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Volte-face
Best known for his acclaimed mystery fiction set in ancient Rome, in A TWIST AT THE END Steven Saylor delivers a stunning historical novel about America’s first recorded serial murders—the Austin, Texas servant girl murders of 1885—artfully blending real characters and true crime into an engrossing work of fiction.
The city of Austin, Texas, “is fearfully dull,” wrote young Will Porter to a friend in the spring of 1885, “except for the frequent raids of the Servant Girl Annihilators, who make things lively in the dead of night.”
Years later, Will Porter would become the most famous writer in America— O. Henry, the toast of New York. The long-ago Austin servant girl murders would remain unsolved. But behind the O. Henry pen name, Will Porter was a man with secrets. The appearance of a merciless blackmailer and a mysterious stranger draw Porter back into the past, and back to Texas, to confront the twisted solution to those murders—and the secrets of his own soul.
When he was a young man in Austin in that spring of 1885, Porter fell in love. Her name was Eula Phillips. She was beautiful. She was married to someone else. And she was doomed to be a victim of the Servant Girl Annihilators.
The first victims were young Black women who worked in the households of Austin's most prominent citizens. The crimes were unspeakable, as the killer or killers used an ax and—in the newspaper parlance of the day—“outraged” the victims even as they were dying or already dead. The authorities were baffled. The murders continued, month after month, until suddenly, shockingly, on a bloody Christmas Eve, the pattern changed—and the trial that resulted would uncover an explosive scandal of sex and power that would tear the city of Austin apart.
The scene of these crimes was a capitol city in uneasy transition. On the wooded hills where outlaw gangs and Comanche Indians recently roamed now stood the grand homes of cattle barons and university professors. The animosities of the Civil War still lingered, and the struggle of Blacks for equality was just beginning. By day, politicians in the state legislature debated equal rights for women; by night, those same politicians mingled with the prostitutes of Guy Town, the city's notorious vice district. Southern manners concealed ugly secrets, all of which would be revealed before the saga of the Servant Girl Annihilators reached its end.
Against this remarkably rich and previously untapped background, Steven Saylor has crafted a novel that melds fact with fiction, employing characters both real and imagined. The crimes and trials described in "A Twist at the End" actually happened, and are described in intricate detail. In real life, no satisfactory resolution was reached. But in the course of investigating the crimes, Saylor has come up with his own startling conclusion to a century-old mystery. The result is a masterful novel of intrigue and murder, yet at the same time a romance of time and place, with a colorful cast of memorable characters brought vividly to life. It's a true tale of Texas, grand in both setting and scope.
"A riveting historical mystery...It’s all fascinating and provocative.” (New York Times Book Review)
“One of the mystery genre’s most inventive writers has turned his considerable talents—and his considerable ambition—to Austin, Texas, in 1885...The result is a worthwhile, engrossing, deftly written novel...Throughout, Saylor brings to bear his remarkable ability to evoke a vanished time.” (Sunday Oregonian)
"Saylor, a veteran of the historical novel, navigates these rapids with confident skill...Better still, in the manner of O.
The city of Austin, Texas, “is fearfully dull,” wrote young Will Porter to a friend in the spring of 1885, “except for the frequent raids of the Servant Girl Annihilators, who make things lively in the dead of night.”
Years later, Will Porter would become the most famous writer in America— O. Henry, the toast of New York. The long-ago Austin servant girl murders would remain unsolved. But behind the O. Henry pen name, Will Porter was a man with secrets. The appearance of a merciless blackmailer and a mysterious stranger draw Porter back into the past, and back to Texas, to confront the twisted solution to those murders—and the secrets of his own soul.
When he was a young man in Austin in that spring of 1885, Porter fell in love. Her name was Eula Phillips. She was beautiful. She was married to someone else. And she was doomed to be a victim of the Servant Girl Annihilators.
The first victims were young Black women who worked in the households of Austin's most prominent citizens. The crimes were unspeakable, as the killer or killers used an ax and—in the newspaper parlance of the day—“outraged” the victims even as they were dying or already dead. The authorities were baffled. The murders continued, month after month, until suddenly, shockingly, on a bloody Christmas Eve, the pattern changed—and the trial that resulted would uncover an explosive scandal of sex and power that would tear the city of Austin apart.
The scene of these crimes was a capitol city in uneasy transition. On the wooded hills where outlaw gangs and Comanche Indians recently roamed now stood the grand homes of cattle barons and university professors. The animosities of the Civil War still lingered, and the struggle of Blacks for equality was just beginning. By day, politicians in the state legislature debated equal rights for women; by night, those same politicians mingled with the prostitutes of Guy Town, the city's notorious vice district. Southern manners concealed ugly secrets, all of which would be revealed before the saga of the Servant Girl Annihilators reached its end.
