The "New York Times" bestselling author of the Inspector Montalbano series brings us back to Vigata in the nineteenth century for a rip-roaring comic novel.
1870s Sicily. Much to the displeasure of Vigata s stubborn populace, the town has just been unified under the Kingdom of Italy. They re now in the hands of a new government they don t understand, and they definitely don t like. Eugenio Bortuzzi has been named Prefect for Vigata, a regional representative from the Italian government to oversee the town. But the rowdy and unruly Sicilians don t care much for this rather pompous mainlander nor the mediocre opera he s hell-bent on producing in their new municipal theater. "The Brewer of Preston," it s called, and the Vigatese are revving up to wreak havoc on the performance s opening night."