Dink and his friends go to meet their favorite author, Wallis Wallace, at a book signing event but find that Wallace is missing. They receive a letter hinting that Wallace has been kidnapped. Dink, Josh, Ruth Rose, and a writer named Mavis Green work together to investigate clues and discover that Mavis is actually Wallis Wallace in disguise. It was a plot devised by Wallace and her brother to gather inspiration and story ideas from watching the children solve the mystery.