When voices in photographs start whispering to Charlie Bone, his ordinary life becomes very unusual indeed. With his new magical talent, Charlie is off to Bloor's Academy for gifted children. But the school is a dangerous place, full of dark secrets from the past - and he discovers that even his own family can't be trusted. Can Charlie and his friends use their gifts to solve the mystery of a lost girl?

Charlie Bone hopes that the new term at Bloor's Academy will hold no unwelcome surprises. But then his distant relative Henry Yewbeam appears out of thin air, twisted through time from 1916 by Henry's wicked cousin, Ezekiel Bloor. Ezekiel, who is still alive, still nasty, and now ancient, vows to track Henry down and get rid of him once and for all. And with Charlie's scheming Yewbeam aunts also on the prowl, Henry desperately needs Charlie's help...

When an ancient enchanter is released from the grounds of Bloor's Academy, threatening both of Charlie Bone's parents, the only way Charlie and his friends can defeat him is by finding the red king himself.

Magically-gifted Charlie Bone, accompanied by his best friend's dog, Runner Bean, comes to the rescue when the enchanter Count Harken takes revenge on the Red King's heirs by kidnapping and imprisoning Charlie's ancestors in the dark, forbidding land of Badlock.