · Rating 3 out of 5]

An innocuous but entertaining small-town mystery by Aarons, one of the finest writers of thrillers of his era.

[Paul Cornelius · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent early murder mystery that doesn't cover too many pages. It takes a short time to read, but even that seems to rush by in a hurry. Edward S. Aarons, otherwise mainly known for his Sam Durell spy thrillers, exhibits a skillful mastery of this genre. Right from the beginning, which is pictured ambiguously, the main thing to dominate the mood is an atmosphere of insecurity and implicit violence. Little does the reader realize that what seems so ominous will soon turn into a story about Verity Farland, just moved to Easterly, Massachusetts, and is something of an outcast, even to her husband, Jess, one of the fishing village's early pioneers in whaling.

Aarons does quite well with his heroine. She only grows throughout the novel, not getting weaker but stronger and more independent. A woman of inherent brains and guile, Verity puts together all the pieces to three murders while all about her try to cover up things in order to protect the reputation of the town. At the end, it's Verity who gives her husband the insight to put everything in his newspaper and clean up Easterly from its corrupt oligarchs. I don't understand why Aarons never achieved more notice. His works cry out for film adaptations. And he's not a bad master of prose at all.

[Gu Kun · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Over the mirrored bar were several paintings that resembled nothing at all in this world. Verity surmised that the Fisherman's Inn had gathered quite an art collection from summertime painters who frequented the bar several times too often." So the man can write. Also the story is delightfully fast-paced. But what it's not is a satisfactory whodunit puzzle. For instance, if the Queen of Crime throws you a red herring, that red herring gets tucked away so you hardly notice it - and then when you do notice it, you must become very alert to little tidbits of information that you, feeling so clever for having spotted a clue, are meant to overlook. But Edward Aarons throws his red herrings right in your face and then rubs them in - and so they lose their intended effect. And the ending: so it was X - could just as easily have been Y, or Z. Poirot explains away ...

[Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just love the way these old books read. Maybe back in the day I wouldn't have rated it so high but now I find it precious!