A New York Times Bestseller -- Everyone in Athena, Mississippi, knows Charlie Harris, the good-natured librarian who walks his rescued Maine coon cat, Diesel, on a leash. Godfrey Priest, famous author of gory bestsellers and Charlie"s former classmate, is the pride of Athena. Charlie remembers him as an arrogant jerk, and he"s not alone. Godfrey"s homecoming as a distinguished alumnus couldn"t possibly go worse: by lunch, he"s put a man in the hospital. By dinner, Godfrey"s dead.