Return to the Scene of the Crime II

These days, publishers and authors are looking for any little extra that might help them to sell books. So it’s good news, but not surprising, that author John Williams should be promoting Back to the Badlands, the updated version of his 1993 literary travelogue, Into the Badlands, by making available on the Web the chapters from his original collection that didn’t make it into the new edition. Given the subtitle of Back to the Badlands--“Crime Writing in the USA”--you know pretty much right away what sort of contents these might be: profiles of Sara Paretsky and the late Eugene Izzi in their native Chicago, a visit with George V. Higgins in Boston, a swing through New Mexico to see Tony Hillerman, and more. In addition, Williams offers up interviews, including those with James Lee Burke, William McIlvanney, James Crumley, and James Sallis.

Williams, who since speaking with crime fictionists for the original Badlands, has penned his own contributions to the genre (including the “Welsh noir” novel Cardiff Dead [2000]), promises to post “other interviews I’ve done with crime (more or less) writers and reviews of their books. Some of the writers will be those included in one or other edition of the book, others are ones who for one reason or another I missed out [including]. Most of this material has appeared in newspapers and magazines over the years. Some of it is previously unpublished.”

Again, Williams’ site can be found here.