The Hostile Hospital

Violet, Klaus and Sunny Baudelaire are fugitives, wanted for a murder they did not commit. They have just left the Village of Fowl Devotees behind, and they need somewhere to hide. They find it among the volunteers at Heimlich Hospital, a building that is only half finished.

Inside, the orphans go looking in the Library of Records for any trace of V.F.D. and for the fire that destroyed their home. Hal, who keeps the records, is one of the people they meet there. Once again, the adults who should be protecting them let them down despite meaning well.

Count Olaf is close behind. He poses as a member of the hospital staff, with his usual troupe backing him, and begins a scheme that places Violet at the centre of a surgical procedure she does not need. Klaus and Sunny have to work out how to stop it.

This is the eighth book in A Series of Unfortunate Events, and it follows The Vile Village. The deadpan narration of Lemony Snicket and the illustrations of Brett Helquist continue, and the mystery of the Baudelaire fire moves forward. The tone is dark comedy with wordplay, and it ends on a cliffhanger. It suits readers aged about nine and up.