"Gracelia "Ace" Jones is a sassy high school teacher, known in her small town of Bugtussle, Mississippi, for an outsize presence and a mouth to match. But this time that big mouth might get her into big trouble.... Ace knows that something bad is brewing when her best friend and coworker, Lilly, cancels their annual spring break trip to be with a man--a man she's kept a secret for months. But the real trouble comes when Lilly is fired by their horrible principal--under suspicion of sleeping with a student, of all things. Ace and their mutual friend Chloe know they have to prove Lilly's innocence, a prospect as appealing to Ace as a side salad. Then Chloe lands in a crisis of her own when her aristocratic--and emotionally abusive--husband drives her toward the breaking point. At her wit's end, Ace intends to ruin his reputation while saving Lilly's. Meanwhile, a boyfriend from her past reappears, which gets her wondering if she's prepared for affection from someone other than her dog, chiweenie Buster Loo. For these three women, matters are going south on a grand scale--and Ace doesn't do well with scales"--