Janet Carter and her young daughter Lucy spend every summer in a vacation rental cottage at Carter Hall, the crumbling old manor that once belonged to Janet's family and is now a Historical Society-owned tourist trap.  Janet has nothing more pressing in mind for the next few months than lazy time with her daughter (a hyper-imaginative child whose hobbies include practicing exorcisms and pretending to be a ninja),  reminiscences with Alec, the ancient gardener who has known her all her life - and perhaps a little summer flirtation with Alec's handsome new assistant Thomas.  But when the boy in the cottage next door goes missing on Midsummer Eve, Janet and Lucy are pulled headlong into a supernatural mystery that forces them both to confront the hidden reality that magical forces are at work in their daily lives.  To rescue the boy, Thomas risks losing Janet forever by revealing the truth about who he really is - a fugitive from the fairy underworld hiding under Alec's protection.  Janet, Thomas and Lucy set forth on a dark and dangerous quest to the mist-shrouded land of the fairies, braving dangerous creatures, impossible riddles, and the darkest secrets of their own hearts to rescue the missing child and bring him home.