Professor Icarus Abbacus returns to the Nocturnal University, in search of the late Victoria's daughter, Vicky Hendrickson. Armed with a grainy, black-and-white photo, all he knows is that she is most definitely alive and now in possession of her mother's cursed amulet.

As he starts investigating, he uncovers sightings of strange creatures, unusual by even supernatural standards; a playful humanoid octopus, a half-wolf, half-bat being and a weird spider were. Could these be some of Vicky's new forms?

He also learns about a gruesome murder, in which a werewolf's body was found dumped in an alley minus all of its internal organs. Could Vicky have committed the awful crime in an attempt to discover what had happened to her?

Also looking into the crime is the Nocturnal University's formidable chief of police, Captain Butterworth, and he absolutely will not tolerate any interference from dusty old academics.

Can Icarus, with the help of his friends Nigel, Muriel, Malcolm and Kim, keep out of the police's way while using all the skills at his disposal to track down Vicky and maybe catch a killer?