The series of books are centred on Charlie Bone, a young boy and descendant of The Red King, who reluctantly possesses a powerful endowment, along with many of his friends who he meets at a special school he attends called Bloor's Academy. His family, the Yewbeams, have many dark secrets and Charlie Bone embarks on a series of mysterious adventures to find out the truth about his past.

In the first book of the series Charlie discovers that he can hear people in photographs. Although he tries to hide his new gift, Grandma Bone's scary sisters soon find out, and determine to send him to Bloor's Academy.