Could a smart bartender help a rich bastard figure out what happened to his wife? Would she?

(from McSweeney’s Enchanted Chamber of Astonishing Secrets)

A smart, neat story. A mystery! I sorta solved it before the final pages, but there were still twists and bits of beauty to make it worthwhile to the very end. The matter-of-fact language and tightly drawn characters make you, the reader, feel like you are in careful hands. Indeed, as it should be in any good mystery!, the author has it all under control. Well played, Mr. Snicket.