The Swifts: A Gallery of Rogues
by Beth Lincoln; illus. by Claire Powell
Intermediate    Dutton    384 pp.
8/24    9780593533260    $17.99
e-book ed.  9780593533277    $10.99

Young detective Shenanigan Swift is at it again. In this sequel to The Swifts: A Dictionary of Scoundrels (rev. 1/23), a robbery of a painting at the family home leads our fearless and hilarious hero and her bevy of eccentric relatives to a new mystery and a new location: Paris. It turns out that the Swifts are linked to a French family, the Martinets. The two clans have been at loggerheads, off and on, since the Norman Conquest. The search for the Swifts’ stolen painting leads them to become involved in a radical art-heist group whose mission is to steal art and return it to the original owners, a sort of Robin Hood enterprise. The plot is acrobatic in its complications. While the first book goofed around with the conventions of the English country house mystery, this one revels in the tropes of the stylish French “gentleman thief” tradition (think Arsène Lupin) while presenting the opportunity for outrageous wordplay in two languages and surprises aplenty. It keeps readers on their toes as it sparkles with energy, wit, and good humor. (Final art unseen.)

From the ">September/October 2024 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.