Rating: 4 stars
Cover synopsis: Violet, Klaus and Sunny Baudelaire encounter a darkened staircase, a red herring, some friends in a dire situation, three mysterious initials, a liar with an evil scheme, a secret passageway, and parsley soda.
This was yet another clever tome in the Series of Unfortunate Events. The Baudelaires are taken in by a guardian who seems to have known the children's parents. His wife is hilarious with all her concern over what's "in." She's over the top, but I can see so much of people I know in her...
Snicket keeps teasing us with the promise of more information to the overarching plot. But he doesn't really give us ANYTHING to go on. Just an aside here or there. Esme knows Beatrice? And Olaf? And Jerome knows the Baudelaires? What gives?
On the plus side, having this book lying around my living room prompted my daughter's curiosity. She's probably the only first grader who knows what "ersatz" means.
