Poison for Breakfast

Betrayals, conspiracies, suspicious fires. Over the course of his long and ambiguous career, Mr. Snicket has investigated many crimes and mysteries. But he had never imagined that he would have to investigate his own death. Nor that he would have to do so while he was still alive. And yet, he has stumbled upon this "case" – his own case – right there in front of his nose, served up on a plate for breakfast. And now all he can do is retrace the events and the journey that "Tea: with honey: a piece of toast: with cheese,: one sliced pear,: and an egg perfectly prepared" made to reach his table and poison him. This is how Lemony Snicket's last day on earth begins and it is the cue for his reflection on how knowing that one is living one’s last moments reveals the true essence, the most intimate desires and the most hidden fears of each of us. Poison at Breakfast is different from the other books written by Mr. Snicket. You could call it a "philosophical crime novel": The protagonist, in fact, warns us right from the start that we are about to read a book whose real intent is not to advance a more or less compelling plot (depending on the readers’ tastes), but to investigate and try to unveil the workings of the human mind, by highlighting its mechanisms of association and digression. However, there are plenty of the characteristics that have consecrated him as a writer of worldwide success: the cynicism, the anecdotes, the element of surprise, the turning point, the exact moment when everything is questioned and takes a different direction... and with Lemony Snicket, you know, it certainly won't be something positive.  

Veleno a colazione (Poison for Breakfast)
by Lemony Snicket
Mondadori, 2023