Against this remarkably rich and previously untapped background, Steven Saylor has crafted a novel that melds fact with fiction, employing characters both real and imagined. The crimes and trials described in "A Twist at the End" actually happened, and are described in intricate detail. In real life, no satisfactory resolution was reached. But in the course of investigating the crimes, Saylor has come up with his own startling conclusion to a century-old mystery. The result is a masterful novel of intrigue and murder, yet at the same time a romance of time and place, with a colorful cast of memorable characters brought vividly to life. It's a true tale of Texas, grand in both setting and scope.
"A riveting historical mystery...It’s all fascinating and provocative.” (New York Times Book Review)
“One of the mystery genre’s most inventive writers has turned his considerable talents—and his considerable ambition—to Austin, Texas, in 1885...The result is a worthwhile, engrossing, deftly written novel...Throughout, Saylor brings to bear his remarkable ability to evoke a vanished time.” (Sunday Oregonian)
"Saylor, a veteran of the historical novel, navigates these rapids with confident skill...Better still, in the manner of O.
547 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
23 people are currently reading
549 people want to read
About the author
Steven Saylor
96 books1,081 followersSteven Saylor is the author of the long running
Roma Sub Rosa
series featuring Gordianus the Finder, as well as the New York Times bestselling novel, Roma and its follow-up, Empire. He has appeared as an on-air expert on Roman history and life on The History Channel.
Saylor was born in Texas and graduated with high honors from The University of Texas at Austin, where he studied history and classics. He divides his time between Berkeley, California, and Austin, Texas.
Saylor was born in Texas and graduated with high honors from The University of Texas at Austin, where he studied history and classics. He divides his time between Berkeley, California, and Austin, Texas.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 61 reviews
November 4, 2018
Steven Saylor pegou nos assassinatos que ocorreram em 1885, em Austin, Texas, e mais acontecimentos factuais, deste período, como a tentativa de se aprovar o trabalhos de mulheres como amanuenses.
Não é novidade que adoro Steven Saylor e como tal, tinha muitas expectativas com este livro, apesar de ser num registo diferente. Esperava que se focasse mais nos crimes em si, mas o autor conta-nos uma história, mais detalhada, da cidade em si e das personagens, muitas delas reais.
Foi uma leitura interessante, mas senti algumas vezes que se alongava um pouco. Apesar de ser não ter sido totalmente o que estava à espera, foi uma boa leitura.
Vejam também a minha opinião em vídeo, AQUI.
Não é novidade que adoro Steven Saylor e como tal, tinha muitas expectativas com este livro, apesar de ser num registo diferente. Esperava que se focasse mais nos crimes em si, mas o autor conta-nos uma história, mais detalhada, da cidade em si e das personagens, muitas delas reais.
Foi uma leitura interessante, mas senti algumas vezes que se alongava um pouco. Apesar de ser não ter sido totalmente o que estava à espera, foi uma boa leitura.
Vejam também a minha opinião em vídeo, AQUI.
January 24, 2019
I couldn’t get too far in this book. Supposedly all the relationships between characters would be known, but trying to keep all these straight with no resolution in sight was too daunting. The author describes in detail incidental things such as house descriptions that go on for pages it was too much.
June 12, 2019
This makes for an interesting departure from Saylor's normal focus on the late Roman Republic (the Roma Sub Rosa mysteries). The events in A Twist at the End are split between 1884/85 in Austin Texas (during what was called, at the time, the Servant Girl Murders - O. Henry coined the phrase "Servant Girl Annihilators") and 1906 in New York City, Austin, and points between, and focus, although not exclusively, on the author O. Henry, who actually did reside in Austin at the time these killings were occurring. Saylor does an excellent job of presenting the mystery of an early American serial killer (3 years before the Whitechapel Killings), integrated with interesting characters, police/judicial procedure, race relations in post-Reconstruction Texas, the newspaper business, politics, women's rights, and patent medicine. While I very much enjoyed the book, I was not terribly surprised at the ending. On the other hand, to be honest, I felt that the obvious perpetrator was so obvious that it had to be someone else, so, I suppose in that sense, it was a surprise to me anyway. A virtually seamless blend of fact and fiction. Solid 4 stars.
January 31, 2013
This story is a wonderfully written fictionalised account of the crimes committed against, mainly, black servant women in the recent post-civil war era in Austin, Texas and, as such, represents something of a departure for its author. Saylor is rightly lauded for his Sub Rosa series featuring first century B.C.E sleuth Giordianus the finder in novels such as Roman Blood. However, this book is also about crimes, and particularly horrible ones at that, and their solutions in the context of a society in which slavery, although technically abolished, is still, effectively, part of the ‘mind-set’ of its members, both black and white.
The story of the crimes is skilfully interspersed, by Saylor, with that of the renowned short story writer, O. Henry, the nom-de-plume of William Sydney Porter, who lived in Austin at the same time that the murders took place, and also features other prominent contemporaries, such as Elizabeth Ney, the celebrated sculptor of German origin, who sculpted the busts of several Texan notables of the time. But the real strength of the story is the way in which it reveals the ingrained attitudes of the controlling white population towards their black and largely servile ‘fellow’ citizens. Moreover, the story illustrates how such attitudes blinded the law enforcement officers of the time to the possibility that the crimes could have been committed by those other than of black African racial origin.
