File Under: 13 Suspicious Incidents Reports 1-6

All the Wrong Questions

by Lemony Snicket, Seth (Illustrations)

The first volume in a two-part ebook series that invites you to match wits with Lemony Snicket and solve perplexing mini-mysteries.

Paintings have been falling off of walls, a loud and loyal dog has gone missing, a gurgled message is being transmitted by walkie-talkie-strange things are happening all over the town of Stain'd-by-the-Sea. Called upon to investigate these suspicious incidents, young Lemony Snicket collects clues, questions witnesses, and cracks every case. Join the investigation and tackle the mysteries alongside Snicket, then turn to the back of the book to see the solution revealed.

A delicious read that welcomes readers into Lemony Snicket's world of deep mystery, mysterious depth, deductive reasoning, and reasonable deductions.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Middle Grade, Childrens, Young Adult, Humor, Collections

103 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 1, 2014

About the author

Lemony Snicket had an unusual education and a perplexing youth and now endures a despondent adulthood. His previous published works include the thirteen volumes in A Series of Unfortunate Events, The Composer is Dead, and 13 Words. His new series is All The Wrong Questions.

For A Series of Unfortunate Events:
www.lemonysnicket.com

For All The Wrong Questions:
www.lemonysnicketlibrary.com

Reviews

[Hyzie · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was boring. Boring is a word that means not fun to read and also causing weariness when reading continues.

The definitions were killing me, here. Absolutely killing me. This seems to be a Lemony Snicket thing, but I just can't take it. I couldn't have taken it as a child, and I certainly can't take it as an adult. It feels alarmingly patronizing in the worst possible way (is there a good way to be patronizing?)

The little mysteries were kind of interesting, though very bare bones, and I solved a few and didn't manage to solve a few of the others. These reminded me of the "Clue" books I read as a child, which I really enjoyed.

Lemony Snicket as a character (because yes, he is a character, the main character, and I think I might be missing some of the mythology of this guy) is faintly annoying. He seems to know the answer to everything without actually feeling clever, which is just awkward-feeling and seems like bad writing more than anything else. Coupled with the fact that he shares the author's name (or pseudonym, I suppose), it feels like he knows the answer because the author knows the answer because the author is, you know, writing the bloody book, so obviously he knows the answer.

The writing style is just not something that worked for me at all, and I don't think it is something that will ever work for me. I finished this because it was extremely short and I'll probably finish The Bad Beginning because I have started it and because it is such a hugely popular series, but I don't think that I can jump on the Lemony Snicket train here. Maybe I'm missing something, but I can't for the life of me figure out what it is.

[Lavinia · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a book people kept putting in my hands and telling me I was going to love, the way the doctor tells you the needle won't hurt a bit. The book began the way it always began before I gave up on it: with a man carrying around a drawing of a snake that had just eaten, and asking people what they thought of it. I thought it was no way to start up a conversation.

I was appalled by this extract, this reference to one of the world's greatest novels, this allusion to The Little Prince! However, I resolutely came to the conclusion that awarding Snicket with three stars would only be fair, as his individual humour and fantastic plot theories made up for that lack of self-acknowledgement that de Saint-Exupéry's novel is better than his.

[Brian Skinner · Rating 3 out of 5]

A kid would rate this book a lot higher than I did. It is 6 different Mystery stories. It is like the encyclopedia brown book where you have to go to the back of the book to find the answer to the Mystery.

The book has quite flowery language so that is one way it differs from Encyclopedia Brown.

[Faty ✨️ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[lilpotatochi · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️

[Barb Middleton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This goes with the book, "Who Could it be at this Hour?" You can enjoy it as a stand alone but I'd read the other one first to have a better background of all the kooky characters. A funny, quick read that gives the reader a chance to solve six mysteries along with the protagonist, super sleuth Lemony Snicket. The solutions require the reader to flip to a couple of paragraphs at the back of the book in order to see the outcome. I didn't figure out any of the mysteries, but then I was on the elliptical machine and have never been a stud at multitasking while exercising. This is typical laugh aloud Snicket humor with puns and word plays. My favorite is "Bad Gang" where he references classics such as Edgar Allan Poe's "Tell-tale Heart." If you are teaching acronyms, puns, rhymes, word plays, famous names, this could work as a mentor text. I like how he names the Bellerophon brothers, Pip and Squeak. Bellerophon killed the Chimea in Greek mythology. He's up there with Hercules. Or the Pip and Squeak cartoon characters. Or... you can just read it to enjoy Snicket's twisted sense of humor.

Paintings are mysteriously crashing down walls, an obnoxiously loud territorial dog goes missing, a walkie-talkie shows up on the restaurant floor are just a few incidents that lead Snicket on a series of investigations at the Stained-by-the-Sea township. This novel has the first six incidents and Snicket asks questions and collects clues to each mystery. In case you missed that I said six incidents, not thirteen. Of course I missed the "Reports 1-6" first time I read it. I'm trying to help you speedy souls that are like moi. I also have no deductive skills whatsoever and did not figure out one of the mysteries. Good thing I didn't choose the path of being a detective.

