Cora Bell is 11 years old, missing one eye and lives with an elderly lady named Dot in a room hidden behind a wall. In the city of Urt, where everyone looks out for themselves, Cora and Dot hunt and sell rare and exotic things, such as apple seeds, silver forks and shoe polish. Until one day, Cora finds a few words scribbled on an old, mysterious scroll. When she says the words aloud, two plump, hairy fairies crash-land in Cora’s path to warn her that she is in terrible danger. Cora has summoned a sinister creature known as a Jinx. Jinxes eat magical beings and once they have a scent, they never give up. But Cora isn’t a magical being … is she? Quickly, Cora slides into a world filled with magic, witches, hobgoblins, warlocks – and the wildest adventure imaginable.