The Vile Village (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book 7)

Rating:
Summary: Mysteries and Murders
Review: By now, prospective guardians for the three Baudelaire orphans have grown weary about taking them in since they have had six previous homes and guardians, and in each place they've been, trouble has followed. Sadly for the orphans, the trouble was never their fault, but the evil Count Olaf tends to make things seem as if Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire are the causes of the numerous deaths, disturbances, and discomforts that have followed them. So when Mr. Poe can't find a new guardian, he decides to send them to a town participating in a new program revolving around the idea that "it takes a village to raise a child". When the siblings notice that one of the towns is called V.F.D., they believe that they have found the key to solving their troubles with Count Olaf, and will find their missing friends, Duncan and Isadora Quagmire. Sadly, though not unexpectedly, their hopes turn out to be false (for the most part), as V.F.D. stands for Village of Fowl Devotees, and the villagers are completely obsessed with the crows that inhabit the town, as well as 50,000 rules (I am not exaggerating this) that all have the same penalty for being broken: death by fire at the stake.
Things start out bad for the Baudelaires, and they only get worse after they are wrongfully imprisoned for murdering a man that everyone believes to be Count Olaf (turns out, the guy's name is really Jaques S.).
These books continue to improve in quality due to the increase in interesting plot twists and new methods of story telling. Unlike the first few books, even though Count Olaf is still a major player in the grand scheme of things, he is becoming more and more of a background character who manipulates events without anyone knowing instead of trying to rush in and capture the orphans. Can't wait to start the next book, The Hostile Hospital.

Rating:
Summary: Still Going Strong
Review: In the "Vile Village" the three Baudelaire orphans become part of a new program based on the saying 'It takes a village to raise a child.' Under this program, Violet, Klaus, and Sunny's newest guardians will be all the residents of an entire village. In the hopes of solving the mystery of 'V.F.D.,' the children choose a village by that name as their new home. They are sent to live with a kind man named Hector who has a library of forbidden books. V.F.D. is run by the Council of Elders, who have made tens of thousands of ridiculous rules that the citizens of the village must follow or risk being burned at the stake. When the Baudelaires are falsely accused of murder and imprisoned, they must escape from the jail and find their friends the Quagmires, who are hidden somewhere in the village.

Enjoyable romp with a bit of a different antagonist being the village elders. I like the way the author keeps finding new and interesting situations to put the kids in.