The Thornthwaite Inheritance

Gareth P. Jones (author)

Bloomsbury, UK: Australian release September 2009; 272pp

ISBN: 9780747599821

Genres: adventure, crime, gothic

Issues: family, identity

The Thornthwaite twins, Lorelli and Ovid, have been trying to kill each other since they were old enough to read. Now thirteen, they decide to call a truce – but can they trust one another?

Writing it into the will seems a logical way of ensuring the peace is kept but the lawyer brings his son and it soon becomes apparent that someone, at least, is not playing the game. Or, more to the point, is playing a very dangerous game of their own. Can the twins survive the deadly sibling rivalry? Or are they really at risk from a far greater threat? Orphaned twins. A large inheritance. A family history scattered with sinister and eccentric characters. A dark and depressing mansion. Seemingly loyal servants. With as many red herrings as a fishmonger and as many twists as a corkscrew, The Thornthwaite Inheritance is an entertaining piece of Victorian-style gothic adventure.

Being a television producer who writes novels on the bus on the way home, Gareth P. Jones' books always have a slightly filmic style of pushing the narrative forward. This will no doubt appeal to visual readers. Jones delights in rather black humour but sophisticated readers will be aware that much of the time he is actually poking fun at this rather melodramatic style of gothic narrative, with its continual coincidences and unforeseeable connections between apparently unrelated characters.

Good fun and perfect for reading aloud as there are endless cliff-hanger moments at which to pause in order to whet the appetite for the next instalment.