Shouldn't You Be in School?; Farshore, 2015

Before he wrote 'A Series of Unfortunate Events', before the Baudelaires became orphans, even before the invention of Netflix, Lemony Snicket asked all the wrong questions. Four to be exact. This is the account of the third question.

Young apprentice Lemony Snicket is investigating a case of arson but soon finds himself enveloped in the ever-increasing mystery that haunts the town of Stain'd-by-the-Sea.

Who is setting the fires? What secrets are hidden in the Department of Education? Why are so many schoolchildren in danger? Is it all the work of the notorious villain Hangfire? How could you even ask that? What kind of education have you had?

In the tradition of great storytellers, from Dickens to Dahl, comes an exquisitely dark comedy that is both literary and irreverent. You'll laugh only if you find humour in gothic and mysterious things involving detectives and crime solving.

Lemony's other literary outings in 'A Series of Unfortunate Events' have sold 60 million copies worldwide and been made into a Hollywood film starring Jim Carrey and a Netflix series starring Neil Patrick Harris. These regrettable developments mean that millions of fans have found out about the dreadful plight of the Baudelaire orphans, but you do not have to. You have been warned.