Starred Review for Kirkus Reviews (Thu Apr 28 00:00:00 CDT 2022)

How many mysteries lurk in the no-longer-seaside town of Stain'd-by-the-Sea? Thirteen. Collected herein, only for members of a certain secret organization (for nonmembers: This is a blank book; please move along), are 13 short investigations by young Lemony Snicket from the days of his apprenticeship in the increasingly deserted and mysterious town of Stain'd-by-the-Sea. The remaining residents, having heard of his investigations, bring him cases: Rare amphibians have gone missing; family heirlooms have been stolen; missives have been momentarily mislaid. Is there a demon on the docks at midnight? Is there a ghost haunting Old Lady Mann? As he ruminates, which here means to contemplate rather than to chew repeatedly, over the larger mysteries left in the wake of his previous investigations, Snicket solves small cases; readers can match wits as the solutions are only presented in a subfile at the volume's end. Snicket (the author, aka Daniel Handler) gifts fans of his All the Wrong Questions quartet of tongue-in-cheek noir mysteries with a Volume 2.5 that expands the setting and characters of the main series while offering an homage to Donald Sobol's Encyclopedia Brown. Literary allusions and witty wordplay abound as expected, with the added fun of getting to play detective. Fans can still look forward to Volume 3 of All the Wrong Questions, coming in October 2014: fabulous (which here means "very good" rather than "not real"). (Mystery/short stories. 8-14)

ALA Booklist

Fans of the All the Wrong Questions series will have to wait for answers to its bigger questions while Lemony Snicket meets Encyclopedia Brown. Oh, not literally. Young Lemony is still in Stain'd-by-the-Sea (why is the town falling apart?) and still in the company of mentor S. Theodora Markson (who exactly is she?), but he's taking a pause to solve 13 mysteries, Brown-style: short conundrums with the answers at the book's conclusion. The main difference between Snicket and Brown is that the former has a much bigger vocabulary and far better allusions (eating maple syrup is like drinking the blood of a tree), while the latter chooses mysteries that are easier for readers to solve. That said, Snicketeers will relish the chance to revisit Lemony and several familiar characters (in every sense of that word!). Once again, Seth's black-and-white illustrations are charming (and occasionally worrisome). But after this delightful detour, Snicket, please return to the problems at hand, as Stain'd-by-the-Sea is losing residents faster than rats departing a sinking ship. (The kind of rats Billy Becker tries to catch in his old pillow case e the chapter "Troublesome Ghost.")

Horn Book

Kid-detective Lemony Snicket treats us to thirteen short mysteries (missing newt, ghostly appearance, series of break-ins) in which he leaves readers poised just before the reveal, with a chance to solve the mystery themselves before they flip to the back of the book. (It's Encyclopedia Brown for Snicket-Hipsters.) The actual puzzles are dandy, and the format is ideal for the author's comic avalanche.

Kirkus Reviews (Fri Oct 04 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

How many mysteries lurk in the no-longer-seaside town of Stain'd-by-the-Sea? Thirteen. Collected herein, only for members of a certain secret organization (for nonmembers: This is a blank book; please move along), are 13 short investigations by young Lemony Snicket from the days of his apprenticeship in the increasingly deserted and mysterious town of Stain'd-by-the-Sea. The remaining residents, having heard of his investigations, bring him cases: Rare amphibians have gone missing; family heirlooms have been stolen; missives have been momentarily mislaid. Is there a demon on the docks at midnight? Is there a ghost haunting Old Lady Mann? As he ruminates, which here means to contemplate rather than to chew repeatedly, over the larger mysteries left in the wake of his previous investigations, Snicket solves small cases; readers can match wits as the solutions are only presented in a subfile at the volume's end. Snicket (the author, aka Daniel Handler) gifts fans of his All the Wrong Questions quartet of tongue-in-cheek noir mysteries with a Volume 2.5 that expands the setting and characters of the main series while offering an homage to Donald Sobol's Encyclopedia Brown. Literary allusions and witty wordplay abound as expected, with the added fun of getting to play detective. Fans can still look forward to Volume 3 of All the Wrong Questions, coming in October 2014: fabulous (which here means "very good" rather than "not real"). (Mystery/short stories. 8-14)

School Library Journal

Gr 4-6 In his signature Snickety style, the author of "A Series of Unfortunate Events" (HarperCollins) and creator of that oddball little town known as Stain'd by the Sea offers 13 case files reminiscent of Donald Sobol's Two-Minute Mysteries (Scholastic, 1969). Set in the same locale as the previous installments in the "All the Wrong Questions" titles and starring a young Lemony Snicket investigating strange occurrences as part of his apprenticeship for a shady "secret organization," this companion book can be enjoyed by die-hard fans as well as readers new to the series. Each mini-mysteryjust a few pages longis chock-full of wordplay, clever dialogue, noir references, and red herrings. The short chapters end with a cliff-hanger and kids may consult "Sub-file B" at the back of the work to see how the brilliant young detective solved the crime. Black-and-white illustrations highlight key details and provide a few subtle clues along the way. Though there is a narrative thread connecting the individual tales, readers can also delve into the separate cases one-by-one with equal enjoyment. By the end, not all mysteries are solved, nor all questions answered; whodunit aficionados will want to revisit again and again.— Kiera Parrott , School Library Journal