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A Twist at the End

3.74 of 5 stars 3.74 · rating details · 240 ratings · 29 reviews

In an artful blending of history, literature, and vivid imagination, author Steven Saylor has crafted a novel that, much as Caleb Carr's bestselling "The Alienist," combines real characters and true crime into a story that is 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...more In an artful blending of history, literature, and vivid imagination, author Steven Saylor has crafted a novel that, much as Caleb Carr's bestselling "The Alienist," combines real characters and true crime into a story that is 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 famous as O. Henry, the toast of New York and the most celebrated writer in America. The long-ago Texas killings, which he dubbed the work of the Servant Girl Annihilators -- perhaps the first recorded serial murders in America -- would remain unsolved. But the appearance of a merciless blackmailer and a mysterious stranger would draw Porter back into the past, and back to Texas, to confront the stunning 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. The authorities were baffled. The murders continued, month after month, until suddenly, shockingly, the pattern changed. On a bloody Christmas Eve, two women -- neither of them Black and neither of them servants -- were horribly murdered, seemingly by the same vicious stalker. One of them was Eula Phillips. Her death was to be a defining event inthe life of the young man who would one day become O. Henry. The trial that resulted -- uncovering one explosive scandal after another -- would tear the city of Austin apart.

The capitol of Texas was a city in uneasy transition. Only a few years earlier, outlaw gangs and Comanche Indians had roamed the hills where now stood the 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 high-class prostitutes of Guy Town, the city's notorious vice district. Southern traditions of manners and decorum concealed ugly secrets, all of which would be revealed before the saga of the Servant Girl Annihilators reached its end.

Against this remarkably rich background, Steven Saylor, author of the acclaimed "Roma Sub Rosa" series, 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. 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 riveting, 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.(less)

Hardcover, 464 pages

Published April 5th 2000 by Simon & Schuster (first published 2000)

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Jan 31, 2013 Stevedutch rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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 socie...more 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.
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Jan 16, 2013 Smcleish rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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...more 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. (less)

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Oct 15, 2012 Anna Ligtenberg rated it 4 of 5 stars

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...more 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 (less)

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May 14, 2007 Tiffany rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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.

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Jan 18, 2011 Marie rated it 3 of 5 stars

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 obv...more

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May 15, 2008 SingingSparrow rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: no one

Recommended to SingingSparrow by: referred to after reading authors other novel

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.

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Jun 29, 2007 Captain Curmudgeon rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, mystery

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.

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Aug 24, 2012 Byron rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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 do...more

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Dec 02, 2010 George rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: dtb-only

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 ci...more

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Apr 28, 2013 Kelley Hazen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction

This a fine book. Very engaging. Particularly if you like unsolved crime and courtroom scenes encased in the Ol West of Texas. A fictional (?) look at the life and early times of O. Henry. My sophomore English teacher DR Smith taught me to look for 'universalities' and this book is full of them. Saylor weaves a very specific, graphic and luxurious web of color, sight, sound and emotion. Good story, good characters. I enjoyed it. A TWIST AT THE END is an entertaining read. ( Although I did guess...more

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Sep 03, 2009 Librarian40 rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I'm loving this because it is largely set in early Texas...and I know pretty much all the settings, and most of the people. I absolutely adore Saylor's Roma Sub Rosa series, and was floored to discover that he'd written a novel featuring Elisabet Ney, a "Texas" sculptor who was buds with Crazy King Ludwig of Bavaria, among others. Like his Romas series better, but definitely enjoying this one.

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Jan 15, 2009 Cheryl rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The slow pace of this book was a little annoying, but I did want to finish it to see if my prediction of who did the murders was correct. If you are an O Henry fan, you will enjoy this book. An enjoyable aspect of this book is that it's based on true facts surrounding the unsolved murders in Austin, TX during the late 1800's - the time in which O Henry resided there.

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Jan 30, 2010 Celeste rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book is interesting because the story is set in Austin, Texas. It's also about O. Henry. It's set in the 1800s, and includes a murder mystery. All those factors make this an good read.

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Apr 19, 2013 Kimberly rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

LOVE this book!!! It's a tad bit slow in the beginning, but picks up quickly and never slows back down! The correlation of the killer/s in Austin and Jack the Ripper...AMAZING!

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Aug 23, 2012 Pam Sawyer rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book will have you on the edge of seat through the last page! Ver interesting tale that haunts you long after you've put the book down.

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Feb 12, 2011 Shannon rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Riveting page-turner, though a little gruesome in spots. A LOT of characters to keep up with, so keep a pen and paper handy and make notes!

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Apr 28, 2009 Sandy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book is based in Austin and it is very interesting to see how the area was then vs now.

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Mar 04, 2011 Bianca rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Is there a button called "not finished, never will"? 100 pages in, I couldn't get into this one. Sorry, Shannon, maybe next time!

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Apr 09, 2013 Martha rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Love a book that is based on historical facts and this one did not disappoint Had to immediately look up some of the facts in this book. Lots of Austin Tx history... love books that make you want to learn more about the subject..

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Jan 10, 2011 Jan Pelosi rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Every native Austinite should read this

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Jan 31, 2010 Ardys rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Pretty gruesome. Probably falls into the "regret I read" category.

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Oct 21, 2009 Beckie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Great story, even if some of it did seem a bit extraneous. The story is a fictional account of an actual serial murder that occurred in Austin in the mid-1880s. A murder that seems to have faded into the background and is not well-known. Mr. Saylor blends fact and fiction in an interesting way and gives a breakdown of fact and fiction at the end of the book. Nicely done, and a great look at a piece of Austin's history and characters.

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Jul 30, 2008 Annette added it · review of another edition

Shelves: own

I really enjoyed this book probably only because it is a fictional account of murders that occurred in Austin in the 1890s. It was a blast following the book and knowing exactly the places described.

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Mar 28, 2007 stephen rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: people in Austin

not a bad book but not great. i read it b/c it takes place in Austin in the late 1800s and wanted to get a feel for the city at that time. from that angle, it does a very good job.

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May 08, 2012 Brad Harju rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Great historical/mystery/fiction!

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Jun 23, 2010 David rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I really enjoyed this book. I was very good and I think got even greater over the last 100 pages. Saylor made all the supporting characters as interesting as our hero O. Henry.

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Oct 07, 2010 Nancy Barnard rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A historical fiction book about the Servant Girl Annihilator murders in Austin, Texas and the writer O.Henry. Definitely worth reading for my fellow Austinites!

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Jul 04, 2012 Sunny rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I really couldn't finish it. Loved the idea, not the execution.

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Feb 03, 2008 Ashley rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-pre-2007

This was a great book for those from Austin.

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Jun 06, 2013 Michael rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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About Steven Saylor

Steven 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 classi...more

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Books by Steven Saylor

Roma: The Novel of Ancient Rome (Roma #1)

A Murder on the Appian Way (Roma Sub Rosa, #5)

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