Charlotte supports herself and her lumpen side-kick, Fru Schleswig, as a prostitute in fin-de-siecle Copenhagen. But the course of harlotry never did run smooth, and Charlotte’s life is altered irrevocably when one hard winter, she stumbles on an exciting new source of income.

A dark mansion, home to the disagreeable Fru Krak, is in dire need of a top-to-bottom scrub — and the wealthy widow is hiring. Enter Charlotte, dragging behind her the reluctant and militantly idle Fru Schleswig. Transformed into cleaning ladies, the squabbling duo attack the dark abode — but soon discover that mysteries abound. The basement appears to be haunted, and there are rumours of desperate souls entering it — never to emerge. Charlotte turns detective but finds herself outwitted by the mysterious controller of a demonic machine which wastes no time in catapulting her into twenty-first century London, a baffling world of glass, tin, and labour-saving devices. But luckily a handsome stranger is more than happy to show her the ropes…