After successfully tracking down the perpetrator of the Jack the Ripper murders (as told in An Alien Autumn , the first book of the series) the undercover aliens from the planet Jara, First Commander Ashto and Apprentice Commander Atia, continue with their secret mission to discover as much information as possible about the Earth. However, their research is again interrupted by the murderous activities of another ruthless serial killer who has taken to leaving the headless and bloodless bodies of young male prostitutes around the East End of London. As the two aliens search to find the identity of this elusive blood obsessed murderer, they also meet with some of the prominent literary figures of the age including the writer and wit Oscar Wilde and Bram Stoker the creator of the most famous horror novel of the 19th century, Dracula. When Ashto and Atia leave London for the first time their travels take them to the picturesque Yorkshire coastal town of Whitby where ideas about vampire lore and creatures of the night take hold in the mind of Stoker who also has his eyes on the beautiful Apprentice Commander.