Another solidly fun episode in the chaos of Ana's hectic life and diverse family. The last missing children have now turned up, or at least one of the twins has, desperately seeking his (and Ana's) sister.

It turns out that Julie went from South Africa to New York to work in a religious mission, learning how to build schools in developing nations. However she's not been answering her phone since Novemeber and her brother is extremely worried. Ana is too! And so she and Graham start investigating. Meanwhile the rest of the family is gearing up form Christmas and Ana will do everything she can to give the younger ones that stabbility and joy that she'd never experienced.

Before you know it bullets are flying Ana's finding corpses and the rest of the family pitch in with their unique skills. Even Graham turns sentimental.

This is not a coldly contemplative crime drama where you try to puzzle out the clues. Just sit back and enjoy the mayhem rushing toward you. ( )

** spoiler alert **

I wasn't sure about reading the fourth book without reading the first three, but I've read other Patricia Rice books and wanted to give it a try. It was worth it! Twin Genius definitely works as a standalone, but I also want to go back now and read the first three.

The characters are fun, precocious, and interesting. The mystery is a good one, and I liked the romance. Some people might think the house/mansion being bugged is creepy, but I actually found it sort of funny, as it showed just how used to espionage each family member was (from not at all to extremely) and it also served as a sort of meter as to the mood of Graham (the "spider in the attic). I liked his disembodied voice appearing and the various reactions (from matter of fact to Nick hitting the base of the candleabra with silverware).

I enjoyed reading it, and am especially curious to read about Tudor (the hacker younger brother) and Graham's relationship.

Highly recommended.

I was given an ARC of this book by the publisher through the Early Reviewers program. ( )

Last year I read Cyber Genius, the third instance in Patricia Rice's Family Genius Mysteries series. I got the offer from the author through Librarything to read also its successor, Twin Genius, in which Ana(stasia) Devlin gets the chance to see her long-lost South African twin siblins, Juliana and Alexander for Christmas. Instead of a peaceful holiday break, the twins bring a lot of trouble. Juliana is impressed by a televangelist that is planning to develop a Christian amusement park in D.C. Third world schools are built and supported by this reverend. It's Juliana's shooting of revealing pictures that unmask the macabre nature of the amusement park. Politics, following the money trail, and do it yourself crime investigation are ingredients for this book.

Amadeus Graham, the mysterious spy and current lover of Ana lives in is asked for help, Ana is facing the task to save Christmas, have her whole family under one roof, catch a killer and get to know Graham better. The story's protagonist is alternating between Ana and Juliana. Many, in my opinion way too many, characters are thrown into the storyline. Without having read the first 2 instances and a year between #3 and #4, I couldn't handle the abundance of rather flat characters. Development is absence, and a clear plot is hard to discover. Most of the storyline is composed of conversations. An appendix shows all characters in the series. Although I read the whole book, most of it couldn't keep my wandering mind concentrated. ( )

Twin Genius is book number #4 in the Family Genius mystery series. Ana Devlin continues her adventures in this volume trying to reunite and protect all her half-siblings, solve the on-going mystery of the death of her father and to recover her grandfather’s inheritance. It is Christmas and it looks like Ana may have her wish and finally be reunited with her twin South African siblings. However, her sister seems to be missing and possibly mixed up with some of the same shadowy powerful people who were responsible for Ana’ s father’s death. Ana will need the help of her reclusive and mysterious sometimes lover, Amadeus Graham, her brilliant siblings and their equally brilliant but dangerous mother to keep everyone safe, solve a mystery, and make sure her family is home for Christmas.

Like the earlier books in the series, this mystery is funny and exciting. Ana and her family are quirky and interesting. Ana has courage and ingenuity and I appreciate a strong female protagonist. The on and off again relationship with Graham adds just the right touch of romance to an entertaining suspenseful adventure. The author’s choice of villains, (weapons manufacturers, gun lobbyists and right-wing political PACs) is even more entertaining given recent political events. Although this is a fun mystery, I would recommend reading this series in order to truly enjoy the story. ( )

I received ‘Twin Genius’ as part of the Library Thing Early Reviewers’ program.

On downloading my copy of the book I realised it was in fact part 4 of the ‘Family Genius’ series, which put me a bit on the backfoot: do I source earlier books in the series to get some background, or just read this as is? I decided on the latter option, figuring that a well-told story will stand on its own.

A visit to the author’s website www.patriciarice.com reveals her to be a prolific writer with a number of books and series to her credit, and that ‘Twin Genius’ is the fourth and most recent addition to its series.

There were a couple of things I found confusing. Actually a lot of things.

Ana’s relationship with Graham – I’m guessing I’m missing a bit of back story here, but the professional distance over the ownership of the home doesn’t balance with the sexual relationship.

The place of Magda in all this; and again I’m obviously missing A LOT of back story here.

I understand the family is wealthy, although clearly some of them don’t know just how rich they are. There is really no explanation in this story of the why and how.

Also, any reasons the family have mixed themselves up in all of this remains a mystery to me.

Now, I know that the author put it right there in her note before the story begins, “… in the tradition of tall tales with a soupcon of satire and a dash of dry humour. Do not expect reality, or even CSI’. So, it was clear from the beginning what to expect. That said, I still found it difficult to follow, and at times a little tedious. Some of the action scenes were Matthew Riley-lite.

In the long run, not really my type of book, although clearly it will appeal to others, especially readers with a taste for modern adventure and series-style storytelling. ( )