As well as the crimes at the book’s core the story, which is told partly in flash-back, is also about the coming of age of a young man grown to middle age as he reflects on his youth and the choices he made when young and inexperienced.
The narrative pace is quite slow and suited to the gradual unfolding of the gruesome events that gripped the city at the time and one which is entirely in keeping with a seemingly valid evocation of the pace with which life was then lived. Nevertheless, the deftly drawn, engaging characters, Saylor’s prose and adroit hand at authentic sounding dialogue ensure the reader’s rapt attention from the first word to the last.
The story of the crimes is skilfully interspersed, by Saylor, with that of the renowned short story writer, O. Henry, the nom-de-plume of William Sydney Porter, who lived in Austin at the same time that the murders took place, and also features other prominent contemporaries, such as Elizabeth Ney, the celebrated sculptor of German origin, who sculpted the busts of several Texan notables of the time. But the real strength of the story is the way in which it reveals the ingrained attitudes of the controlling white population towards their black and largely servile ‘fellow’ citizens. Moreover, the story illustrates how such attitudes blinded the law enforcement officers of the time to the possibility that the crimes could have been committed by those other than of black African racial origin.
As well as the crimes at the book’s core the story, which is told partly in flash-back, is also about the coming of age of a young man grown to middle age as he reflects on his youth and the choices he made when young and inexperienced.
The narrative pace is quite slow and suited to the gradual unfolding of the gruesome events that gripped the city at the time and one which is entirely in keeping with a seemingly valid evocation of the pace with which life was then lived. Nevertheless, the deftly drawn, engaging characters, Saylor’s prose and adroit hand at authentic sounding dialogue ensure the reader’s rapt attention from the first word to the last.
August 20, 2016
Steven Saylor é conhecido pelos seus livros policiais que constituem a série “Roma Sub Rosa”, protagonizada pelo genial Gordiano, o Descobridor, que desvenda crimes e mistérios de forma pouco ortodoxa durante os conturbados anos áureos da civilização romana. Neste “Volte-Face”, o escritor consegue mais uma vez conjugar personagens e factos verídicos com a dose de imaginação certa para nos oferecer um policial cheio de peripécias, tendo como cenário de fundo a cidade de Austin no início do séc. XIX. Associando a vaga de assassinatos macabros (nunca desvendados) que ocorreu nesta cidade a um potencial pré-Jack o Estripador, cuja identidade nos é revelada no final, o escritor mostra-se mais uma vez exímio na arte de misturar factos e ficção e demonstra aqui a sua versatilidade ao sair da “zona de conforto” do império romano, onde já nos tinha provado estar como peixe na água.
Mesmo sendo apreciadora de longa data de Steven Saylor e da sua arte de contar histórias de forma interessante (li avidamente todos os livros da série “Roma Sub Rosa”) gostei particularmente deste livro, tanto que já o li duas vezes. O ritmo da narrativa vai-se intensificando com o desenrolar da história, e às tantas dei por mim ansiosa por conhecer o final, tantas eram as dúvidas sobre qual seria o desfecho do livro e se haveria realmente um volte-face surpreendente.
Não quero ser spoiler, por isso nada mais direi. Apenas que este livro é entretenimento puro.
Mesmo sendo apreciadora de longa data de Steven Saylor e da sua arte de contar histórias de forma interessante (li avidamente todos os livros da série “Roma Sub Rosa”) gostei particularmente deste livro, tanto que já o li duas vezes. O ritmo da narrativa vai-se intensificando com o desenrolar da história, e às tantas dei por mim ansiosa por conhecer o final, tantas eram as dúvidas sobre qual seria o desfecho do livro e se haveria realmente um volte-face surpreendente.
Não quero ser spoiler, por isso nada mais direi. Apenas que este livro é entretenimento puro.
December 3, 2010
AN ENTERTAINING READ.
“Whites and coloreds mixed more freely at the tramp level of society.”—page 102
“…there’s no point dwelling on when bygones was used-to-be’s.”—page 471
Steven Saylor’s ‘A Twist at the End: A Novel of O. Henry’ is a very well, and cleverly, written historical-fiction based on a real series of gruesome murders in Austin, Texas in the mid-1880s; at a time when a young William Sydney Porter—later to become famous as the master short-story writer, O. Henry—was a resident of that city. Somewhat reminiscent of the storytelling styles of O. Henry, T. C. Boyle, and a bit of Mark Twain (and I’m a big fan of all of these), it is a very entertaining read; albeit a bit dark in places.
Recommendation: A should-read, especially for the historical who-done-it buffs.
Simon and Schuster, hardcover edition—458 pages. On loan from the Los Angeles County Public
Library.
