The Gladesman

This is the third installment in the "Tropical Frontier" series. The Gladesman, a disgusting, vile swamp dweller comes to Port Starboard - a tiny settlement on the northwest shore of 1880's Lake Worth - and everything goes downhill from there. Because of him, however, the residents discover that Maggie Hooker, a black woman and the town's shopkeeper/postmistress, is the glue that holds the community together (yes, there was a black postmistress on Lake Worth, Fannie James, during that period).