"There's bad magic in this river." The words gave Theo Beckett pause. A few days ago, he did not expect to be back in his hometown of Kenton, Illinois. He did not expect to be cleaning out his recently deceased father's house, and he certainly did not expect to be having a conversation with a talking catfish named Mr. Jones. Life is funny, though, and one should always try to expect the unexpected. It had been years since he and his father had spoken. Abner Beckett, an icy planet of a man, was always cold and distant. However, after a chance encounter with Mr. Jones, his father's best friend, he was beginning to learn that there was more to dad than he had known. Something evil has returned to the river, and Theo has found himself in the middle of a mystery that has put everyone in Kenton in danger. The papers call it "The Creature from the Mississippi." Local drunk and shape-shifting-reptile hunter, Huckleberry Gary, says it's the illuminati. Retired detective, Dino Perez, is sure that it's connected to a case that he had worked decades earlier. Others say that it may be connected to the long abandoned Villa Leila, a castle that sits high on the bluffs with a strange history of its own.