The exciting, mysterious first book in a major series from fantasy masters Garth Nix and Sean Williams. ‘Come to us, Troubletwisters, join us … welcome, most welcome!’ When their home mysteriously explodes around their ears, twins Jack and Jaide are sent to stay with a grandmother they have never met, in a town they have never heard of. Portland might seem boring and quiet, but it soon becomes apparent that Grandma X is more than a little eccentric, and there are very strange happenings in the town. Talking cats, swarms of cockroaches, a miniature tornado trashing their room – the twins are about to find out what it means to be a troubletwister! Something growing. Something read. Something living. Someone dead.