"Who Could that be at this Hour?"

Lemony Snicket (aka Daniel Handler) has struck again with his latest book "Who Could That Be at This Hour?"  I enjoyed this book from start to finish and loved the quirky characters from the elusive Ellington to the car driving duo Pip  (who sits on the yellow pages and works the wheel) and Squeak (who sits on the floor and pushes the brakes.)

A young Lemony Snicket, 12-years-old to be exact, has taken his first case as an apprentice to one Miss  S. Theodora Markson.  There was a list of 52 chaperones and of said chaperones S. Theodora Markson was 52nd but as Lemony said, "She was not excellent at her job, and this was why I wanted to be her apprentice."

Lemony ends up at Stain'd-by-the-Sea - a deserted town, with a drained sea.  They take their first case in procuring and returning The Bombinating Beast to its rightful owner, presumably Mrs. Murphy Sallis.  As the story unravels it becomes clear why S. Theodora Markson is not great at her job and the case is further complicated.  The Bombinating Beast does not appear to be Mrs. Murphy Sallis' and Snicket and Markson are not the only ones after it. Meanwhile everyone seems to be asking all the wrong questions.

As is to be expected from author Lemony Snicket, this is a great read.  Snicket has a quick witted edge to his style of writing that is not to be duplicated.  The characters are interesting and varied and at the story's end, the reader will have more questions unanswered than when she began.  This is the first of what will be a four book series and while it does not have the biting darker edge that the Unfortunate Events series does it delivers the same quirky and fun tone that readers will love.

I highly recommend this for the middle graders on your list this holiday season.

I received this book from the publisher but all opinions are my own.