The Swifts: A Dictionary of Scoundrels
by Beth Lincoln; illus. by Claire Powell
Intermediate    Dutton    352 pp.
2/23    9780593533239    $17.99
e-book ed.  9780593533246    $10.99

When the large extended Swift family gathers at the ancestral home for their regular reunion, they hunt, as they always do, for the long-hidden family treasure. This time, however, there is a murderer in their midst and the bodies start accumulating. Who is killing off Swifts and why? Playing with the tropes of the classic mid-century isolated country house detective novel, Lincoln whips up a witty confection of highly colorful characters (Arch-Aunt Schadenfreude, twins Flora and Fauna), dynamic wordplay, and a plot dense with action, suspense, double-dealing, innovative murder weapons, and a well-orchestrated eleventh-hour reveal. (Not to give anything away, but beware a punster.) Our window on this world is the observant, energetic Shenanigan Swift, a charmingly flawed middle-grader eager to solve the crimes while making sense of family, relationships, and adult life. Fans of Marthe Jocelyn’s Aggie Morton mysteries and Polly Horvath’s gothic fiction will feel right at home in this inventive, exuberant world. A bonus in this American edition of a British import is a lively introductory essay on dictionaries and the evolution of English that could well inspire a budding lexicographer.

From the January/February 2023 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.