Jake is sure he's going to hate the village where he's moved with his mum and twin sister, Jenna. There are only about ten houses and a green - boring.
But when Jenna spots the ghost of a cute-looking beagle with a lead in its mouth, Jake and Jenna begin to realize that the village might not be as boring as it first seemed and that there are some very spooky goings-on...not least, the deserted derelict house and the creepy noises that are coming from somewhere inside it....
In Venice, Frances Croy is working to leave the previous year behind: another novel published to little success, a scathing review she can't quite manage to forget, and, most of all, the real reason behind her self-imposed exile from London: the incident at the Savoy. Sequestered within an aging palazzo, Frankie finds comfort in the emptiness of Venice in winter, in the absence of others. And then Gilly appears.