Jonathan Preen's uncle Perry came into this world a mystery. His unique anatomy left doctors scratching their heads as Perry grew into adulthood, using his differences to his advantage against the nasty creatures in the bayou. The townsfolk of Lockport, Louisiana wondered which the scarier monster was: the scaly, cold-blooded kind that wound up in their kiddy pools every summer, or the misshapen, warm-blooded one they called to fish them out. Jonathan just wanted to know where his uncle learned to play--not the violin like him--but that jangly old fiddle. Greater mysteries follow as Jonathan's trip to lay his uncle to rest turns into an extended stay. Far from his home in Chicago, Jonathan adapts to life in a small town on the edge of the Louisiana wilderness where he dodges the advances of overly-hospitable Southern belles, learns that the best music comes from the heart, and wonders if the songs he plays in the bayou will be his last as he confronts his late uncle's arch nemesis-a monstrous alligator known to the locals as Vaurien de Lafourche.