Snicket knows his stuff combining literature and word plays to create a funny plot and characters. He makes it look easy and I admire his craft. He's great with dialogue and the clues are not that easy to solve in his stories. Although I'm not detailed. Maybe it is easy for you. If you liked the WCIBATH ("Who Could it be at this Hour?") book then you'll enjoy this one too! I just need to get the sequel with the next 7 mysteries.

[Sabina · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s been a while since I read the series by Lemony Snicket, “All the Wrong Questions” but this book (and its companion volumes of the same name, “Reports 7-13” and “Book 2.5”) should be read around the same time. As they all focus on the central character, a young spy named Lemony Snicket and follow him around on his adventures. When I read the original series I thought about reading these ‘suspicious incident reports’ then but didn’t and now I wish I had. While these books are definitely imaginative and a classic ‘Snicket’ (a word which here means “oddly written, bizarre subject matter, and quite fun in an obtuse and loquacious sort of way”) book, there’s not a lot of background to fully flesh out the secondary characters for a new reader. That doesn’t mean the stories aren’t enjoyable, it just took me a little bit to get back into the ‘Snicket’ mindset and take everything I was reading with a very large chunk of salt.

Lemony Snicket is, well, Lemony Snicket and if you’ve never read his books you won’t know what I mean. If you want to try, please do so but leave your rational mind at the door – you won’t need it while enjoying his light madness. If you have read his books, you’ll most definitely enjoy this one – but read it right after (or during) “All the Wrong Questions” for the greatest effect (a phrase which here means “you have a ‘phone-a-friend’ or you’ll be lost without a lifeline to sanity”).

4 stars because in Lemony Snicket’s reality you can only judge his books against his other books and this one is pretty good – also, I was able to figure out most of the mysteries before I read the solutions!

[Jaime K · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a companion piece to the "All the Wrong Questions" series. Goodreads says this is 2.5, but the beginning tells us that the stories are being told after the events in that series. It's...mediocre. 2.5 stars.

These six reports are short substories that Lemony and S. Theodora Markson encounter during their time in Stain'd-by-the-Sea. Or really, Snicket encounters them, since he's more competent than his chaperone. They're all "suspicious incidents" that I find myself enjoying trying to figure out without reading the conclusions. The reports are in one file (the beginning) and the conclusions are in another (at the end). It's a neat setup.

- "Inside Job" is about a girl miner named Marguerite with a gold mine in her front yard who wants Lemony to figure out why pictures are falling in her house.

- "Pinched Creature" is about a boy named Oliver who asks Lemony and Moxie to figure out who stole his newt. Oliver is a vet, and we learn quite a bit of the state of the town a bit more than we do in the books.

- "Ransom Note" is about a mechanic named Jackie who has Pip & Squeak get Lemony because someone kidnapped his dog.

- "Walkie Talkie" is about Lemony and Jake trying to find the owner of a walkie talkie when a woman calls through claiming to need help.

- "Bad Gang" is about the 'Big Bad Brick Gang' who gets into the Mitchums' minds as they break into stores for single items.

- "Twenty-Five Guests" is about Qwerty's friend who has his monogrammed spoon stolen.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this before reading book 1 and 2 which I do not recommend. I DO however recommend this book!! It gives witty insight into the town and its people through mini-mysteries. The solutions to the crimes are very characteristic of, well, the characters, which can come off silly if you do not introduce yourself through the first two books. It adds a level of thinking and extends the timeline of Lemony’s story to really make his time in Stain’d-by-the-Sea feel as long as described. There are no plot holes here, only pot holes that will have you on the edge of your seat!

[Sarah Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was okay, it was basically six short problems that Lemony solved in Stain'd-by-the-sea.

* People were pretty daft, letting it be known that they had seen the dog, leaving paintings leant against walls, that they knew the newt was purple, stealing their daughter's dog etc. 🤦

[Storm Conney · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Fun family read, I appreciate that each mystery presents and explains at least one uncommon word for young readers; it’s especially nice when the story invariably immediately answers the question “what does X mean?”

[Partoptr · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought I would find more clues about the main story of "all the wrong questions" series or what happened to them afterwards but this book is all about some short stories that only happens in the same city with same people mostly and has nothing to do with the actuall main story.
Each short story includes an incident that lemony looks for evidence and suddenly solves it (if you read the description carefull enough you could guess it too but generally as someone who has already read detective stories these clues were not that big deal and too boring)
Recommend the book to fill some very bored spare time and nothing more.

[Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

While it makes you think of Encyclopedia Brown, the stories were a little...easier? Granted we read that massive collection from Mr. Sobel last year so we were prepared. (BTW - nice touch to use Sobel as a name in one of them).

