Lori Shepherd’s life in England couldn't be more tranquil or more satisfying — except for one thing. Her five-year-old twins have started school, and Lori fears they'’ll catch everything from the flu to fleas. What they do come home with, however, is worse: a report of a pale, cloaked figure with bloodstained lips lurking in the woods.

Lori is skeptical at first but soon grows concerned enough to consult with her late (but not entirely departed) Aunt Dimity and her dear friend Kit Smith. The vampire-hunting trail leads to Leo, a charismatic vagabond who just returned to England after a self-imposed exile, a bitter old crone named Lizzie Black, and finally to Aldercot Hall, where a mysterious murder took place forty years ago. With Kit and Aunt Dimity’s help, Lori uncovers the secret that will shock everyone — including herself — about the true identity of the twins’ vampire.