Henrietta "Goldilocks" Hatchett, star reporter, is missing after going into the woods and meeting some anthropomorphized talking bears. Also, notorious serial killer the Gingerbreadman (who regularly taunted the police in his letters: "Run, run, as fast as you can, you can't catch me, I'm the Gingerbreadman!") has escaped from St. Cerebellum's Hospital for the Criminally Insane.
Inspector Jack Spratt of the Nursery Crime Division is looking into these cases. As he tells a colleague, "I would look into where he was baked. There can't be many ovens that would hold a seven-foot tall Gingerbreadman."
He also must deal with anthropomorphized talking bears, illegal porridge dealers and honey pushers, the Member of Parliament (currently being blackmailed) who sponsored the Act to allow anthropomorphized bears to carry weapons for self-defense (yes, the right to arm bears), and answer the following question: Why were the bowls of porridge at different temperatures when they were all poured at the same time?
