In the third book of the Eddie Dickens trilogy, Eddie once again faces obstacles from within his family and without, as he is delegated to rescue a floundering family newspaper in America. One might wonder how this is possible with the likes of Mad Uncle Jack planning the voyage, Lady Constance Bustle and Swags as traveling companions, and Even Madder Aunt Maud as a stowaway. Yet Ardagh, with his flair for the absurd and his backward and forward storytelling, brings Eddie home. Martin Rayner takes the characters and convoluted story line in stride. Using pauses and chatty familiarity, he manages Ardagh's frequent asides and parenthetical matter, enabling the listener to keep track of the threads of the story. The sense of a personally related family story is palpable. A.R.
(c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine
Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2003
Duration: 2 hrs, 45 mins
Publisher: Listening Library
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Liam Aiken narrates this prequel to the Series of Unfortunate Events in a somber, deadpan tone that heightens its dark humor. As a teenaged Lemony Snicket investigates a series of arsons in a town called Stain’d-by-the-Sea, Aiken creates voices that delineate character and help keep clear the large cast of Snicket’s associates, enemies, and enemies that turn out to be associates. Aiken’s tone of quiet urgency will keep listeners hooked through wordplay, mysteries, good meals, romance, and the appearance of a new villain named Hangfire, who hoodwinks adults, frames a librarian, and kidnaps all the children in town. This smart and funny listen will please Snicket fans and create new ones.
(Mystery. 8-14)Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2014
Duration: 6 hrs
DD ISBN: 9781478955733
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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
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