A Twist at the End - first US edition

by Steven Saylor - signed

A young Will Porter (later to become O. Henry) falls in love with a married woman, while visiting Austin, TX in 1885. She was doomed to be a victim of the Servant Girl Annihilators, who began a string of the first recorded serial killings in America. The first victims were young Black women who worked in Austin's most prominent households. Then on Christmas Eve of 1885 the pattern changed and two white women of society were horribly murdered. One of them was the woman whom Porter loved. Her death became a defining moment in the life of this young man, who later became one of the most celebrated authors in America. Uncover one explosive scandal after another, as Saylor paints a vivid picture of life in the capital city of Texas in uneasy transition from Wild West to civilized, post-Civil War society, replete with politicians, cattle barons, Comanche Indians, Guy town - the notorious vice district, and newly emancipated Blacks, struggling for equality.

Book is olive boards with red cloth spine, stamped in gold. Jacket is also fine.