She's been told time and again to stay out of the woods and away from the old mine, but eleven-year-old Tessie Rowe has an imagination bigger than her mother's back yard. Since she was old enough to read, she's done nothing but absorb information about monster lore from across the globe- and she's become convinced that the area surrounding her tiny hometown of Adelaide, Virginia has just about one of everything.

Now Tessie and her friends have set out to prove once and for all that the creatures of Tessie's imagination really do exist. As soon as they get started, though, they find the skeletal remains of a young woman washed up on the shores of Pichol Creek.

With no reports of missing persons, Sheriff Alan Cline is stumped- that is until the post-mortem reveals the identity of the young woman and points to foul play. With a growing list of suspects who all have seemingly iron-clad alibis, Alan must turn to the young monsters hunters to share clues.

In a case where nothing appears as it seems, only one thing can be known for certain: The true beasts of Adelaide are about to be revealed.