Poison for Breakfast

‘This book is about bewilderment, a word which here means… “you don’t know what’s happening”’.  We are in familiar Snicket territory, but this is stranger than most.  Lemony Snicket finds a note on the floor by the door, stating, ‘You had poison for breakfast’. Since he had fixed his own breakfast, as usual, this is startling news. He sets off in search of the sources of all the items of his breakfast: ‘Tea, with honey, a piece of toast with cheese, one sliced pear, and an egg perfectly prepared.’ It all comes from specialist shops, and the people he challenges are equally bewildered. His account rambles around his childhood, libraries, books he has read (references at the end), swimming, philosophy, and death and funerals.  It’s not a story, but musings and thoughts, which frequently go off on tangential routes. Fans who have grown up with his novels may appreciate the opportunity to explore his mind, but anyone expecting a murder mystery will be disappointed, as the solution is rather unsatisfactory.