By the third book of Snicket's series the formula is fully established and it is exercised here in full. Mr Poe dumps the kids on another kookie relative, Count Olaaf turns up in disguise and they recognize him instantly. No adult will believe them. Olaaf nearly gets his hands on the children. Through use of their singular defining skills the children thwart Olaaf and the henchman selected to back him up this book. Mr Poe lets Olaaf escape. 
 It's still well done, but this one worked less well for my daughter. The relative's obsession with grammar is dry stuff and the subtle grammatical clues the children solve are hard to convey in an audiobook (which is what she's getting when I read to her) - it's/its and their/there ... sound the same. 
 The cartoonish quality grows slightly in this book. The boat-eating Lachrymose Leeches are a step beyond the established levels of strangeness and struck a sour note for me, and Violet's invention seemed a bit lame ... but still, as a whole the book was amusing and interesting and kept Celyn happy whilst not being a chore to read. 
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