My first thought on seeing this book crop up was 'Cor! It's been a while since the first book, hasn't it?' And indeed it has been years since The Thornthwaite Inheritance - a ridiculous, gothic, mapcap upper children's fiction which blends the heightened occasional grimness of Lemony Snicket with the quirky oddballs of Debi Gliori's kidlit - was published. While it was interesting, if unexpected, to see Jones returning to this story and characters, the first book (if you can remember it) functions perfectly well as a standalone, and there wasn't enough of a legacy to make this an entirely satisfying return.

THE Thornthwaite betrayal is the second instalment.
Unfortunately I didn't have the pleasure of reading the first book.

Due to this I found the book to be a little confusing as I felt I missed out on getting to know each character, and learning the background of the story so far.
I feel I have questions that needed answering but I just had to presume the answers too.

However the book starts out with with the murderous twins Lorelli and Ovid deciding to put an end to their feud and constant fighting and to try and live a "normal" life.

During the book a Long Lost Uncle turns up claiming to be from their mothers side of the family and mysterious things start to happen. Strange Accidents start to occur.

So much so that the Twins begin to wonder if someone or something wants them dead!  What are they to gain!

There are some really interesting characters, I only wish I had read the first book before.

There is many laugh out loud moments and definitely alot of mystery.

I do recommend this book however I do strongly suggest reading the Thornthwaite Inheritance first as I'm sure this will answer many questions!

I therefore have awarded 4 stars. It would of been higher had I read the first book.