HAARVILLE

Manx Fearty smells something fishy in Haarville—and it isn’t the limpets.

Like all his ancestors, Manx, who is cued White, expects to die in a horrific accident one day. That’s the hazard of tinkering with perpetuals, devices powered by amberose. Ever since the founding of Haarville, an island surrounded by fog and treacherous reefs, the citizens have relied on the Fearty family’s talent for handling the volatile substance that heats their houses, pumps their water, and makes their clocks tick. After his parents died when he was baby, Manx inherited the family’s perpetual repair shop, which he runs alongside Gloria in Excelsis, or Father G for short, a drag queen with dark brown skin who apprenticed with Manx’s grandparents. The tides turn unexpectedly with the arrival of Ninian Baggit and his son, Nathaniel, the first strangers to cross the causeway into Haarville in 40 years. Not only do the Baggits announce that they’re direct descendants of Manx’s great-granduncle Fabian, they have proof, and they’ve come to claim their inheritance. With the help of Fantoosh, his best friend whose ancestors sailed to Haarville from the Indian Ocean, Manx embarks on a quest for the truth that teaches him that the dishonesty, greed, and corruption in his community are as perpetual as their fish boilers. The plot is lively with high stakes and misadventure. Intermittent illustrations pair well with the quirky sense of humor.

An eccentric and fantastical mystery.