Mr. Gum may be the nastiest man on Earth, but he has the tidiest, greeniest, floweriest, gardeniest garden in the world...that is, until a giant whopper of a dog named Jake destroys it in a fit of doggy joy. In retaliation, Mr. Gum hatches one of his astonishingly evil plots, involving some poisonous meat, and soon--very soon--things will get uglier than Mr. Gum in his underwear.

Unless, of course, Polly--a golden-haired local girl with hair like cat's daydream who is as good and true as Mr. Gum is wretched and smelly--can stymie Mr. Gum, save Jake, and prove to the world why the truth is lemon meringue . . .