Samantha Wolf Mysteries, Book Two - The Secret of Camp Whispering Pines

Author Tara Ellis brings readers another well written mystery with the second Samantha Wolf book. Although the present tense still takes some getting used to (you'd think after four Curious Cat Spy Club books and one Samantha Wolf book, all in present tense, I'd be getting used to it by now), the story is engaging enough to draw you in, regardless.  I suppose present tense is the "up and coming" thing in story telling, just as books have gradually made the change from third-person to first-person POV, but I will be blunt when I say that I still prefer reading books told in the old fashioned third-person, past tense.

Nevertheless, The Secret of Camp Whispering Pines picks right up just a few weeks after Samantha and her friend, Ally, return home from Hollow Inn, where they solved their first mystery.  As with any good sleuth, Sam is antsy for another mystery, but there doesn't seem to be any coming her way.  Until Ally calls with a surprise - her aunt has an extra space for one more camper at a week-long summer camp, and Ally asks Sam to take that spot.  While it's not quite a mystery, a week in the woods with horseback riding, swimming, crafts, and sports sounds good to Sam!

Of course, this is a mystery series, so it goes without saying that as soon as they arrive at Camp Whispering Pines, strange things start to occur.  The attendance is a bit down from previous summers, and the camp's owner seems not only unhappy, but downright rude.  Then there's the story of the Sasquatch sightings in the area, which, of course, no one believes.  Until the girls catch a glimpse of what they think could be the creature!  That turns out to be the least of their concerns, however, when they return to their cabin to find raccoons rifling through their belongings.  And when the owner shows up and finds food in their cabin, which was strictly prohibited, Sam finds herself facing punishment.

Ellis keeps the pace up, with one disaster after another - one of their cabin-mates nearly drowns when her canoe sinks; Sam nearly plunges into a ravine when her horse gets out of control; and Sam and Ally get kidnapped when they get too close to solving the mystery of who is sabotaging the camp (yes, yes, yes - it's the ol' sabotage trope that permeates the children's mystery world these days - writers seem to fall back on that as the standard go-to instead of giving us haunted houses or missing heirs or other creative ideas).  Yet, the energy in the novel is high, and I found myself unable to put it down - even though I knew who was behind everything, I still wanted to see how the girls would prove it - particularly when Sam continually gets in trouble and faces higher levels of punishment (up to the point where the owner expels both her and Ally, calling their parents to come get them)!

And just in case you're wondering - was the Sasquatch real, or was it a part of the sabotage plan?  That's a very good question...

A very satisfying read, and at 214 pages, Ellis is able to provide better character and plot development than the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew books of today.  Simon & Schuster really could take a page out of Ellis' book and learn what it takes to tell a great mystery.

RATING:  8 water-logged, multi-colored flyers out of 10 for expanding the world of Samantha Wolf and giving readers a good mystery along the way.