Miss Ophelia Flax is a Victorian actress who knows all about making quick changes and even quicker exits. But to solve a fairy-tale crime in the haunted Black Forest, shell need more than a bit of charm1867: After being fired from her latest variety hall engagement, Ophelia acts her way into a ladys maid position for a crass American millionaire. But when her new job whisks her off to a foreboding castle straight out of a Grimm tale, she begins to wonder if her fast-talking ways might have been too hasty. The vast grounds contain the suspected remains of Snow Whites cottage, along with a disturbing dwarf skeleton. And when her millionaire boss turns up deadpoisoned by an applethe fantastic setting turns into a once upon a crime scene.To keep from rising to the top of the suspect list, Ophelia fights through a bramble of elegant lies, sinister folklore, and priceless treasure, with only a dashing but mysterious scholar as her ally. And as the clock ticks towards midnight, shell have to break a cunning killers spell before her own time runs out.