Review by Booklist Review
Have you figured it out yet? Why are so many terrible things happening in Stain'd-by-the-Sea? Who can our narrator, one young Lemony Snicket, trust? Where is the Bombinating Beast statue? What is to be accomplished by burning down the town's buildings? Is it just possible we are asking all the wrong questions? It's the title of the series, for goodness sake! And even Lemony laments he has the incorrect questions, albeit often the right answers. If you haven't read the two previous titles, there's no point in picking up this one. Go back, young adventurer, and start with Who Could It Be at This Hour? (2013). We'll wait. (Well, no, we don't have time to wait.) Though looking carefully at the wonderfully retro woodcuts illustrated by Seth would help pass the time. A hopeful note: Snicket does seem to be getting closer to figuring things out. And he's both brave and philosophical. Is that a good combination? Alas, probably the wrong question.--Cooper, Ilene Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 3-6-Lemony and his nitwit chaperone are still trying to unravel the mysteries surrounding their fading town, Stain'd-by-the Sea. Things heat up, literally, as young Snicket investigates a case of arson that leads to more mysteries involving the Department of Education, the notorious villain Hangfire, and the town's school children. The plot moves along quickly in Snicket's gloomy, deadpan style of writing as the main character, young Lemony Snicket, tries to figure out who to trust and what questions to ask. Liam Aiken's narration is uneven, though. He creates unique voices for most of the characters, but falters with young Snicket's personal reflections. Conveying feelings of loneliness and gloom through a monotone reading is hard to listen to and fails to engage listeners. They will want to consume this series in order, and may prefer the print format for this particular offering.-Terri Norstrom, Cook Memorial Public Library District, Libertyville, IL (c) Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
In his third adventure, twelve-year-old Lemony Snicket, apprentice investigator, tackles a series of arsons in the economically depressed and highly mysterious town of Stain'd-by-the-Sea. Readers already hooked by this series will be pleased to check in with heroic librarian Qwerty, investigative journalist Moxie Mallahan, and the bickering Officers Mitchum and their bullying son, Stewart. New to the cast are a suspicious Department of Education representative and suspected arsonist Harold Limetta. (Ring a bell? The Third Man?) Bells are ringing all over this romp, with a veritable carillon of film noir and children's literature references, from Patricia Highsmith to Beatrix Potter. It's all in support of a good-natured satire of school, an experience one character describes as "the usual song and dance of teachers and homework and recess and gum stuck to the underside of the desks." As to the actual story, clues of the gray-matter sort (such as anagrams) combine with escapes, attacks, cliffhangers, and looming bad guys, keeping the whole crazy plot buoyant. Just. sarah ellis (c) Copyright 2015. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Can an apprentice in a certain secret organization keep his associates safe and save a dying townor is that one of the wrong questions? Someone has set fire to Birnbaum's Sheep Barn, a local business, and Lemony Snicket's clueless chaperone, S. Theodora Markson, takes the case. But the client is the heretofore unheard-of department of education of Stain'd-by-the-Sea (a town with only one school). Snicket strongly suspects that the villain Hangfire is behind the arson; when local librarian Dashiell Qwerty is framed for the crime, Snicket is certain his suspicions are correct. But why would Hangfire burn down a sheep barn? After the school burns, Lemony Snicket and his young associates plot to save Stain'd-by-the-Sea's children and the rest of its structures from Hangfire and the total numbskullery of the adult population. Some questions are answered, and still more are posed in Lemony Snicket (the author)'s third All the Wrong Questions tale. Lemony Snicket (the character) continues to worry about the sister he left in the city (she has now been arrested) and whether he can save (and in some cases trust) his young associates. Seth returns to add occasional spooky, intriguing bicolor illustrations. Linguistic play and literary allusions abound in this smart, slyly humorous noir thriller. Fans will be over the moon, a phrase that here means exceedingly pleased. (Mystery. 8-14) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
