The Swifts

Description

A hilarious mystery adventure perfect for fans of Robin Stevens and Lemony Snicket. On the day they are born, each Swift is brought before the sacred Family Dictionary. They are given a name and a definition, and it is assumed they will grow up to match. Unfortunately, Shenanigan Swift has other ideas. So what if her relatives all think she's destined to turn out as a troublemaker, just because of her name? Shenanigan knows she can be whatever she wants - pirate, explorer or even detective. Which is lucky, really, because when one of the Family tries to murder Arch-Aunt Schadenfreude, someone has to work out whodunit. With the help of her sisters and cousin, Shenanigan grudgingly takes on the case, but more murders, a hidden treasure and an awful lot of suspects make thing seriously complicated. Can Shenanigan catch the killer before the whole household is picked off? And in a Family where definitions are so important, can she learn to define herself?

Beth Lincoln was raised in a former Victorian railway station in the North of England. Her childhood fears included porcelain dolls, the Durham panther, and wardrobes that looked at her funny. She grew neither tall nor wise, and never learned to play an instrument - but she did write stories, a bad habit that has persisted to this day. When she isn't writing, Beth is woodcarving, or making a mess of her flat, or talking the nearest ear off about unexplained occurrences. Her favourite things include ghosts, crisps, and weird old words like bumbershoot and zounderkite. The Swifts is Beth's debut novel. It grew out of her love of words, the gleeful gothic, and classic murder mysteries. She lives in Newcastle upon Tyne with her partner and hopefully, by the time you are reading this, a dog.

A mystery that is as clever and impish as its heroine * Publisher's Weekly Starred Review * An absolutely delightful debut * Kirkus Reviews Starred Review * A witty confection of highly colourful characters * The Horn Book * Murder most splendid in this ghoulish debut -- Emily Bearn * The Telegraph *