“Whites and coloreds mixed more freely at the tramp level of society.”—page 102
“…there’s no point dwelling on when bygones was used-to-be’s.”—page 471
Steven Saylor’s ‘A Twist at the End: A Novel of O. Henry’ is a very well, and cleverly, written historical-fiction based on a real series of gruesome murders in Austin, Texas in the mid-1880s; at a time when a young William Sydney Porter—later to become famous as the master short-story writer, O. Henry—was a resident of that city. Somewhat reminiscent of the storytelling styles of O. Henry, T. C. Boyle, and a bit of Mark Twain (and I’m a big fan of all of these), it is a very entertaining read; albeit a bit dark in places.
Recommendation: A should-read, especially for the historical who-done-it buffs.
Simon and Schuster, hardcover edition—458 pages. On loan from the Los Angeles County Public
Library.
October 20, 2014
(Actually if the goodreads rating system allowed for it, I'd give this one three-and-a-half stars.) This author is mainly known for his series of entertaining historical novels set in Ancient Rome. (I've enjoyed the ones I've read. While not at the level of Colleen McCullough or Hilary Mantel, still, it's well-done historical fiction.) This is historical fiction in its own way, of a different kind. The author's cleverly taken some historical facts about Austin, Texas in the 1880s --- and the life of the writer William Porter --- better known as the short story writer O. Henry --- and woven together a murder mystery story that's compelling and fascinating to read as it unfolds. I was also quite surprised to learn that the Colorado River flows through Austin, Texas and it turns out that this is another Colorado River besides the more famous one that created the Grand Canyon.
May 14, 2007
I'm looking forward to reading this book about the serial killer in Austin in the late 1880s. I even have a map of Austin during the 1890s so I can look stuff up if needed. David just read it and enjoyed it.
So, I finished the book and wasn't overly impressed. Some small interesting facts about Austin, but I found some of the story lines a bit cheesy and the foreshadowing was way obvious.
So, I finished the book and wasn't overly impressed. Some small interesting facts about Austin, but I found some of the story lines a bit cheesy and the foreshadowing was way obvious.
May 15, 2008
I read this book after reading and loving Saylor's other novel, Have You Seen Dawn? Unfortunately it just wasn't enough to keep me engaged. It was interesting but only to a point. I don't think I could reccommend it to anyone.
June 29, 2007
Serial murder business based on O. Henry. Didn't like the characterization of William Sydney Porter, which seems to have been fictional. Hope his heirs sue the author and win.
July 4, 2012
I really couldn't finish it. Loved the idea, not the execution.
September 24, 2023
An engaging historical/crime fiction supposition for an era pre-"serial killer" aware. The initial world building is easily recognized as the recent past, with our introduction occurring in NYC 1906. From that jumping off point, we travel further back in time to 1884 Austin, Texas, via our protagonist's recollection of "what really happened" in a series of murders. Saylor does a satisfactory job of weaving this multilayered tale with a near cast of 1000's. It felt a bit daunting learning all the William's, James/Jimmy/Josephs of the era.
Upon completing the story, I immediately equated this book to another very similar story, Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper - Case Closed by Patricia Cornwell, where she gives her opinion on "what really happened" in the Ripper case.
Both were descriptive and accurately narrative. Both delivered to expectations of graphic death and murder. In "Twist", the villains are depicted rather obviously, perhaps intentionally, but at no time does anyone else appear to be suspect. The expected "twist" in my opinion was it (the murders themselves) was all fabricated (in reality the chosen villains were in fact made up for the actually read story, to an actual set of murders...almost too meta). And the twist really wasn't a twist but a juxtaposition of characters for the wraparound tale.
The intended result received a shoulder shrug in comparison to the actuality of Eula Phillips' activities and actions, as depicted in the court room testimony. That was the twist at the end for me. I initially thought the Defense was transposing Delia's actions/activities onto Eula, in death, for the defense of her brother. But if that wasn't the case, what a gut punch for Will either way (and us reading on his behalf.)
History is always tougher to swallow in hindsight, because it happened, and shouldn't have. This story tackles the events of the era deftly and keeps the reader invested.
Longer read and requires a bingo card at the start of the recollections to keep track of the players but maintains a steady pace and delivers a quality story. Recommended.
Thanks for reading.
Upon completing the story, I immediately equated this book to another very similar story, Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper - Case Closed by Patricia Cornwell, where she gives her opinion on "what really happened" in the Ripper case.
Both were descriptive and accurately narrative. Both delivered to expectations of graphic death and murder. In "Twist", the villains are depicted rather obviously, perhaps intentionally, but at no time does anyone else appear to be suspect. The expected "twist" in my opinion was it (the murders themselves) was all fabricated (in reality the chosen villains were in fact made up for the actually read story, to an actual set of murders...almost too meta). And the twist really wasn't a twist but a juxtaposition of characters for the wraparound tale.
The intended result received a shoulder shrug in comparison to the actuality of Eula Phillips' activities and actions, as depicted in the court room testimony. That was the twist at the end for me. I initially thought the Defense was transposing Delia's actions/activities onto Eula, in death, for the defense of her brother. But if that wasn't the case, what a gut punch for Will either way (and us reading on his behalf.)
