Bound To Stay Bound

Booklist - 11/01/2022 *Starred Review* Taking the classic manor house whodunit for a wild ride, Lincoln mixes hidden rooms and agendas, a sprawling family with unusual naming practices, gender identity discoveries, high comedy and low punning, murder, and more, then stirs briskly. Raffish young Shenanigan Swift is sure she can find an ancestor’s long-hidden treasure. But her search is derailed as the rare but regular gathering of her far-flung clan at ramshackle Swift House leads to a series of macabre murders and murder attempts that only she and STEM-oriented sister Phenomena, fashion-obsessed older sib Felicity, and newly met nonbinary cousin Erf seem to be set on investigating. While clues, suspects, and terrific set pieces (including a Scrabble “duel to the death” that turns out exactly as advertised) pile up, the author not only pitches her young investigators into situations both life-threatening and comical, but pulls in a large supporting cast—memorable for more than just their monikers—for perceptive explorations of family ties, pressures, and responsibilities. In the wake of introductory authorial comments about the vagaries of language, readers will also get plenty of food for thought in the ways that family matriarch Schadenfreude Swift’s seemingly repressive observation that “you can’t help your name” takes on liberating nuances for Shenanigan as well as her sibs and other relatives. In finest genre tradition, the suspenseful denouement is positively writhing with twists. Finished art not seen. - Copyright 2022 Booklist.

Booklist - 11/01/2022 *Starred Review* Taking the classic manor house whodunit for a wild ride, Lincoln mixes hidden rooms and agendas, a sprawling family with unusual naming practices, gender identity discoveries, high comedy and low punning, murder, and more, then stirs briskly. Raffish young Shenanigan Swift is sure she can find an ancestor’s long-hidden treasure. But her search is derailed as the rare but regular gathering of her far-flung clan at ramshackle Swift House leads to a series of macabre murders and murder attempts that only she and STEM-oriented sister Phenomena, fashion-obsessed older sib Felicity, and newly met nonbinary cousin Erf seem to be set on investigating. While clues, suspects, and terrific set pieces (including a Scrabble “duel to the death” that turns out exactly as advertised) pile up, the author not only pitches her young investigators into situations both life-threatening and comical, but pulls in a large supporting cast—memorable for more than just their monikers—for perceptive explorations of family ties, pressures, and responsibilities. In the wake of introductory authorial comments about the vagaries of language, readers will also get plenty of food for thought in the ways that family matriarch Schadenfreude Swift’s seemingly repressive observation that “you can’t help your name” takes on liberating nuances for Shenanigan as well as her sibs and other relatives. In finest genre tradition, the suspenseful denouement is positively writhing with twists. Finished art not seen. - Copyright 2022 Booklist.

School Library Journal - 10/20/2023 Gr 4 Up—The Swift family has a long and proud history, and in that history are two very important features: everyone receives a name from the family dictionary, and one of the early Swifts hid a large treasure somewhere on the estate. Once every decade, the whole family gathers together to search for it. Shenanigan Swift has lived on the family estate her whole life, but she is about to experience her first Swift reunion and she is determined to be the one who finds the treasure. However, when the matriarch of the family, Great Aunt Schadenfreude, is severely injured, Shenanigan ends up spending the whole reunion hunting for a murderer instead of treasure. Reminiscent of classic detective novels, this book features a delightfully complex and often outrageous series of events leading to the solving of the mystery. Shenanigan learns she can be more than her name, creating a lovely level of depth that especially matters in her relationship with her two sisters. The language and vocabulary are quite advanced, which makes for a captivating read in the right hands, but could be frustrating for some middle graders. Shenanigan, her sisters, and the majority of the Swifts read white. Two characters are Black, and two Swifts read as trans and nonbinary. VERDICT Fans of Agatha Christie or Trenton Lee Stewart's The Mysterious Benedict Society will love this fresh spin on a classic caper.—Mariah Smitala - Copyright 2023 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.