Ovid and Lorelli Thornthwaite have been trying to kill each other for so long that neither twin can remember which act of attempted murder came first. But whoever struck first, trying to take each other's lives is simply what they do. Until one day a lawyer arrives at their house to take stock of its contents, and his accompanying son attracts their attention. Soon a new battle evolves - one in which the twins have to work together to solve the mystery of their parents' deaths. Can Lorelli and Ovid overcome their old animosities, and will they ever get to finish that game of chess?

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?

A hair-raising family adventure that will have you howling with enjoyment!

A darkly comic Dickensian ghost story from Blue Peter Award winner Gareth P. Jones: it's not the dead you'll need to worry about! Sam Toop lives in a funeral parlour, blessed (or cursed) with an unusual gift. While his father buries the dead, Sam is haunted by their constant demands for attention. Trouble is afoot on the 'other side' - there is a horrible disease that is mysteriously imprisoning ghosts into empty houses in the world of the living. And Sam is caught in the middle - will he be able to bring himself to help? Blue Peter Award winner Gareth P. Jones has woven a darkly comic story, a wonderfully funny adventure that roams the grimy streets of Victorian London.

Larkin Mills: The Birthplace of Death! Larkin Mills is no ordinary town. It's a place of contradictions and enigma, of secrets and mysteries. A place with an exquisite ice cream parlour, and an awful lot of death. An extraordinary mystery in Larkin Mills is beginning to take shape. First we meet the apparently healthy Albert Dance, although he's always been called a sickly child, and he's been booked into Larkin Mills' Hospital for Specially Ill Children. Then there's his neighbour Ivor, who observes strange goings-on, and begins his own investigations into why his uncle disappeared all those years ago. Next we meet Young Olive, who is given a battered accordion by her father, and unwittingly strikes a dreadful deal with an instrument repair man. Make sure you keep an eye on Mr Morricone, the town ice-cream seller, who has queues snaking around the block for his legendary ice cream flavours Summer Fruits Suicide and The Christmas Massacre. And Mr Milkwell, the undertaker, who has some very dodgy secrets locked up in his hearse. Because if you can piece together what all these strange folks have to do with one another ... well, you'll have begun to unlock the dark secrets that keep the little world of Larkin Mills spinning.

The Ninja meerkats must find the grandmaster One-Eye, who has been kidnapped.

Welcome to THE DAILY JOKER: with a belly-wobbling joke for every day of the year, and joking tips and challenges aplenty, this is the year you'll become the funniest version of you possible! Think of this joke book as a map allowing you to sail the seven sillies, plot a course to Hilarity Island, steer clear of the rocks of stony silence, surf the waves of laughter and dig up comedy gold. NOTE: Please keep THE DAILY JOKER somewhere safe. Maybe you can keep it on a shelf. Sort of like a shelf help book. Or in a sock drawer, since you'll be laughing yours off. Or inside your pillow. You know, just in case. Wherever you keep it, you'll need to open it every day to read your daily joke. And we guarantee that if you read one joke a day and complete one challenge a week, you will become the joker of all jokers! ILLUSTRATED THROUGHOUT BY BEANO ILLUSTRATOR NIGEL PARKINSON

Told with Gareth's signature wit, humour and thoughtfulness, this story examines the way stories shape our past, present and future Eddie is pretty certain nowhere could be more small-town, more boring, and more inconsequential than his home town of the Wellcome Valley. Unfortunately, he is about to be proved spectacularly wrong. Eddie's problems start with the arrival of Scarlett, a new girl in town who seems rather too confident and mysterious for your average schoolgirl. She attracts trouble (and Eddie) like a magnet, and she's apparently only interested in two very strange things - protecting the town's local crackpot scientist, and telling Eddie absolutely nothing about what on earth is going on. And why is she so interested in Eddie's long-dead mother? Things quickly go from weird to worse for Eddie, as he finds himself right in the middle of a dangerous mystery - one with consequences not just for him and Scarlett, but time itself.

When Dirk Dilly gets a call from a distraught wife, he does not expect much in the way of exciting crimes to solve, but he sets off to follow the husband anyway. He couldn't be more wrong and soon he is up to his scaly neck in stolen government secrets, wicked and treacherous dragons, and a confused Prime Minister's son. Of course, nothing is too difficult when you can rely on a good friend like Holly to help you out.

A lonely girl in contemporary London encounters dark magic in Victorian London London, 1891. When orphans Esther and Tom are caught stealing by Lord Ringmore, little do they realise the peril they are in. Rather than hand them over to the police, the lord employs the children. But what does he really want with them? Blackwood is a man obsessed. He has devoted his life to unearthing the roots of magic. Tormented by the thought of death he knows that only real magic can overcome mortality. He has in his possession a book that contains the secret of true magic, but he cannot unlock its meaning alone. Only Tom and Esther can help him unravel its terrible and dangerous secrets... London, 2013, and a young girl called Amy is about to turn thirteen. She is never happier than in a graveyard where, one day, she notices a gravestone named only 'Esther' with a magpie perched above it who speaks to her. He is called Tom! A spine-chilling tale of magic and illusion, and an induction into the world of sorcery both fair and shady - so beware!