Al the Wrong Questions: When did you see her last?

Before you read this review of the first book in the new series by Lemony Snicket, ask yourself these questions:

1. Did you read Lemony Snicket's previous book, WCTBATH?

a) Yes.
b) What bath?

2. Can two people be in the same place at once?

a) No, of course not!
b) Wait, who's the person?

3. Can you make invisible ink?

a) With a good amount of lemons, yes.
b)      

4. What does a failing company, several missing people, and a biting tadpole have to do with anything?

a) Um... 2 more books?
b) Spoilers.

WDYSHL, or When did you see her Last, is the sequel to WCTBATH, and follows the story of Lemony and Theodora trying to track down Cleo Knight, a chemist whose family runs the ink business in Stain'd-by-the-Sea. Lemony and Theodora visit the Knight's house, but find out the Knight parent's apothecary has drugged them to the point they are practically incoherent. From there, Lemony gets two leads: one from Polly Partial, the grocer, and another from Jake Hix, who works at the diner in Stain'd-by-the-Sea. Both Polly and Jake claim to have seen Cleo that morning, Polly without her fancy Dilemma, (a car) and Jake with. The Bellerophon brothers, nicknamed Pip and Squeak, give evidence that Jake's witness is correct when they tell Lemony that Cleo did not ride their taxi. He asks them for a ride to the Mallahan Lighthouse, where he asks Moxie to give him a haircut. Confused, Moxie complies. Through a series of events which include foreshadowing for the next book, Snicket gets arrested, which leads to the Mitchums lining up Stew, Lemony, and Moxie and asking Polly Partial to pick the thief. When Polly thinks Stew is the thief, the Mitchums are enraged. This confirms that not only is Polly a terrible witness, but the Mitchums won't arrest their son, no matter what he does. Therefore, it is set in stone that Jake's witness was the true one. Lemony then goes to the library with Moxie. There, Moxie learns about Colonel Colophon (Hey look! ASOUE alliteration!) a teetotaller who was a hero in a war, then hospitalized due to a terrible bombing over a dispute about a statue. Lemony finds a suspicious figure lurking outside the library an goes to investigate. She leads him to a building where he finds Ellington, who is disguised as Cleo Knight. Lemony offers to help her escape, which takes time to involve another piece of foreshadowing for the 4th book. They meet up at Black Cat Coffee, where Lemony gives her the Bombinating Beast again. The Mitchums catch up to them, and Stew reveals that he is working with Hangfire. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Moxie is furious with Lemony as Lemony promises to explain everything while they go to Hungry's again. Jake reveals all he knows to Lemony, that he and Cleo are dating, and that Cleo went to Handkerchief Heights to continue her research on invisible ink,  but he tells Jake that Cleo never arrived there. Moxie and both go to Colophon Clinic, where he runs into Colonel Colophon himself, who turns out to be Hangfire. Hangfire almost throws Lemony out a window, but Jake bursts in with Cleo's Dilemma, causing the building to almost collapse. Lemony and Jake both find Cleo, who has cornered the Knight's apothecary. He had Nurse Dander, who wounded Moxie with a knife, are both arrested.

The summary was super long, I know, but I'm going to make this short because, well, I don't feel like I have much to add to my previous review. Jake is a lot like Moxie, supportive but not a pushover, Ellington is as dubious as ever, and Theodora is as ignorant as she was in the last book. Cleo was a bit different, and making her strong, and clever (and not just in chemistry, either!) is a reversal on social norms. In fact, this book does make an effort to hone that in. Theodora mentions many times how "un-man-like" Lemony is, with his interest in a clue in the form on Cleo's clothes and his loyalty to Ellington. Jake, the man, is given the kitchen duties, and Cleo is the person that does her job outside. This continues ASOUE's trend of inserting serious issues into kid's books (responsible consumption of media, grey ethics, discrimination of disabled), this time addressing gender roles, but not for the first time. ("My sister is a nice girl, and she knows how to do all sorts of things." —Klaus Baudelaire, The Reptile Room)

Stew gets a major leap in this book, heck all of the Mitchums do. Stew has his parents wrapped around his finger. The Mitchums outright refuse to acknowledge that Stew can do any wrong. You know what this reminds me of?  Ishmael and the islanders from The End. Ishmael has the islanders under his control, and everyone agrees with him, no matter what. (Or at least, until the Baudelaires show up) The islanders, if they really want to, can mutiny and force Ishmael off the island (which they almost do), just like the Mitchums can turn Stew in. The one thing that's hindering them from doing so is the islanders' attachment to a safe haven, like the Mitchums' attachment to Stew. As for Stew's huge dip down, here we learn that Stew is working with the Inhumane Society, calling another parallel to Carmletia Spats, who joined Olaf. As Lemony himself put it, "We are all told to ignore bullies. It's something they teach you, and they can teach you anything. It doesn't mean you learn it. It doesn't mean you believe it. One should never ignore bullies. One should stop them."

In conclusion, I really liked this book. Is it as good as ASOUE? How will this connect to the rest of ASOUE? What's caviar? You might say that those are All the Wrong Questions.