November 1907. When Zilla Bunting, maid of all work, and her brother, Arnold, librarian, arrive at grimy Creakie Hall in Norfolk to take up their new posts they find that all the staff have long since departed except for Miss Lamb the housekeeper. In the gloom of an Edwardian winter Zilla is trapped on the edge of nowhere and faces the endless drudgery of her work as best she can but when the sweet smell of strawberries, so wrong for the time of year, captivates her she is drawn towards disaster. The wild, empty marsh and the dusty rooms of Creakie Hall hold the answer to a ghostly mystery but is there anyone Zilla can turn to for help? In a tale that creeps under your skin will help arrive too late?