Decades prior to the events of The Clackity, Desdemona and her two best friends brave a dangerous hotel-between-worlds to rescue her brother from the clutches of a greedy ghost in this spooky middle grade horror novel.

Desdemona and her family are celebrating the winter solstice by visiting her best friends, Lily Littleknit and Mary McCreary, in a strange house called Bone Tree Grove. Far from Desdemona’s hometown of Blight Harbor, the Littleknit home is unlike anything she’s ever seen: sat on a steep snow-covered mountain, the rooms are all completely different, endless, and full of enchantments.

Desdemona’s ever curious (and endlessly annoying) younger brother, Andrew, has his own mysterious magic that attracts all kinds of spirits, and this new setting is ripe for exploring. When he disappears into the snowy woods, only leaving behind a journal, the girls can’t help but wonder if, this time, the spirit calling to Andrew is the malicious kind.

It’s up to Desdemona and her friends to venture deeper into the secrets of Bone Tree Grove and rescue Andrew from a creature who insists on playing a supernatural game of hide-and-seek. As Des and her friends find themselves trapped in a puzzling hotel between worlds, can they win the challenges in time to get Andrew? Is it even possible if the game is stacked against them?