The Swifts By Beth Lincoln

The Swifts By Beth Lincoln is a children’s murder mystery book.

*DISCLAIMER*: There are spoilers. I am discussing the the book.

Characters

There are a lot of characters in this book so lets get them sorted.

• Aunt Schadenfreude – the family matriarch. Pushed down the stairs. In comma for most of the book.
• Cook – Lives with the family. She is hilarious.
• Shenanigan – main character
• Felicity. – Eldest sister to Shenanigan. A fashionista.
• Uncle Maelstrom – Uncle to the sisters. Former boat captain
• Phenomena – older sister to Shenanigan. A scientist.
• John the Cat – Guard cat
• Aunt Inheritance – The family archivist
• Suleiman – The postman
• Flora – Cousin to the sisters. Looks the same as Fauna. Helps Daisy.
• Fauna – Cousin to the sisters. Gives great advice. Looks the same as Flora.
• Erf – Cousin to the sisters. Aunt Inheritance grand-child. Is part of the detective team with Shenanigan and Phenomena.
• Atrocious – Cousin to the sisters. Rich, says the most outlandish, rude statements.
• Pique – Cousin to the sisters. Brother to Atrocious. Also rude and rich.
• Daisy – Fiancé to Candour. Rich. Conspires with Flora to leave.
• Candour – Cousin and a doctor. Fiancé to Daisy. Opportunist. Murderer/attempted murderer
• Gumshoe – A detective. Tries to figure out who the murderer is. Dies.
• Pamplemousse – Distant cousin. Flamboyant. Dies.

What I liked the most

1. I really enjoyed the sister dynamic between Shenanigan, Phenomena, and Felicity. Beth Lincoln understands the sister dynamic and how sisters talk to each other and it shows in the pages. Especially when they fight in chapter 22 where all three say low-blows to each other.
2. The comedy. This book is funny. Mainly for the one liners given by Cook, Erf, Phenomena, Flora, and Pamplemousse. Chapters 23 and 24 were comical with Aunt Inheritance, Uncle Maelstrom, and the EEK machine. For example, “She used the age-old scientific method of hitting it once, hard.” (chapter 24).
3. I enjoyed the mystery. Throughout the book Shenanigan was so certain that Daisy was the murderer. It made sense through Shenanigan, that Daisy was the murderer but then you remember, is it really that simple? Maybe Daisy was involved in some of it. . The way Lincoln wrote it was brilliant. Once the walls finally crumble, the true murderer is revealed to be Candour. The person Shenanigan trusted. The person no one suspected. And once everything is revealed, it all makes sense.
4. The dictionary. The family dictionary is vital to the story. It tells you the type of personality and possible career will be, but it also shows growth and change. But the dictionary isn’t the final answer, a person has choices to make. And those choices define the characters.

What I thought was interesting

1. The ending. Shenanigan did not actually find the hoard. She found where the hoard might be. I am hopeful that the hoard contents will be revealed in the next book.
2. Once you get the Chapters 32 and 33, you already feel like you know the full story. These two chapters lay it all out for you, but to the point that it seems redundant. However, I appreciate that everything was explained; Who did what and what happened when.
3. Pamplemousse’s murder/Scrabble scene was graphic to me. For a children’s book that scene seemed graphic. The book does have a lot of grown up themes, but they are toned down.

Recommendation

I highly recommend this book to those that enjoy the murder mystery genre and a good laugh.

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