With his companion Polly in Paris, Qwill keeps himself occupied by writing an absurdist play called "The Cat Who Got Elected Dog Catcher." Meanwhile, things are spicing up in Pickax. Huge inheritances from old families are suddenly and mysteriously pouring in to town, but nobody is quite sure why. Except Koko, that is--and she's not telling. Then things get really interesting when one resident drops dead from an apparent bee sting. Can Qwill and his...

Fourteen-year-old Calogero Scalise and his Sicilian uncles and cousin live in small-town Louisiana in 1898, when Jim Crow laws rule and anti-immigration sentiment is strong, so despite his attempts to be polite and to follow American customs, disaster dogs his family at every turn.