Randi and Ian investigate when they learn that two prominent publishers were murdered by normal people dressed as characters in the classic novels recently delivered by an antiquarian bookshop. The bookstore owner acknowledges that he cast a spell on the books to punish the men and women he considers responsible for driving him nearly to bankruptcy and confides to Ian that he has sent a truckload of the cursed books to members of Parliament since they passed the laws enabling chain stores to gobble up independent bookshops.
—David Bassler