AustLit

'A fabulous gothic tale of three young cousins who are summoned by their evil Uncle Silas to spend the summer with him at Sommerset - his grand gothic estate perched on a mysterious island surrounded by an alligator-infested swamp.

'Silas Winterbottom, who has had virtually no contact with his extended family for decades (except to insult them or refuse their requests for money), is dying. It is his intention to select an heir from among his nieces and nephew - Isabella Winterbottom (13), Adele Fester-Winterbottom (12) and Milo Winterbottom (12).

'The Winterbottom children have very different backgrounds but each of them have motive for accepting Silas invitation: Adele's family have been forced into exile in Tipping Point, Tasmania due to her mother's unethical experiments with prize-winning poodles; Isabella and her father are accomplished criminals living a fraudulent life among London's social elite and finally; Milo, orphaned after his parents were lost in a volcanic eruption, lives with his grandfather the Maestro in a tiny basement apartment in Wales.

'One of the Winterbottoms believes Uncle Silas is a murderer; two of them will do anything to win his favour and his fortune... and only one will be chosen.' (Publisher's blurb)

'Evil Uncle Silas is dead, but his spirit still haunts Sommerset - even in death he will not let go of his nephew and nieces.

'Milo is troubled by nightmares of the Uncle who tried to steal his body and a dark secret he must hide from his cousins; Adele is enthralled by the journals of Captain Bloom and his adventures in the jungles of Budatta, unaware of how important the Captain will become when tragedy strikes; and snooty Isabella is plotting her way to even greater fame and fortune.

'A sudden disappearance will rock the cousins' world and each Winterbottom will have to battle old ghosts as they fight to save their Aunt Rosemary... And each other.' (From the publisher's website.)