The Haunted Studio - The Hayley Mysteries, Book 1

I keep telling myself I am NOT going to pick up any new series, I am NOT going to start reading any new series, and I am NOT going to look at any new series that I may come across while in the bookstore or strolling through Amazon.  Then, of course, I happen across a new series that catches my eye, I pick it up and look at the premise and story, and I suddenly find myself buying a new series.  (SIGH)   I supposed I'm addicted, what can I say?  But, at least so far, I have been pretty good at picking up new series that are actually worth reading (only a few here and there have been less than stellar).  And The Haley Mysteries is no exception.  My eye happened to catch the cover art for the first two books that were on display at Barnes & Noble - the painted cover with the eye-catching logo (where the word "The" is placed within a magnifying glass next to Hayley's name!) - and I found the third book shelved in the children's section.  So, I picked up all three books with the hope that I would not be disappointed.

The Haunted Studio is the first of the Hayley Mysteries.  It introduces readers to thirteen-year old Hayley and her two best friends, Aubrey and Cody.  Hayley is the star of a TV series called "Sadie Solves It!" about a young teenage sleuth, aided by her two friends, played by Aubrey and Cody.  The three young friends are getting ready to start filming the second season of their show and are a bit nervous - the show was successful enough to have it moved from the studios were the first season were filmed in the Valley to a major studio in the middle of Hollywood!  There are a number of new crew members on the set, and when one of them warns Hayley and her friends about the ghost that is said to haunt the studio, Hayley has to wonder if it is true or not.  Aubrey is confident it is true, but Cody doesn't believe in ghosts. Soon enough, accidents begin to happen on the set, and the young actress who plays Sadie's younger sister on the show claim to have seen the ghost up in the rafters.  The show starts to fall behind schedule, and the director is growing concerned that if they go over-budget, the show may get cancelled!  Not wanting to see their show cancelled, Hayley, Aubrey and Cody set about trying to uncover the truth behind the ghost - is a young actress who died in a tragic accident years ago really haunting the studio?  Is she the reason the show that was filmed here last season was cancelled?  Is the ghost now trying to prevent Hayley from having a successful second season?

I have to say, I am rather impressed with this first mystery, particularly since it was written by Hayley LeBlanc, a thirteen-year old actress and social media star who happens to have been in the online show, Chicken Girls (which, interestingly enough, had one mystery book published that I read and reviewed back in September 2019 on this blog).  Now I can't say whether Hayley actually wrote this book herself, or whether she plotted and outlined it and a ghostwriter actually did the writing - but I can say that the story was engaging, the characters are definitely likable, and the mystery itself was well-thought out (although for seasoned mystery fans, it is not really too difficult to figure out who the culprit is).  I also enjoy the fact that Hayley has a pet cat, Salmon, that goes with her to the set and who she carries around quite a bit.  Being a cat fan myself, I enjoy seeing cat-lovers in the books I read.

The cover art and interior illustrations are done by Alessia Trunfio.  I'm not familiar with this artist, but I do enjoy her art tremendously.  I miss the days when the Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, and other mystery series books had internal illustrations to complement the stories, so it's great to see that some newer series are following in that tradition.  

Overall, this was a great start to a new series - it introduces readers to the characters in a very natural way, so that you get a good feel of who each one is, and it provides an overall feel to the type of mysteries the kids will be solving.  I still miss the days when the sleuths in children's mystery series were 16 or 18 years old, instead of the 12 to 14 year old sleuths of today's series, but I suppose the times, they are a'changing!  I would recommend this to any fan of Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Boxcar Children, Happy Hollisters, and such - it rates right up there with them.

RATING:  8 cans of tuna for Salmon out of 10 for kicking off a brand new series with a brand new sleuth in such a great way!