Jess and her mother make a living in Victorian England as fake spiritualists, ‘helping’ grieving people connect with their deceased loved ones. Jess and her mother discover that Jess can actually communicate with the dead – she is a mesmerist. Her mother contacts an old friend, Balthazar, who turns out to be rather magical himself and they tell Jess about her father, who died fighting an evil man who could raise the dead for his own terrible purpose of taking over the world. Her mother, father and Balthazar were the League of Ravens, who had fought the magical evil that inhabited the world unbeknownst to mere mortals.

Jess joins Balthazar and two other magical children to battle the evil man, Mephisto, before he can wreak supernatural disaster on the world. Along the way, they must fight ghouls and monsters and the plague!

Dark and scary, this book will appeal to children who like to huddle under the blankets at night with a flashlight and a good horror book. It is fast paced and the heroine is a strong and brave leader.