Brighton 1871: Spirit mediums are all the fashion, especially Miss Eustace, a psychic who claims to produce apparitions of the dead. Diminutive Mina Scarletti, a writer of horror stories, is sure that her widowed mother is in the hands of cheats and extortionists so she enlists the aid of an unlikely group of friends to expose the frauds. But the scheming criminals have spread their nets wide and dramatic seances easily convince and captivate the bereaved and vulnerable. When Mina's determined campaign backfires she only succeeds in adding to Miss Eustace's fame. With chaos reigning in the Scarletti house, Mina and her associates must turn to desperate methods to outwit the illusionists and reveal the truth.