Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

CHAPTERS 1-7

Reading Check

1. Jim Williams’s Christmas party (Chapter 1)

2. “[T]heir love of money and their unwillingness to spend it” (Chapter 1)

3. Nazi Germany (Chapter 1)

4. “[T]he squares” (Chapter 2)

5. Bonaventure Cemetery (Chapter 2)

6. “[L]ike bugs in a jar” (Chapter 5)

Short Answer

1. Jim Williams is an antique businessman who lives in the infamous Mercer House. He was one of the “bachelor” men recruited to help with the revitalization of downtown Savannah by buying, restoring, and selling homes in the area. (Chapter 1)

2. Berendt learns the importance of Savannah’s history, which has been at the forefront of several inventions and notable historical events in the 18th and 19th centuries, including its nonviolent desegregation movement during the 1960s. (Chapter 3)

3. Joe Odom is Berendt’s neighbor, and Mandy is Joe’s “fourth wife-in-waiting.” They invite Berendt to their house after asking for some ice for the party. They teach him the following three rules of Savannah: “Rule number one: Always stick around for one more drink,” “Rule number two: Never go south of Gaston Street,” and “Rule number three: Observe the high holidays—Saint Patrick’s Day and the day of the Georgia-Florida football game.” (Chapter 3)

4. Luther, the inventor of the flea collar, and Serena, a wealthy widow, are both Savannah residents with notable eccentricities. Berendt spends time with the pair going from club to club as Luther tests fluorescent dye on goldfish. (Chapter 5)

5. Emma Kelly is a Savannah staple who is referred to as the “Lady of Six Thousand Songs” due to her popularity as a piano player through southern Georgia. After driving became too difficult, she opened a piano bar with Joe called “Emma’s.” She continues to play piano at various venues, including churches, throughout the Georgia area. (Chapter 6)

6. Lady Chablis is an African American transwoman who works as a drag queen in Savannah. Chablis reveals to Berendt the anti-trans comments she experiences in her transitioning, including death threats, harassment, discrimination, and racist remarks. (Chapter 7)

CHAPTERS 8-14

Reading Check

1. He hits her. (Chapter 9)

2. Because he was Jewish (Chapter 10)

3. Lady Chablis (Chapter 11)

4. Self-defense (Chapter 12)

5. For writing bad checks (Chapter 13)

Short Answer

1. Since meeting with Berendt in the previous section, Joe Odom has been evicted from his home on Berendt’s street and is squatting at another house in Savannah with Mandy, while still inviting guests to visit the house to make money. (Chapter 8)

2. Adler supported the Historic Savannah Foundation, which would save old homes from demolition and sell to renovators. He then turned his attention to a new project, Savannah Landmark Rehabilitation Project, which focused on restoring low-income, working-class neighborhoods—such as the Victorian districts—without gentrifying them. This is Adler’s purpose in his upcoming visit to Prince Charles of the UK. (Chapter 10)

3. Berendt is invited to one of the Married Woman’s Card Club events where he learns information contrary to Adler’s representation of events: Adler was thrown out of the Foundation, and the creation of the project was done as an “ego trip,” which is ultimately “segregation all over again.” (Chapter 10)

4. Despite cautioning from his circle, Williams decides to hold his annual Christmas party, with most of Savannah society, including Berendt, in attendance. He overhears conversations related to romance, sexual experiences, death by suicide, and violence, all of which are told in a lackadaisical and jovial manner; however, the tone changes when he hears investigators found evidence that negated the self-defense argument, and that Williams would still most likely be found innocent due to his connections. (Chapter 14)

CHAPTERS 15-21

Reading Check

1. Individuals who identify as LGBTQI+ (referred to as “Homosexuals” in the text) (Chapter 15)

2. “Political” (Chapter 16)

3. A planned murder (Chapter 16)

4. “Dead time lasts for one hour—from half an hour before midnight to half an hour after midnight. The half hour before midnight is for doin’ good. The half hour after midnight is for doin’ evil.” (Chapter 18)

5. The “dead Yankee” (Union soldier) symbolizes “what could happen to any Yankee […] who comes down here and gets folks all riled up.” (Chapter 19)

6. Minerva (Chapter 21)

Short Answer

1. The district attorney (i.e., the prosecutor) of the Williams case is Spencer Lawton, who, although from a well-regarded Savannahian family, has a reputation for being soft-spoken and ill-suited to the job. The defense team representing Williams comprises of out-of-town lawyer Bobby Lee Cook and John Wright Jones, who recently won a case against Lawton. (Chapter 15)

2. Lawton invites George Hill, a friend of Danny’s, to the stand to testify that Williams paid Danny for sexual acts. This information is contrary to what Williams insisted and reflects negatively on his character, since Savannahians are not supportive of public reflections of LGBTQI+ relationships. (Chapter 16)

3. Initially, the jury finds Williams guilty of murder, and he is sentenced to life in prison; however, he is released on a bond of $200,000. The court reverses the judgment and calls for a new trial after determining that a piece of evidence (i.e., a bullet hole) was incorrectly presented and amounted to “prosecutorial misconduct.” (Chapter 17)

4. Minerva tells Williams that he must truly forgive Danny for what he did to Williams. Although Williams initially agrees, he tells Berendt later that he will not forgive him because “Danny was nothing but a would-be murderer.” (Chapter 18)

5. Sonny is the new lawyer that Williams hired for his retrial. He is a UGA fan and owns the bulldog mascot. The previous tactic involved avoiding the subject of Williams’s sexual orientation, but Sonny’s approach involves addressing it in the trial and ensuring that all the jurors are not prejudiced against gay men. (Chapter 20)

6. The jury determines three hours later that Williams is guilty of murder with a sentence of life in prison. Minerva is still confident that her Voodoo has worked against Lawton and believes that Delia’s spirit will come after him. (Chapter 21)

CHAPTERS 22-30

Reading Check

1. “[R]unning his antiques business” (Chapter 22)

2. “The girls with the light skin are the ones the successful black men are gonna marry.” (Chapter 24)

3. Savannah is the murder capital of the US. (Chapter 25)

4. Danny’s hands were not bagged at the crime scene. (Chapter 25)

5. His body was found in the “very spot he would have fallen eight years earlier, if Danny Hansford had actually fired a gun and the shots had found their mark.” (Chapter 29)

Short Answer

1. “The pod” was a special jail cell at the Chatham County Jail “for homosexuals and the mentally unstable.” They were put there “for their own safety.” (Chapter 22)

2. To thank members of the Savannah community for being supportive of her son, Mrs. Williams hosts a luncheon at Mercer House with the help of her son, who coordinates the event from jail. The guests attempt to maintain a jovial and lighthearted mood at the luncheon to counteract recent news of two more witnesses added to the trial. (Chapter 23)

3. Berendt learns of the Alpha Phi Alpha debutante ball for African American girls in Savannah. Initially turning down Lady Chablis’s request to accompany him, Berendt is surprised to see her there, flirting with young men and remarking on the realities of debutante life, particularly the inner hierarchies among African American communities in regards to skin color. (Chapter 24)

4. Williams plans to convince the jury of why there was no gunshot residue on Danny’s hands by telling them the truth about what happened: When Danny tried to shoot the gun that night, the safety was on, allowing Williams enough time to retrieve his own gun and shoot Danny. After the initial shots, Williams panicked and tried to make it look like Danny shot as well. Berendt is unsure if this information will persuade the jury. (Chapter 25)

5. After the third trial is ruled a mistrial, the fourth trial is relocated to Augusta, Georgia, where Williams is not well-known in the community. The trial goes smoothly, and Williams is found not guilty. (Chapter 28)