Some secrets are meant to stay buried. When Ropa Moyo discovered an occult underground library, she expected great things. Sh's really into Edinburgh's secret societies, but turns out they are less into her. So instead of getting paid to work magic, she's had to accept a crummy unpaid internship.

And her with bills to pay and a pet fox to feed. Then her friend Priya offers her a job on the side. Priya works at Our Lady of Mysterious Maladies, a very specialized hospital, where a new illness is resisting magical and medical remedies alike.

The first patient was a teenage boy, Max Wu, and his healers are baffled. If Ropa can solve the case, she might earn as she learns, and impress her mentor, Sir Callander. Her sleuthing will lead her to a lost fortune, an avenging spirit and a secret buried deep in Scotland's past.

But how are they connected? Lives are at stake and Ropa is running out of time.