Set in an unnamed town along a river, where every morning people wake up and may find a lampoon posted on their door, detailing the gossip of the town about themselves or someone else. The story starts with one man going and killing a young singer the lampoons claim is sleeping with his wife, but it isn't really about who's behind it, or why. It's about how people respond to the whole thing.
The country itself has undergone a shift in government, with likewise shifts in what's considered moral, acceptable, or legal. The mayor, who is just as often referred to as the lieutenant, was sent there to instill order by the current regime, and the town is still considered to be in siege, which grants him certain leeway. And that circumstance gradually emerges over the course of the book. Starting as a background detail and becoming more and more prominent with every comment the mayor makes about wanting to do things legally, while lining his own pockets.
The book doesn't have quite the languid sense of pace I get reading Marquez' other works. Possibly because he jumps between characters often, rather than staying focused on just one or two. It gives a feeling of rushing back and forth across town to make sure we don't miss something important. Which lends a certain suspense, since I wasn't sure at all how this story was going to go.
The mayor and the village priest are the two most prominent characters. Each of them is restless in certain ways. Each of them dismisses the lampoons at first, and later each takes steps to address them that are entirely inadequate and useless. The priest is uselessly focused on trying to make the town appear moral, so that the next priest can get a nice church built, but it would be a surface gleam at best. He's concerned about appearances, rather than what people actually are. The mayor drifts a lot, like he's waiting to be pointed in the right direction. Enjoys casually flexing his power while pretending he's not doing that at all.
By the end, the things people were told they could rely on are of course exposed as useless. The government has not changed - how can it when the man who shot up people's homes is mayor? - and the church is doing nothing other than telling people they shouldn't go to certain movies, or that women shouldn't wear short sleeves. What good does any of that do anyone?
'"That's gossip," the priest said. "you have to legitimize your situations and put yourself out of the range of gossiping tongues."
"Me?" she said. "I don't have to put myself out of the range of anything because I do everything in broad daylight. The proof of it is nobody has wasted his time putting any lampoon on my door, and on the other hand, all the decent people on the square have theirs all papered up."'
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