“There was a town, and there was a train, and there was a murder.”

From Lemony Snicket’s All the Wrong Questions: Why Is This Night Different from All Other Nights?

As a young detective in a secret organization, Lemony Snicket is used to solving mysteries and stopping crimes, despite his totally useless chaperone S. Theodora Markson. When Snicket hears Theodora sneak out of their hotel in the middle of the night, he decides to follow her to see what she’s doing. Snicket follows Theodora as she steals a uniform before boarding a train that’s about to leave the dying village of Stain’d-by-the-Sea.  Snicket knows that also on the train is the wrongly-accused librarian Dashiell, who is being sent to the city for trial. Unsure what Theodore is up to, Snicket sneaks onto the train and finds that his friend Moxie the reporter is also on the train trying to capture the villain Hangfire once and for all. When Snicket hears noise coming from the prison cars next-door, he realizes that Theodora is speaking with Dashiell Qwerty. After hearing a loud noise, Snicket runs to the next car only to find Dashiell lying dead on the ground next to a broken window and Theodora standing over the body. Positive that his chaperone is not a murderer, Snicket begins to investigate what really happened. While the train proves to be full of familiar faces, it also is full of liars intent on punishing Theodora for a murder someone else committed, and Snicker is left racing to find the truth before it’s too late.

The fourth book in Snicket’s mystery series is full of the same twists, humor, and sarcasm that made Series of Unfortunate Events such a success.  The protagonist is smart and relatable, making him the perfect narrator.  Even though Why Is This Night Different from All Other Nights? is a quick read, it’s complex enough to keep readers engaged as the series comes to a close.