Twelve-year-old Alice England is curious, truthful and smart, but when you work in your father's funeral home and you get messages from the dead, it can be difficult to make friends.

When she comes across the peculiar case of George Devenish, who was allergic to sunlight, Alice is convinced there's more to his death than meets the eye.

With the help of George's niece, 'Violet the Vampire', who shares her uncle's allergy, and a boy named Cal, who has secrets of his own, Alice begins to investigate. Who were the teenagers under the dock when George died? How is the sinister Doctor Grampian involved? And what about George's wife, Helen, whose baking is delicious but possibly poisonous?