Murder Month - The Ersatz Elevator

I didn't think I could slip this book into this month. Which I was fine with. But when I researched this series randomly on Wiki, it said this series comes under Mystery (as well as gothic fiction, absurdist fiction & steampunk) so here it is.

After the events of The Austere Academy, the Baudelaire children are moved to 667 Dark Avenue to live with their new guardians, Jerome and Esme Squalor. But Violet, Klaus and Sunny know that Count Olaf will find them and will try to steal their fortune. But with friends in dire danger and no way to save them, what can the Baudelaire orphans do?

This is an odd book. The Austere Academy is the book in the series that really kicks off the long running mystery that the series has, and The Ersatz Elevator hints to little titbits that might solve the mystery of not only the mysterious deaths of the Baudelaire's parents, but also to Lemony Snicket himself.

But this is a book that falls on old patterns (if it aren't broke, don't fix it, right?) and while this is good for a younger reader (target audience is middle grade), for someone in their very VERY late 20s (I heard that snort of laughter), it feels a bit repetitive.

But, weirdly, I like this book a lot more than The Miserable Mill and The Austere Academy. It felt a little meatier, and because of the new developing mystery, I wonder if this is why. Because now it feels like the series is going somewhere and is adding new twists and characters that makes me think Lemony Snicket knows what he's doing, rather than just repeating the plot...

If you're a fan of the series, you can't skip this one. It introduces characters and ideas that, I hope, are important to the series. But if you haven't read this series, start at the beginning with The Bad Beginning and see how you go...