Returning to the decaying American town of North Bath, ten years after the events of Nobody's Fool, Sully only has a year left to live, and police chief Raymer is obsessing over the man his wife was about to run off with before she died. Add a funeral, an escaped cobra, and a lot of beer, and you have a novel that is pure pleasure to read - funny, heartfelt, and imbued with warmth and wisdom.