The Brewer of Preston

1870s Sicily. Much to the displeasure of Vigàta's stubborn populace, the town has just been unified under the Kingdom of Italy. They're now in the hands of a new government that they don't understand, and they definitely don't like.
Eugenio Bortuzzi has been named prefect for Vigàta, a regional representative from the Italian government tasked to oversee the town. But the rowdy and unruly Sicilians don't care much for this rather pompous mainlander, nor for the mediocre opera he's hell-bent on producing in their new municipal theatre. The Brewer of Preston, it's called, and the Vigàtese are gearing up to wreak havoc on the performance's opening night . . .
'For sunny views, explosive characters and a snappy plot constructed with great farcical ingenuity, the writer you want is Andrea Camilleri' New York Times