Twelve-year-old Flavia de Luce, much to her dismay, has been forced to attend Miss Bodycote's Female Academy, the boarding school that her mother once attended, across the sea in Canada. But all is not lost: On Flavia's first day in captivity, a charred and mummified body tumbles out of a fireplace chimney in her bedroom. Now, while making friends (and enemies) and assessing the school's stern headmistress, Flavia is on the hunt for the victim's identity and time of death, as well as suspects, motives, and means. When it comes to solving mysteries, Flavia is up to the task-but her true destiny has yet to be revealed.