Wonder if there's a wiki for all the references made in the various stories / books to other works?

[clay · Rating 5 out of 5]

i read this on the plane just for kicks and it gave me so much joy
just a really fun way to get some classic lemony snicket vibes into my head without committing to a lot of reading or anything remotely intense
it was also fun to be able to vaguely remember the stories (from when i was like 12) enough to be able to solve the mysteries myself
gotta love low stakes mystery stories

[Kati · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute series of short story mysteries solved by Lemony Snicket. My son will likely enjoy reading. A fun style of reading for kids to build vocabulary.

[Qonita · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ngakak sama kasus pertama 😂 pendek, tapi lumayan buat tomboh kangen asoue

[Ivory · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn’t expect the cases to be side stories. Anyhow, enjoyed the wit of Mr Lemony. He sort of reminds me of my fav Mr Hercule!

[Mara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very much like Encyclopedia Brown with good humor.

[JZ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved giving a chance to solve yourself!

[Rashae · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a fun book! I enjoyed the small mysteries and thought my time well spent reading this book. Does not need to be read as a part of the series.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pequeñas historias sobre casos particulares resueltos por el intelecto de Lemony Snicket, con algunos guiños a la serie de ASoUE.

[nic p]

4.5/5

[Beetah · Rating 4 out of 5]

قسمت ۲/۵ و ۳/۵ از مجموعه ی سوال های اشتباه، ربطی به داستان اصلی این مجموعه نداره، همون آدما توشن اما ماجراهاش کاملا فرعیه.
بامزه بود خوشم اومد.

[Nazirah Said · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! Whimsical and witty, even reading as an adult. Looooveeeed it!!!

[Cris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first half of short stories/mysteries told by Lemony Snickett. These mysteries are great ice breakers into the way Snickett thinks.

[Marti Demo · Rating 3 out of 5]

These are fine and cute, I am just not very committed to this series I like the secretive element of having the conclusion separate from the story though

[Belle · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 - 3 stars. I guess I should’ve known. Went into this looking for a quirky, light and nostalgic read. It /did/ start off being charming and delightful, with an interesting format that had the reader flip to the back of the book for the conclusion to the mystery. But it grew tiresome pretty quickly, esp as most of the mysteries couldn’t be solved by the reader, were unconnected to each other, and were about characters and events I knew nothing about. Since this is supposed to be an in-between book as part of a larger series, I think it would’ve tickled readers with more context to see familiar names and references to known events. But for me, it just felt confusing and tiring after a while. The writing style was still classic Lemony Snicket, and the last story was nice in tying up the 12 previous ones into an intriguing “so what happens now” ending. I just didn’t enjoy this book as much as I thought I would.

[cookiemonger · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the reports in separate ebooks, but I'll review them both here, since they're both the same thing.

While the All the Wrong Questions series is quite different from Snicket's other books, they're all very atmospheric. The setting is a little goofy, but I love it. The voice can be a little formulaic, which actually works very well for the Suspicions Incidents reports.

It's like Encyclopedia Brown books more than anything else. Snicket encounters a brief mystery, usually of small or at least brief consequence, and solves it with little effort. A hyperlink takes you to the solution at "the back of the book." The mysteries are all simple, especially if you pay enough attention, but they make much more sense than Encyclopedia Brown did, on the whole.

One nice, and incredibly odd, thing is that the mysteries actually end happily. I think all thirteen conclude with lost objects found, bad people punished, and little boys safely on the way to their mothers. It's a nice break from the slew of unanswered questions and unhappy endings.

[ForeverDay · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m not entirely sure how to rate this, because I missed the point for the majority of it. I listened to it on audiobook. Yes, I was listening tired and distracted on my drives home from work, but I can usually follow along a story well enough. Every Single Time, without fail, the words ‘thus concludes case X’ would happen and I would go… wait, what? I have no idea what just happened or how it concluded. Yet every time I would start the next one, convinced I just hadn’t listened hard enough to catch it. Eventually, on reaching the very end of the audiobook I realised there was a section on conclusions, that reassured me that I wasn’t just going mad.
I think I would’ve enjoyed it more as a physical book, where I could’ve taken my time to try figure them out myself and then checked the conclusions as I went. On audio, by the time I got to all the conclusions I had completely forgotten the mysteries. I also found the different narrators a bit jarring, and I think some of the humour was lost in the translation to audio format, and it left me a little bored.

[Norman Cook · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collection of short mysteries set in the same series as All the Wrong Questions. The mysteries reminded me very much of the Two-Minute Mysteries series by Donald J. Sobol. In fact, one of the characters in the book is named Sobol. All the clues are there, and none of the mysteries are terribly difficult to solve. But they are a fun way to learn more about young Lemony Snicket and his time at Stain'd-by-the-Sea.