Jude Watson's (the 39 Clues series) middle-grade tale about a group of 12-year-olds determined to carry out a conman's final wish is by turns funny and suspenseful.
The novel opens with a flashback of a jewelry heist of cursed gems gone terribly awry. Two of the three thieves die, and the third gets a cryptic curse: "Before the passage of thirteen years, the two birthed together will die together." That surviving thief and conman is Alfred "Alfie" McQuinn. Flash forward to the present, and his son, March, watches Alfie fall off the roof in a botched burglary. Alfie lives long enough to give March a final clue: "Find jewels.... Stick. Rag." It doesn't take March long to discover that "jewels" is actually "Jules," the twin sister March never knew he had--Alfie had intentionally separated them to try to avoid the curse. Once March finds her, the twins get shipped off to a foster home where they meet bully Darius and tiny Izzy. If the skeptical March falls in too quickly with this crowd, readers will forgive him, as the quartet sets out to complete Alfie's life's work--and avenge his death.
Plot twists--such as the victim in that opening jewel heist becoming an unwitting ally--and dramatic backdrops (e.g., the blue whale at the American Museum of Natural History) make this a page-turner. Can the twins reverse the curse? Watson's nail-biting thriller takes readers through New York's diverse neighborhoods, and her likable heroes redeem their dark errands. --Jennifer M. Brown, children's editor, Shelf Awareness