Dog War

Precious Higginson is fussing through a middle-class life in Jamaica when her husband dies. Settling in Miami with her grown daughter, she becomes a maid to a very rich female. To be exact, a very rich canine: ''He was the size and shape of an obese baby warthog.... The dog strutted onto the lawn with the prudish, self-important trot of a centipede.'' Now, I'm not sure centipedes really do that — Dog War's overripe prose is its main defect — but the novel still offers an amusing glance at America through an immigrant's eye, a breezy treat to keep you company on the beach at Montego Bay or, perhaps, your local dog park. B