History is always tougher to swallow in hindsight, because it happened, and shouldn't have. This story tackles the events of the era deftly and keeps the reader invested.
Longer read and requires a bingo card at the start of the recollections to keep track of the players but maintains a steady pace and delivers a quality story. Recommended.
Thanks for reading.
October 16, 2017
Uma história que mistura factos verídicos com ficção, muito bem alinhavada. Temos crimes violentos reais, perpetuados contra empregadas negras em Austin no ano de 1885 e em que o criminoso nunca foi encontrado. Aqui o autor dá uma resolução ficcionada dos crimes através do bem real escritor William Sidney Porter, "nom de plume" O. Henry, fazendo-o regressar a sua Austin 20 anos depois dos crimes enquanto ele vai se recordando dessa época em que ele assistiu terror e se envolveu (ficcional) com uma das vítimas. A parte hístorica, pelo o que pesquisei, está muito fiel aos acontecimentos e pessoas envolvidas, há um certo tom sarcástico que me fez sorrir e que adorei, pricipalmente o jornalista Dave Shoemaker. A história está bem encadeada entre as memórias do passado e o regresso a Austin no presente (1906), as personagens ficticias parecem mesmo pertencer aos acontecimentos. Um livro de mais de 500 páginas que se lê sem se dar por isso.
September 28, 2025
This book is more than a murder mystery. It’s a portrait of society at the time, with layers of racism, inequality, and unrest woven into the narrative. That dedication to historical detail feels genuine, even confronting, and it deserves respect.
Where it falters is pace. The story included quite a few tangents focusing on politics, romance, and social commentary. It distracts from the murders themselves and slowed the slow burn to a crawl. By the final chapters, it felt more like a theory on the crimes than a fully realised mystery.
The positives are strong characterisation, solid structure, and immersive historical grounding. Nothing is wrong with the writing, but it isn’t compelling. It’s a book I appreciate more for its craft and historical honesty than for the experience of reading it.
A slog in places, but not without merit.
Where it falters is pace. The story included quite a few tangents focusing on politics, romance, and social commentary. It distracts from the murders themselves and slowed the slow burn to a crawl. By the final chapters, it felt more like a theory on the crimes than a fully realised mystery.
The positives are strong characterisation, solid structure, and immersive historical grounding. Nothing is wrong with the writing, but it isn’t compelling. It’s a book I appreciate more for its craft and historical honesty than for the experience of reading it.
A slog in places, but not without merit.
January 26, 2026
It's 1885 and William Sydney Porter is in Austin, Texas, which is being terrorized by the serial killings of young servant women. Twenty years later, the murders remain unsolved. But one day Porter, now in New York and famous as the writer O. Henry, gets a visitor who says Porter can learn who killed the women -- if he returns to Texas. That's the plot of Steven Saylor's well-researched if slightly overlong historical novel, "A Twist at the End" (2000). Porter is a bit of a mope, there's a lot of detail and some may find that the book's pledge of a surprise finish in the style of O. Henry's best stories underdelivers. But Saylor really captures Austin's rowdy time and place, including its inhabitants and the gruesome murders, which actually happened. All in all, pretty impressive. I liked it.
July 8, 2025
A historical novel surrounding a series of unsolved murders during the time that William Porter lived in Austin. The story itself hews close to the historical record while weaving a tale that involves Porter.
An interesting period piece of Austin as well for folks who are familiar with the area. Some of the places mentioned are still around, such as Scholz beer garten and the Formosa estate. And the city maintains a house on 6th Street in which Porter lived for two years.
The culprit is identifiable early on so the twist was lost on me, but the characters were engaging and the story moved along nicely. IRL, the murders were never solved.
An interesting period piece of Austin as well for folks who are familiar with the area. Some of the places mentioned are still around, such as Scholz beer garten and the Formosa estate. And the city maintains a house on 6th Street in which Porter lived for two years.
The culprit is identifiable early on so the twist was lost on me, but the characters were engaging and the story moved along nicely. IRL, the murders were never solved.
June 9, 2022
Part of this novel is historical, but I think the author has taken liberty to put O. Henry into the history. Willam Sydney Porter did spend time in Texas during the time of the Servant Girl Murders, involving him with characters who had connections with the murders. When he leaves Texas and goes to New York City, the murders are not solved. However, he is lured back to Texas to learn the mystery of the murders. And, yes, there is a twist at the end. It is quite the story.
August 24, 2020
I'll start by saying that this isn't typically my chosen genre, but it was recommended to me by a native Austinite that thought I might enjoy the references.
It was slightly difficult to get through the first quarter or so, but as a stubborn reader, I continued on and I'm glad I did! An eighteenth century version of "Crash" where everyone quickly becomes related.
It was slightly difficult to get through the first quarter or so, but as a stubborn reader, I continued on and I'm glad I did! An eighteenth century version of "Crash" where everyone quickly becomes related.
