Fires, fires everywhere, but missing witnesses and framed librarians and children in the wrong school are everywhere too. The penultimate book in the series sees the fiendish deeds deepen and Lemony Snicket's dilemmas and difficulties divide and multiply. While he works to puzzle out the mysteries of Stain'd By The Sea, to save his friends, to rescue the town, he is leaving his sister alone to face her own dangers. The noir gets noirer and the Chandleresque prose gets Chandleresquer. This is fun and smart and enjoyable and intriguing and I can't wait to find out how it all ends.