Bestselling children's author Lemony Snicket, a.k.a. Daniel Handler, is working on a new series, his British publisher has announced. (Stephen Chernin/Associated Press)Bestselling children's author Lemony Snicket is set to release another grim book series, according to British publisher Egmont Press.

The first title from the forthcoming four-book collection will be published in 2012. The title of the series has not been released.

"I can neither confirm nor deny that I have begun research into a new case, and I can neither confirm nor deny that the results are as dreadful and unnerving as A Series Of Unfortunate Events. However, I can confirm that Egmont will be publishing these findings," Snicket, the pen name of San Francisco author Daniel Handler, said in a statement.

The author's dark and subversive A Series of Unfortunate Events — which ended with a 13th volume in 2006 — followed the misadventures of orphaned trio Violet, Klaus and Sunny Baudelaire, who were imprisoned, mistreated and threatened with death by their evil relation, Count Olaf. According to Egmont, the series was translated into 39 languages and sold more than 60 million copies worldwide.

"Usually, I look forward to opening my post," said Egmont's fiction publisher Leah Thaxton.

"But that morning, when I saw the handwriting on the envelope …Well, how would you feel if you knew you were about to unleash yet more untold misery on the unsuspecting children of this country? We at Egmont can't escape Lemony Snicket's grim story but, for the rest of you, there's time. PLEASE READ SOMETHING ELSE!"

Since ending his Unfortunate Events series, Handler has published two holiday books as Snicket (2007's The Latke Who Couldn't Stop Screaming and 2008's A Lump of Coal), released adult titles (including the book Adverbs) and narrated the orchestral show The Composer is Dead during its North American tour.