July 9, 2021
A very interesting tale about a series of actual murders which occurred in Austin in 1885/86 and remain unsolved to this day. The writer with the pen name O Henry actually lived in Austin at the time.......Saylor constructs a tale as to the the possible murderers based upon the actual details of the case.
October 16, 2021
I have read all of, and thoroughly enjoyed Steven Saylor's books. This was no exception. My reason for the 4 stars instead of 5 is simply that I found some of the back and forth for the storyline, a little confusing. Some of the names were similar, which I found muddling. That said, I would recommend it, the story was great and a satisfying ending.
July 10, 2018
A well written historical fiction tale that weaves real-life intrigue with colorful characters! And as promised, delivers a solid twist at the end. Some parts felt oddly and perhaps unnecessarily sexualized.
July 15, 2024
I was hooked as soon as I started this book. It is about the servant girl murders in Austin Texas in 1865. This was a great book that ended too quickly. It was my time reading anything by this author.
January 15, 2019
I'm crazy about Steven Saylor. I loved all his books set in the Roman Empire, but this one, set in 19th-century Austin, slipped by me somehow. I'm so glad I found it.
September 7, 2021
I really enjoyed the historical aspect of this one.
September 20, 2022
I loved this book. Perfect mix of drama, horror, and romance. My only reason for rating it a 4 instead of a 5 was because the ending was drawn out a bit and hard to get through.
June 5, 2015
Review title: Historical fiction mashup of O. Henry and unsolved serial killings
Who knew that O. Henry was actually a sometime bank-clerk and self-educated doodler from Austin, Texas named William Sydney Porter, who was accused of embezzling form his employer and fled to Honduras to avoid trial, leaving behind a young daughter and a dying wife? I sure didn't before picking up Saylor's historical fiction, which links Porter to another set of little-known historical facts--a series of unsolved murders (Porter dubbed the unknown assailants "the Servant Girl Annihilators") in Austin that predated the Ripper killings in London, wrre similarly bold and bloody, and remain just as unsolved even though mostly forgotten.
The link and the eventually revealed protaganists are fictional, of course, although Saylor claims plausible given the evidence--and who can argue unless they've seen the research he amassed (he does provide a brief afterword with some source information). One key piece of historical data Saylor cites is that after returning to the US (to be with his wife as she passed away) to face his trial and conviction for embezzling, Porter steadfastly insisted on his innocence but refused to explain it or provide evidence.
Saylor supposes that revealing that knowledge would unravel other mysteries in Porter's life that would have wrecked his assumed life as a popular writer of short stories with twisted endings. But Saylor's mystery, while interesting enough to pass the time, really isn't deep enough to justify the secret, so this story is ultimately just OK and no better.Who knew that O. Henry was actually a sometime bank-clerk and self-educated doodler from Austin, Texas named William Sydney Porter, who was accused of embezzling form his employer and fled to Honduras to avoid trial, leaving behind a young daughter and a dying wife? I sure didn't before picking up Saylor's historical fiction, which links Porter to another set of little-known historical facts--a series of unsolved murders (Porter dubbed the unknown assailants "the Servant Girl Annihilators") in Austin that predated the Ripper killings in London, were similarly bold and bloody, and remain just as unsolved even though mostly forgotten.
The link and the eventually revealed protagonists are fictional, of course, although Saylor claims plausible given the evidence--and who can argue unless they've seen the research he amassed (he does provide a brief afterword with some source information). One key piece of historical data Saylor cites is that after returning to the US (to be with his wife as she passed away) to face his trial and conviction for embezzling, Porter steadfastly insisted on his innocence but refused to explain it or provide evidence.
Saylor supposes that revealing that knowledge would unravel other mysteries in Porter's life that would have wrecked his assumed life as a popular writer of short stories with twisted endings. But Saylor's mystery, while interesting enough to pass the time, really isn't deep enough to justify the secret, so this story is ultimately just OK and no better.
Who knew that O. Henry was actually a sometime bank-clerk and self-educated doodler from Austin, Texas named William Sydney Porter, who was accused of embezzling form his employer and fled to Honduras to avoid trial, leaving behind a young daughter and a dying wife? I sure didn't before picking up Saylor's historical fiction, which links Porter to another set of little-known historical facts--a series of unsolved murders (Porter dubbed the unknown assailants "the Servant Girl Annihilators") in Austin that predated the Ripper killings in London, wrre similarly bold and bloody, and remain just as unsolved even though mostly forgotten.
The link and the eventually revealed protaganists are fictional, of course, although Saylor claims plausible given the evidence--and who can argue unless they've seen the research he amassed (he does provide a brief afterword with some source information). One key piece of historical data Saylor cites is that after returning to the US (to be with his wife as she passed away) to face his trial and conviction for embezzling, Porter steadfastly insisted on his innocence but refused to explain it or provide evidence.
