Salem Gardner Montgomery is just a teenager when her mom dies an unnatural and brutal death that triggers the discovery of her family's supernatural legacy. She must quickly learn how to control her newly discovered magical powers if she is to dethrone the planet's most evil witch - one who just happens to want her dead! Fortunately, she has the help of some peculiar cousins she's never met, a friend from school, and a mysterious new boy that she also happens to be falling in love with. As she embarks on her journey, Salem has very little to go on with the exception of a letter that her mom wrote just before she died. The story moves backward and forward in time from when Salem was a baby to the present day and takes place in Massachusetts as well as in several foreign locations. Salem must navigate a treacherous path as she endeavors to learn about her family and its role in the supernatural realm. Along the way, she discovers that she had a twin sister who died shortly after they were born and that her (very much alive) aunt has been following her own evil agenda ever since that terrible day. This tale involves anthropological adventures, a powerful shaman and his vengeful daughter, a magical tiger, a power-hungry college professor, and a battle with corpses at the local cemetary.