THE SWIFTS

The over-the-top Swift family might be able to reconcile with their cousins—if art theft doesn’t interfere.

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. The Swifts’ new Matriarch, Fauna, decrees that they must make peace with the Martinets, especially after the theatrical theft of a painting from the Swift family home. Ouvolpo is a flamboyant crime collective that lifts looted and stolen art and returns it to the rightful owners, leaving behind fantastical crime scene tableaux. Does their theft of A Clown Laments His Lot in Life by the famous surrealist Pierrot mean Ouvolpo believe the painting rightfully belongs to the Martinets? Piratical Uncle Maelstrom takes Shenanigan and her sister Phenomena to Paris, where Shenanigan is overwhelmed by the city, charmed by artist cousin Pomme, and enraged by the thieves. “No one breaks into my House, leaves behind an inflatable bird, and gets away with it,” she declares. But some of the Martinets are untrustworthy, even by family standards. Even Maelstrom’s loyalty is questionable, since he keeps flirting with The Law (in the person of his nemesis, Haitian Interpol inspector Hugo Rousseau), leaving Shenanigan, Phenomena, and Erf, their nonbinary cousin, to save both families. The family is multiracial, and queerness is comfortably normalized. Abundant wordplay and humor will keep the pages turning.

An amorally charming hero stars in this comically flamboyant heist mystery.