In the last decade of the twentieth century in Suvrinia — a small, independent country situated between Greece and the former Yugoslavia — a priceless painting disappears from the Monte Venero monastery and arts academy. Was it taken by Lucia Bambolini, once-famous sex symbol of the Italian cinema, whose presence at the academy has not exactly been welcomed? Or was it Pussy Peebles, the rotund Irish orphan who holds a rather large grudge against the Catholic church? Or perhaps it was one of the other colorful denizens of this irreverent outpost. In this rollicking tale, a cast of eccentric, not-entirely-fictitious characters make finding the culprit—and sorting out the consequences—a page-turning, kaleidoscopic delight.