Saylor supposes that revealing that knowledge would unravel other mysteries in Porter's life that would have wrecked his assumed life as a popular writer of short stories with twisted endings. But Saylor's mystery, while interesting enough to pass the time, really isn't deep enough to justify the secret, so this story is ultimately just OK and no better.Who knew that O. Henry was actually a sometime bank-clerk and self-educated doodler from Austin, Texas named William Sydney Porter, who was accused of embezzling form his employer and fled to Honduras to avoid trial, leaving behind a young daughter and a dying wife? I sure didn't before picking up Saylor's historical fiction, which links Porter to another set of little-known historical facts--a series of unsolved murders (Porter dubbed the unknown assailants "the Servant Girl Annihilators") in Austin that predated the Ripper killings in London, were similarly bold and bloody, and remain just as unsolved even though mostly forgotten.
The link and the eventually revealed protagonists are fictional, of course, although Saylor claims plausible given the evidence--and who can argue unless they've seen the research he amassed (he does provide a brief afterword with some source information). One key piece of historical data Saylor cites is that after returning to the US (to be with his wife as she passed away) to face his trial and conviction for embezzling, Porter steadfastly insisted on his innocence but refused to explain it or provide evidence.
Saylor supposes that revealing that knowledge would unravel other mysteries in Porter's life that would have wrecked his assumed life as a popular writer of short stories with twisted endings. But Saylor's mystery, while interesting enough to pass the time, really isn't deep enough to justify the secret, so this story is ultimately just OK and no better.
January 16, 2013
Originally published on my blog here in February 2002.
William Porter, better known as writer O. Henry, had a secret past which only came to light with his early death at the height of his fame. As a young man, he lived in the city of Austin, Texas, at a time when the state was moving away from its earlier Wild West lawlessness. There, he had embezzled money from the bank where he worked, and had run away to the Honduras, a country with which the US had no extradition treaty and which became the basis of Anchuria in Cabbages and Kings. When he was informed that his wife was dying from consumption, he returned, and after her death served a prison term. Even after he became successful, it is thought that he was the victim of a blackmailer, though it is not quite clear whether this was connected to his jail sentence (he was certainly afraid that revelation of his past would destroy his popularity) or whether some other secret was involved.
What Saylor has done is connect Porter's early life with a serial killing in Austin in the 1880s, while he was there, a sequence of horrific murders to rival Jack the Ripper's more famous Whitechapel killings at about the same time. Austin's police force used an investigation method which basically consisted of finding some black man with a connection to the victim, and asserting his guilt, something which even at the time began to cause something of a scandal. The obvious parallels with cases like that of Rodney King show that American law enforcement has not, however, advanced as much as might be hoped. (And the UK is hardly perfect, with the Guildford Four and Birmingham Six only relatively recently being officially exonerated.)
Many of the characters in Saylor's novel are real people; several of the ideas, including his solution to the mystery and, I suspect though he doesn't actually say, the mechanism of Porter's connection to it are fictional. Saylor's earlier Roman novels show that he is an expert in blending fact and fiction, a necessary quality in any successful historical novelist. Moving out of his familiar background while still remaining successful was quite a steep challenge (the work involved in research alone is not negligible), and so Saylor has shown considerable versatility.
Honour the Dead is a long novel, much longer than most of the Gordianus series, and it doesn't consistently hold the reader's interest. The case itself is fascinating, if repellent, and Saylor's conclusion feels satisfying once it is reached, but I never had any desire to read more than two or three chapters at a sitting. Good, but not Saylor's best.
William Porter, better known as writer O. Henry, had a secret past which only came to light with his early death at the height of his fame. As a young man, he lived in the city of Austin, Texas, at a time when the state was moving away from its earlier Wild West lawlessness. There, he had embezzled money from the bank where he worked, and had run away to the Honduras, a country with which the US had no extradition treaty and which became the basis of Anchuria in Cabbages and Kings. When he was informed that his wife was dying from consumption, he returned, and after her death served a prison term. Even after he became successful, it is thought that he was the victim of a blackmailer, though it is not quite clear whether this was connected to his jail sentence (he was certainly afraid that revelation of his past would destroy his popularity) or whether some other secret was involved.
What Saylor has done is connect Porter's early life with a serial killing in Austin in the 1880s, while he was there, a sequence of horrific murders to rival Jack the Ripper's more famous Whitechapel killings at about the same time. Austin's police force used an investigation method which basically consisted of finding some black man with a connection to the victim, and asserting his guilt, something which even at the time began to cause something of a scandal. The obvious parallels with cases like that of Rodney King show that American law enforcement has not, however, advanced as much as might be hoped. (And the UK is hardly perfect, with the Guildford Four and Birmingham Six only relatively recently being officially exonerated.)
Many of the characters in Saylor's novel are real people; several of the ideas, including his solution to the mystery and, I suspect though he doesn't actually say, the mechanism of Porter's connection to it are fictional. Saylor's earlier Roman novels show that he is an expert in blending fact and fiction, a necessary quality in any successful historical novelist. Moving out of his familiar background while still remaining successful was quite a steep challenge (the work involved in research alone is not negligible), and so Saylor has shown considerable versatility.
