The Midnight Assassin

Starred review from December 14, 2015
Fans of Erik Larson’s Devil in the White City will relish this gripping and atmospheric account of a horrific series of murders in late 19th-century Texas that are largely obscure today, despite their fantastical elements and similarities to the Jack the Ripper butcheries. Texas Monthly editor Hollandsworth provides the definitive account of the killings that began on New Year’s Eve 1884, when someone attacked African-American cook Mollie Smith, stabbing her repeatedly and nearly splitting her head in two. With a novelist’s eye for detail, the author brings the reader inside the reign of terror that gripped Austin, Tex., as the killer “crisscrossed the entire city, striking on moonlit nights, using axes, knives, and long steel rods to rip apart women from every race and class.” Hollandsworth successfully conveys the horror of the crimes, the baffling lack of an obvious motive, the so-called Midnight Assassin’s almost supernatural ability to strike twice in less than an hour, and the ineffective official responses to the murders. This true crime page-turner is a balanced and insightful examination of one of the most stirring serial killing sprees in American history, and certainly one of the least well-known. Agent: David Hale Smith, Inkwell Management.

February 1, 2016
The true story of a serial killer in 1880s Austin, Texas. The tension is high throughout Texas Monthly executive editor Hollandsworth's first book. It's clear from the narrative polish that true crime is one of the author's fortes; he provides just the right amount of subtle hinting at a suspect and the accumulation of details left out until the perfect moment. The story may not be new, but it does seem to be forgotten. In 1885, before Jack the Ripper--whom Hollandsworth discusses throughout the book--ever wreaked havoc in London, a man (presumed) was attacking women in Austin. "For the first time on record," writes the author, "an American city was forced to confront a brilliant, brutal monster who for some unknown reason was driven to murder, in almost ritualistic fashion, one woman after another." Sometimes terrorizing without resorting to violence and sometimes brutally murdering the women with an ax, the culprit was never found. Plenty of black men were accused and even tried, but all were able to prove their innocence. The attacks stopped as suddenly as they started, and the city eventually moved on. First, though, they debated whether their killer had moved across the Atlantic and taken up residence in London, murdering prostitutes. With the ready-made comparison already echoing through the contemporary accounts, Hollandsworth uses it as well, a little too often. It doesn't quite pan out for readers who are familiar with the well-trod history of Jack the Ripper. Hollandsworth's theory about the killings is intriguing, and he subtly introduces it in such a way that it seems almost obvious that the killer has been pinpointed, but ultimately, there is no real resolution. Investigative techniques of the era couldn't compete with the killer, and there is no evidence left to double-check. Even with the benefit of hindsight, this is a mystery that remains such. Not entirely satisfying but an engaging true-crime tale nonetheless.

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February 1, 2016

Austin, TX, was evolving from a town to a city in 1885, with money flowing in and a bright future in sight. But that future was damaged by a series of brutal attacks that killed ten people--eight women (including two who were assaulted in nearby Gainesville), a child, and a man; the victims spanned race and social class. The police assumed it was the work of "bad blacks" and tried unsuccessfully to coerce confessions out of several men. Two of the victims' husbands fell under suspicion, but that went nowhere, and as the case dragged on without result many prominent Austin politicians saw their careers destroyed. The murderer (or murderers) terrorized the area for two-and-a-half years before disappearing without a trace, just months before similar crimes were committed in the Whitechapel district of London. Hollandsworth (executive editor, Texas Monthly) became fascinated by this nearly forgotten Austin story and searched through primary sources for clues that might have surfaced over the years, but the truth remains elusive. VERDICT The lively social history of a town on the brink combines with a riveting true crime story that will make this a favorite in regional history collections as well as true crime collections.--Deirdre Bray Root, MidPointe Lib. Syst., OH

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from May 1, 2016

Before Jack the Ripper mutilated prostitutes in the dark corners of London in the late 19th-century, Austin, TX, was besieged by a vicious killer whose victims were African American servants. He cut up women with an axe to the head and left them bloody in their beds. Husbands of the first three victims were arrested in succession, even though they had alibis and swore their innocence. Racism delayed justice for a year. Black men became so terrified of the police that they rubbed their feet and legs with asafoetida, a natural paste slaves had used when running away from their masters to throw off bloodhounds. Nicknamed "the midnight assassin," the murderer left an eyewitness, a nine-year-old boy who thought the man who killed his mother-the first victim-was white, but no one listened. Then on New Year's Eve, in 1885, two prominent white women were hacked to death within an hour of each other, and a wider search was undertaken. This is a painstakingly researched book written by a Texas native that examines prejudices, which still keep justice at bay.

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.