Samantha Wolf Mysteries, Book Ten - Return to Hollow Inn

With this tenth book in the series, author Tara Ellis returns her characters to the place where they solved their first mystery: Hollow Inn.  That first book came out back in 2013, and this tenth book was published six years later in 2019.  In those six years, Samantha Wolf and her best friend, Allyson Parker, have shared some adventures and solved some mysteries and helped a number of people along the way - all the in the span of barely a year in their time.  Faithful readers have watched Sam and Ally grow in so many ways, as they have learned much along the way in terms of not only dealing with their emotions and with other people, but also in deciphering clues and figuring out the toughest mysteries.  So, it's rather fun to read long as they return to "the scene of the crime," so to speak, with hopes of having a relaxing week with no mysteries or adventures ... yeah, right!

There have been a number of changes to Hollow Inn since that first mystery, and as Sam and Ally Return of Hollow Inn, they are in for some surprises.  Sam's aunt and uncle have added cabins, they are conducting tours of the woods surrounding the property, and they have fixed up the inn to make it cozy and welcoming for guests.  Tori Castle is now the caretaker, and the girls are excited about the prospect of staying alone in one of the cabins, with Tori staying in the nearby caretaker's cabin.  One of the guests is also a rather rude author who just wants to be left alone, but who Sam catches in places he shouldn't be.  She is told to ignore him, as he is researching for his next book.  Everything is nearly perfect, except for one thing - Sam's cousin, Kevin, is also staying at the Inn, sent there by his parents to ensure he stays out of trouble (which he apparently has a habit of getting into).  Sam has a troubled history with the boy, and she she does not look forward to spending a week with him around.

Until the young son of one of the guests disappears into the woods across the lake.  The woods that adjoin the property next to Hollow Inn, where a commune has been established.  And the owner of that commune has been causing problems for Hollow Inn, trying to keep them from getting necessary permits to run the Inn and doing everything he can to get them to sell the property.  Yup, looks like Sam and Ally's week is going to be anything but relaxing!

Ellis crafts a pretty good mystery, although there are certain elements that are pretty obvious from the get-go.  Tori (the caretaker) used to be in military, so Sam wonders why she would take a job as a caretaker at an inn nestled deep in the mid-western woods.  While the question is asked repeatedly throughout the story, astute readers will easily pick up on the answer pretty early on during the search for the missing boy.  The mystery surrounding the commune is a bit more in-depth, however.  When I think of "commune," I usually think of a cult where a self-serving leader deceives people into joining his "family," but once they are there, he uses force to keep them isolated from the outside world.  And while this is partially the case in the story, there is another element to the commune that does not get revealed until the end.

And the final showdown with the bad guys at the end is actually pretty intense.  Of course, the conveniently timed appearance of that author I mentioned earlier ends up saving the day.  Which isn't as cliche as it sounds, as the author's name in the book happens to be Mr. Appleton.  Now, any fan of children's series books should automatically recognize that name - after all, Victor Appleton is the pseudonym Edward Stratemeyer used for his various Tom Swift series over the years.  Ellis, though, turns the tables a bit here, as in this story, Mr. Appleton uses a pseudonym (C.K. Everson) for the books he writes!  After the "Penelope" character in the previous book, and the "Appleton" character in this one, I can't help but feel Ellis is giving some wonderful nods to the children's series books of yester-year!

Once again, this series continues to be enjoyable to read, and I'm glad Ellis continued it beyond the 10-book run.

RATING:  8 ripped out pages of an old diary out of 10 for returning Sam and Ally to the beginning with a completely new mystery!