While narrator Liam Aiken evokes the wistful, dolorous tone of Snicket’s second mystery in his All the Wrong Questions series, he fails to deliver Snicket’s signature snark with appropriate vigor. In this episode, the main character, 12-year-old Lemony Snicket, continues the investigations that began in STAIN’D BY THE SEA with the case of the missing chemist, Cleo Knight. As Aiken delivers Snicket’s declarative sentences in a deadpan voice, his remote reading keeps listeners distant from the story. Furthermore, Aiken does not always play up the quirks of the town’s eccentric characters. When he does use individualized voicings, the story shakes off its languidness to some degree. Aiken’s melancholy narration echoes Snicket’s loneliness but doesn’t enliven the recording for young listeners. An attached PDF file includes the character Seth’s illustrations.
(Mystery. 8-14)Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2013
Duration: 4 hrs
DD ISBN: 9781478924845
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Past and present come together seamlessly.
Casey Holloway and Emily Eiden perform alternating chapters of this audiobook about two girls connected through time. In the present day, 13-year-old Penny Marks is angry and resentful about her parents’ decision to move their family to Paris for her mother’s museum job. In 1943, 13-year-old Marie Bonnet and her sister live alone in Nazi-occupied Paris. Holloway depicts the curious, determined, artistic Penny, who pursues the mystery of a painting hidden in a wall and a letter written 80 years earlier. With an accented narration, Eiden reveals Marie’s entry into the French Resistance and her commitment to hiding French art from the Germans.
Past and present come together seamlessly. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Feb. 17, 2026
Duration: 6 hrs, 42 mins
DD ISBN: 9780063321816
Publisher: Harper Audio
Review Posted Online: March 10, 2026
Contemporary Brooklyn is home to a diverse group of characters voiced by Nikki Massoud in this middle-grade mystery with a slight fantasy twist. In this second installment, amateur sleuths Roya and Amin are approached by their neighbor and fellow classmate, 12-year-old Thea, to find the treasure left in their building by her estranged grandfather. Showcasing her skills, Massoud interweaves vibrant characters and periodic Iranian words. Roya and Amin are given energetic and confident voices, while Thea's breathy voice portrays a more reserved and introverted personality. Massoud captures three generations of characters ranging from tired parents and grandparents to boisterous children.
(Mystery. 9-13)Pub Date: Nov. 11, 2025
Duration: 4 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9798217157068
Publisher: Listening Library
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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