Book Review: A Twist At the End

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

A Twist At the End     Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
Steven Saylor
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Historical
Simon & Schuster, Apr 2000, $24.00, 464 pp.

In 1906, someone tries to blackmail William Sidney Porter for his role in the brutal murders of female servants of color two decades ago in Austin, Texas. Better known as O’Henry, the renowned author suffers nightmares while he sleeps and flashbacks to the vicious events of 1885 Austin.

Back than, the indifferent Austin authorities blamed a Negro, but the incarceration of the “culprit” failed to end the bloody murders. William, working at the General Land Office, dubs the murderer as the “Servant Girl Annihilator”. William wonders who the real identity of the killer is even as he debates with his office peers the merits of the Female Clerks Bill and dreams of spending time with the married Eula though Porter too is married.

A TWIST AT THE END is an interesting historical mystery based on a real but never identified serial killer stalking 1880’s Austin. The story line is filled with intriguing subplots and many interesting tidbits about the era. However, these never fully intertwine with the prime story line, leaving non-historians to ask why their inclusion is in the tale. The motives of the characters never fully develops as talented Steven Saylor’s novel is two togas short of his ancient Rome series and several pecks beneath the Mark Twain mysteries.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner

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