The Swifts: A Garden of Vipers

Beth Lincoln is the award-winning, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Swifts series, which was inspired by her love of etymology, the gleeful gothic, and classic murder mysteries. Her debut novel, The Swifts: A Dictionary of Scoundrels was the winner of the Barnes & Noble Children’s & YA Book Award and the Nero Book Award for Children’s Fiction.  Raised in a former Victorian railway station in the North of England, Beth’s 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.  She lives in Newcastle upon Tyne with her partner and hopefully, by the time you are reading this, a dog.