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 favorite things include ghosts, crisps, and weird old words like bumbershoot and zounderkite.

The Swifts was Beth's debut novel. It grew out of her love of etymology, 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 Kirkus Best Book of the Year

★ "In this second series entry, as delightfully hilarious and witty as the first, Shenanigan Swift learns she has family in Paris--the Martinet cousins--with whom the English Swifts have long been feuding. [A] comically flamboyant heist mystery." --Kirkus, starred review

Praise for #1 New York Times bestseller, The Swifts: A Dictionary of Scoundrels

Winner of the Nero Book Award for Children's Fiction
An ALA Notable Book
A Publishers Weekly Flying Start

"Deliciously, quirkily Gothic." --New York Times Book Review

★ "Knives Out feel by way of Lemony Snicket . . . A mystery that is as clever as its heroine." --Publishers Weekly, starred review

★ "Positively writhing with twists." --Booklist, starred review

★ "Lincoln's love of lexicon shines. A delightful pick for sharp readers enamored of gothic sensibilities and clever prose." --Shelf Awareness, starred review

★ "The humor and action are spot-on." --Kirkus, starred review

"Lincoln whips up a witty confection of highly colorful characters, dynamic wordplay, and a plot dense with action, suspense, double-dealing, innovative murder weapons, and a well-orchestrated eleventh-hour reveal." --The Horn Book Magazine

"The Swifts celebrates the wonders of wordplay and the complexity of identity while serving up a compelling murder mystery and a twisty treasure hunt." --BookPage

Publisher: Bound to Stay Bound Books

Pub date: 2024-08-20

Length: 370 pages