Honour the Dead is a long novel, much longer than most of the Gordianus series, and it doesn't consistently hold the reader's interest. The case itself is fascinating, if repellent, and Saylor's conclusion feels satisfying once it is reached, but I never had any desire to read more than two or three chapters at a sitting. Good, but not Saylor's best.
October 15, 2012
ISBN 0684856816 - When I picked up a copy of this book, it was with the hope of selling it for a reasonable price. Usually, I curse the (insert bad word)s who ruin book prices by selling for a penny. In this case, I thank them! Unable to sell it, I thought I'd read it and am glad I did.
Will Porter was living in Texas when one of America's earliest serial killers started killing. At first, the murders were of blacks, and the city seemed to care little about the loss of life. Porter's interest is at least in part because he is close friends with Dave Shoemaker, who covers the story for the papers. When the killings eventually take two white women in one night - including Porter's one love - the manhunt becomes more serious.
At the same time, the author tells the story of O. Henry - the name under which Will Porter writes, years later, in New York. He is being blackmailed, although who and why are not revealed; he is being hounded by editors that he's promised articles to, and he hasn't got them written. When he is approached by a man who claims to be a friend of a friend, when the man claims that their mutual friend has the answer to who the Servant Girl Annihilator was... Porter sheds O. Henry to go back to Texas for the answer.
While I'm glad I read this book, it's not because it's a great book. It's a good book, with an interesting fictional story that twines together two true stories. That twining together simply muddies up the line between fiction and reality and I think it did a disservice to both stories. Still, the book is well-written, manages to present some possible answers to unanswered questions and gives Porter a nice, clean reason for his embezzlement (which isn't a newly suggested reason, it's just more fleshed-out). I can't help but wonder how the descendants of Grooms Lee, a buffoon in both history and historical fiction, and Eula Phillips, painted a whore here at least, feel about the book. I found myself annoyed that Saylor had Elisabet Ney speaking like Yoda, but that's a small thing. I'd read something else from Saylor, if it was either fiction or non-fiction, but there's something in his style with historical fiction that I won't be seeking out again any time soon.
- AnnaLovesBooks
Will Porter was living in Texas when one of America's earliest serial killers started killing. At first, the murders were of blacks, and the city seemed to care little about the loss of life. Porter's interest is at least in part because he is close friends with Dave Shoemaker, who covers the story for the papers. When the killings eventually take two white women in one night - including Porter's one love - the manhunt becomes more serious.
At the same time, the author tells the story of O. Henry - the name under which Will Porter writes, years later, in New York. He is being blackmailed, although who and why are not revealed; he is being hounded by editors that he's promised articles to, and he hasn't got them written. When he is approached by a man who claims to be a friend of a friend, when the man claims that their mutual friend has the answer to who the Servant Girl Annihilator was... Porter sheds O. Henry to go back to Texas for the answer.
While I'm glad I read this book, it's not because it's a great book. It's a good book, with an interesting fictional story that twines together two true stories. That twining together simply muddies up the line between fiction and reality and I think it did a disservice to both stories. Still, the book is well-written, manages to present some possible answers to unanswered questions and gives Porter a nice, clean reason for his embezzlement (which isn't a newly suggested reason, it's just more fleshed-out). I can't help but wonder how the descendants of Grooms Lee, a buffoon in both history and historical fiction, and Eula Phillips, painted a whore here at least, feel about the book. I found myself annoyed that Saylor had Elisabet Ney speaking like Yoda, but that's a small thing. I'd read something else from Saylor, if it was either fiction or non-fiction, but there's something in his style with historical fiction that I won't be seeking out again any time soon.
- AnnaLovesBooks
January 18, 2011
At first, I couldn't really get into this book and just kept reading it because I am stubborn. But in the end, I did like it. This book just had more melancholy than usual for Saylor's books, so it wasn't completely a "fun" read. Also, since I enjoy Saylor's Roman mysteries so much, I may have not connected with the much different time/place setting of this book. If you enjoy trying to figure out a mystery before the solution is revealed at the end, this book may not be for you. It is fairly obvious at the outset who is beyond the gruesome killings, but the why and how is not so obvious and becomes the big reveal. However, Saylor is very good at taking historical figures and events and weaving them into an interesting story, so on that basis alone, I would recommend this book and his other mysteries.
August 25, 2012
I've never considered myself a fan of the mystery genre. Books, movies, TV shows, never much cared for them. I hunted down a copy of "A Twist at the End" because it's one of the very few books written about or around the "servant girl annihilator" murders. Victorian era serial killers are a secret passion of mine. Anyway, right off the top I was taken in by Saylor's style and rapturous storytelling. Lots of characters and many parallel and overlapping sub-plots aren't enough to slow this book down and the reader steamrolls into the climactic courtroom scene salivating for more. my only complaint is regarding the final "twist". I found it a little too Hollywood-esque, especially after all the painstakingly researched period thrills.
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