BOOK REPORT FINAL POSTER by Abbie Frye

Book title and Author

27akfrye — 2025-04-22 13:42:58 UTC

The Midnight Assassin

Skip Hollandsworth

Why did I choose to read this book?

27akfrye — 2025-04-22 13:43:33 UTC

I chose to read this book because I am very interested in murder mysteries. And the title intrigued me as well.

Who is the story focused on? Describe them.

27akfrye — 2025-04-22 13:44:00 UTC

The story isn't solely focused on one significant character, but the book spends most time on the character Eula Phillips. She was one of the most important victims because her case was the one that got the whole town roused up about the killer. It is also based on the killer but it doesn't go in depth about the killer because we don’t find out who it is, so they get clues about the killer from their victims.

What major events impacted the subject’s life?

27akfrye — 2025-04-22 13:46:39 UTC

A girlfriend was found outside with axe slashes all over her body and the boyfriend laying on the ground. There were speculations about what may have happened since it took place in a not very well known neighborhood. Due to segregation in the south there were a lot of allegations proclaiming that colored people had done the crime. Mollie (the victim) had an ex lover named Brooks, police had believed that he was the one who committed the crime due to Mollie having a new lover.

In the year 1885, Eula Phillips was murdered. She was a colored servant woman and her murder trial had caused a huge impact in the book because she was brought up with every other killings.

Arrest of James Phillip is another major event. This is a major event because the police were so desperate to find a suspect to keep the townspeople down that they had decided to concentrate on James. They did this due to James and Eula having a troubled marriage. They had put James on trial even though there was not enough evidence pointing towards his direction, but eventually he was released.

When does the story take place

27akfrye — 2025-04-22 13:47:27 UTC

The first part of this book takes place December 1884- April 1885 in austin texas. The culture/ society of this time period is very conservative and sadly very segregated since it's in the south. The book jumps back and forth between time periods, and they stay in the same time period throughout the whole book.

How did the time period impact the people, conflicts, plot, etc..?

27akfrye — 2025-04-22 13:47:57 UTC

This time period impacted the people with the conflicts, because it was in the 19th century so there was major segregation. At the beginning there were many people not caring about the murders but while it got more popular the killings started to rouse people up.

Where did the main action of the story take place?

27akfrye — 2025-04-22 13:48:17 UTC

The main action of the story took place in Austin, Texas. It stayed in this setting throughout the whole book.

How did the places impact the people, conflicts, plot, etc..?

27akfrye — 2025-04-22 13:48:39 UTC

The places impacted the people because Austin was very slow into becoming modernized. Meaning they had very little police force during this area. This did not benefit them because they had to get professionals all around the US because Austin didnt have that type of professional help quite yet.

What lesson/message did the author want the audience to take away after reading?

27akfrye — 2025-04-22 13:49:27 UTC

I think the author chose to write about this topic because all the time murders go unsolved, but this one was different. It was pretty much the first time a murder was this close to being unsolved. Also segregation is a pretty big topic in this book so another reason why he chose to write about this would be to bring attention to the topic and how awful it was during the time the book takes place.

How do I know?

27akfrye — 2025-04-22 13:49:42 UTC

I know this because he brings it up a lot just to bring awareness to it. He also highlights it by explaining the murders in depth and the purpose behind them.

How do I think the author’s personal and/or professional life impacted how, and why they wrote this book?

27akfrye — 2025-04-22 13:50:26 UTC

I think the author's personal and professional life was impacted because they felt like many people needed to hear this story. He most likely felt touched by the story and wanted to take action to it.

How did the author use ethos to develop the theme and purpose of this story?

27akfrye — 2025-04-22 13:51:28 UTC

He used ethos because he knew with the important people in the book such as professionals he could be better trusted with his writing since he used actual professionals from that time period.

How did the author use pathos to develop the theme and purpose of this story?

27akfrye — 2025-04-22 13:51:41 UTC

He used pathos because he used the murder of the families to really reach the emotions of the readers by saying and explaining the pain that the victims' families were going through.

How did the author use logos to develop the theme and purpose of this story?

27akfrye — 2025-04-22 13:51:55 UTC

The authors used logos to develop the theme and purpose of the story by using factual news articles from that time period that talked about the killings.

List one important quotation from the book that best summarizes the theme of the book.

27akfrye — 2025-04-22 13:52:28 UTC

“Every attempt he had made to stop the murders had backfired on him. If something didn’t change soon, he would go down in history as the mayor who presided over Austin’s downfall.”

Pg 175

List a song that best connects to the themes of this book.

27akfrye — 2025-04-22 13:52:57 UTC

“Midnight Rambler” - Rolling Stones

How does the song connect to the book?

27akfrye — 2025-04-22 13:53:13 UTC

Even though this song isnt directly about the midnight assassin it has the same dark tone as the book. This song fits with the book because the song is based off of an urban darkness and creeping feeling. It connects to the book because this feeling was what the townspeople had felt like during the murders.

27akfrye — 2025-04-22 14:01:06 UTC

27akfrye — 2025-04-22 14:01:22 UTC

This axe is what the murder had killed his victims with.

27akfrye — 2025-04-22 14:01:32 UTC

This is Eula Phillips she was the last victim and changed the way people saw the killings.

27akfrye — 2025-04-22 14:01:41 UTC

This is another photo of Eula Phillips and another victim.

27akfrye — 2025-04-22 14:01:50 UTC

This is Susan Glapswell and she had written the newspaper about the murders.

27akfrye — 2025-04-22 14:03:03 UTC

This is the song I was connecting to with the book.

27akfrye — 2025-04-22 14:05:34 UTC

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exMEuaYgRQM

27akfrye — 2025-04-22 14:06:49 UTC

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRot9IjNSso

27akfrye — 2025-04-22 16:49:44 UTC

Axe Clipart Images - Free Download on Freepik.

Capital Murder- Texas Monthly.

Eula Phillips: Final Victim of the 1885 Austin Murders.

Hollandsworth, Skip. The Midnight Assassin.

The Midnight Assasin.

The Rolling Stones - Midnight Rambler.

"The Rolling Stones - Midnight Rambler (Live) - OFFICIAL." YouTube, uploaded by The Rolling Stones, Google, 6 July 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRot9IjNSso. Accessed 22 Apr. 2025.

"Skip Hollandsworth and Chris Vognar Discuss 'Midnight Assassin.'" YouTube, uploaded by The Dallas Morning News, Google, 8 Apr. 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=exMEuaYgRQM. Accessed 22 Apr. 2025.

Susan Glaspell - Wikipedia.