Orphan Seren Rhys is on her way to a new life at the remote country mansion of Plas-y Fran when she is given a package by a stranger late at night in an empty train station. The package contains a crotchety, mechanical talking crow, which Seren reluctantly brings to her new home. But when she gets there, the happy Christmas she had hoped for turns out to be an illusion—the young son of the house, Tomos, has been missing for almost a year, rumored to have been taken by the fairies. With the Crow's reluctant help and a little winter magic, Seren sets off on a perilous journey to bring Tomos home.

After rescuing Tomos from faery enchantment, orphan Seren Rhys wants nothing more than to enjoy her new life at Plas-y-Fran. But then a mysterious new governess arrives in a gust of leaves, bearing both a magical toy carousel and troublesome beliefs about Seren's right to an education. As her new family falls under the governess' spell and the carousel figures stalk the house, Seren calls upon her old friend the Clockwork Crow for help. Yet even the Crow fears the creature known as the Velvet Fox, and Seren will need to use her smarts to overcome the dangers around her and protect what she loves. Brimming with Welsh folklore and atmosphere, Catherine Fisher's latest tale of Plas-y-Fran will delight readers and wrap them within its spell.

With an invisible girl, a parliament of owls and a pen that writes by itself, the journey to the Garden of the Midnight Swan might be Seren's most dangerous adventure yet. In this third book of the award-winning The Clockwork Crow series, Seren and Tomos must try to help the Crow find the way back to his human form. But why is Captain Jones enquiring about Seren's past? How have the sinister Fair Family gate-crashed the Midsummer Ball, and what is the one desire of the mysterious Midnight Swan?