From hanging an effigy of Old Annie to hunting Minnesota gangsters, a little corn-silk-haired girl with black tarred feet learns about death and life from the characters around her. The "mischief of mice" referenced in her title recall the poverty of her youth, but also the realizations that come with age, including the shocking mischief she uncovered in the man she revered most - her father, a jazz musician, and the secrets he carried to the grave. ...