By MATTHEW HANSON, Mining Journal Correspondent

MARQUETTE – Matthew Williams’ mystery “Superior Death” may represent a bit of a departure for fans of the genre, and it’s all by design.

While many mystery writers, such as the acclaimed James Lee Burke, use

extensive scene description to back a story, Williams instead offers sparse accounts of settings, instead choosing to let the reader fill in the blanks.

“That was intentional,” Williams said. “I’m not a big fan of paragraph after paragraph of scene description. I wanted to keep the story moving along.

“I think that’s one reason why I the fictional setting worked: I didn’t have to spend lots of time describing an actual place. It allows the reader to paint their own picture when I leave out descriptions.”

Williams confirmed that it is also a situation of form following function. That rapid-fire pace fit his background as a reporter, but also met the demands of the book’s word count stipulated by the publisher, Avalon Books.

“When you have to go back and eliminate work, the easiest thing for me to cut were the paragraphs of description,” he added. “I tend to skip them when I read, and I didn’t want to sacrifice the story.”

Burke is the pilot of the highly successful mystery series involving Dave Robicheaux, a fictional detective working in Louisiana’s Cajun Country.

The writer uses poetic accounts to describe conditions in bayou country, and goes long on colloquial names and regional dialect, another trend Williams chose to steer clear of.

“I didn’t want it to seem forced, mostly because I didn’t think I could do it since it’s not natural to me,” William said.

“I didn’t want to seem like I was stereotyping. While there is a regional dialect in the Upper Peninsula, there are plenty of people here who don’t talk that way.”