Book excerpt: The companion novel to the hugely popular THE THORNTHWAITE INHERITANCE After a lifetime of plotting each other's demise, orphan twins Lorelli and Ovid Thornthwaite have reached an uneasy truce. No longer trying to kill each other, they are living a quieter life in the remains of the burnt-out Thornthwaite Manor. It's not long, though, before some peculiar 'near accidents' begin to take place and the twins begin to wonder - is someone else trying to bump them off? Could it be the oddball builder Dragos, or Beaufort Nouveau, the twins' triple Michelin-starred chef? What would old Tom the gardener have to gain from the deaths of Lorelli and Ovid? Or stinking rich Uncle Harry, who claims to be the twins' long-lost uncle on their mother's side? As the number of near fatal 'accidents' ramp up, it becomes clear that there are some dreadful forces at work - but just who is behind the Thornthwaite betrayal?