After Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
Jim Williams had it all: style, culture, charisma, and sophistication. As a premier antiques dealer in Savannah, he mingled with celebrities, including Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and the Rockefellers, who came to admire his extraordinary treasures. His legacy thrust Savannah into the national spotlight and transformed the genteel city into a tourist mecca.
But three decades of hard work came crashing down the night he shot Danny Hansford, his wild young lover. Jim Williams stood trial four times over the next decade for premeditated murder.
Today, tourists flock to Mercer House to see the gorgeous mansion depicted in Clint Eastwood's movie and the book from which it was made-Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil-where flamboyant designer and antiques dealer Jim Williams (Kevin Spacey) killed Danny Hansford (Jude Law). While the movie and book portrayed the natives of Savannah as remarkably decadent, exotic characters, they missed the surprising dark side of Jim Williams himself. He was a smooth predator whose crimes could have put him behind bars long before the death of Danny Hansford.
After Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is the newly revised and expanded version of the #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling true account of the crime, which includes crucial testimony recreating the courtroom drama between a gifted prosecutor and a brilliant defense attorney as they battle over the future of a self-made aristocrat. More than 40 photos and revealing insider interviews bring new life to the vivid cast of characters in this unique southern crime story.
Crimescape™ is a bestselling RosettaBooks collection of compelling, short nonfiction crime eBooks by the best true crime authors in the business. Taking readers into the dark heart of the criminal mind and the tense hunt to bring the perpetrators to justice, Crimescape™ authors stand apart from others because of their expertise in the field as police detectives, forensic professionals, criminal psychologists, and investigative reporters. As riveting storytellers, our authors bring readers unique insight into the murderous mind and some of the world's most mysterious and fascinating cases.
Marilyn Bardsley is the editor of RosettaBook's Crimescape® series and the former executive editor and founder of Time Warner's Crime Library, the premiere true crime site on the Internet. She has written extensively on true crime and is an expert on serial killers.
"What makes for a good true-crime story? Interesting characters, an engrossing plot, situations that often teeter between life and death. But here's the MacGuffin about true crime: What you're reading actually happened. Sometimes truth really is more compelling than fiction. And that's why you will enjoy reading Crimescape® true crime series."
-Paul Alexander, # 1 bestselling author of the Kindle Singles Accused and Murdered
"Finally! The real story of one of the most bizarre cases in modern crime history. Marilyn Bardsley has nailed it. The movie was Hollywood. The book was...a stretch. After Midnight is the unvarnished truth."
-Chuck Hustmyre, bestselling crime novelist and screenwriter, A Killer Like Me and House of the Rising Sun
