Samantha Wolf Mysteries, Book Twelve - The Mystery at Ocean Side

This twelfth book in the Samantha Wolfe Mysteries series, written by Tara Ellis, appears to be the last.  It was first published in 2022, which was four years ago, and I'm not finding any indication that another book was solicited or even hinted at by the author.  In today's market, a 12-book run is not bad; however, I can't deny my fondness of ongoing series (such as Nancy Drew, which has been ongoing for more than 90 years at this point!).  That being said, if this book is to be the final Samantha Wolf mystery, then Ellis did a bang up job of going out on a high note.  The mystery is creative, the new characters engaging, and the danger just enough to give the book some suspense.  Plus, Ellis does something surprising with the narrative form of this book - after 11 books written in the present tense, Ellis offers readers a break with this final mystery, as it is written completely in past tense!  As soon as I starting reading the first page, my mind immediately picked up on the difference - it was a smooth read without that initial jarring I usually felt when reading present tense tales.  I thought perhaps this first part would be a flashback, and she would switch to her standard present tense narrative, but nope.  Ellis maintained the past tense narrative throughout the entire book, making it the easiest read of the series!

 

That being said, The Mystery at Ocean Side introduces readers to Sam's new neighbor, Tanner Hobbs. He and his father have just moved to Ocean Side for two reasons: one, Mr. Hobbs has taken a new position with the same company who employs Mr. Parker (the father of Sam's best friend, Ally); and two, Mr. Hobbs has inherited the land in Ocean Side known as "Hobbit Hollow" - where an old resort owned by Tanner's grandfather burned down years ago, and the residents of Ocean Side believe is haunted by the ghost of the one person who died at the time.  Sam and Ally, and their brothers (Hunter and John, respectively), find young Tanner to be a bit off-putting, but gradually he warms up to the teens, and soon all five of them are camping with Mr. Hobbs on the land he has inherited.  Sam is excited at the prospect of exploring and, maybe, catching a glimpse of the so-called ghost.  Of course, the haunting of Hobbit Hollow is not the only mystery afoot.

 

Ellis throws in a bigger mystery involving the death of Mr. Hobbs' father and his Will.  It seems he left most of the land to Mr. Hobbs, but a small island just off the coast he has bequeathed to a woman named Stephanie Davis, who arrives in Ocean Side with her daughter, Alayna, to claim her inheritance!  Hobbs is taken by surprise, especially when Mrs. Davis claims to have no knowledge of Hobbs' father and no understanding of why he would leave her the island.  Sam senses there is much more here than meets the eye, and even though she has promised her parents not to get involved in any more mysteries, she cannot help herself.  She offers Tanner her help, and before you can blink an eye, Sam and the gang are assisting Tanner in his search for the truth - a search that leads them to a small cabin located in the woods of the Hobbs' property, where Tanner finds a journal left there by his grandfather.  A journal that has a number of drawings, all of which are clues to help Tanner "right a wrong" done generations ago!

 

It's a well-crafted mystery with fun clues, and while the culprit sort of comes out of left field (no one even knows this person exists until half-way through the book!), it is still an enjoyable read.  The missing treasure, the heart-breaking backstory, and the climactic confrontation with a gun-toting villain whose greed sees him threatening young teens without a second thought are all part of this dramatic story, and, of course, Sam's quick thinking is what manages to put the clues together to reveal the location of the long-lost treasure.

 

I'm kind of disappointed to see this series reach its end.  While it was not necessarily my favorite must-read series, it consistently offered decent mysteries with main characters that evolved and matured as the series progressed, gradually adding to the supporting cast (adding Hunter and John, as well as Cassie, along the way), and I though the addition of both Tanner and Alayna in this book would have offered some fresh blood into the series for future stories.  Who knows?  Two years passed between books 11 and 12, so perhaps sometime in the near future, Ellis will get inspired to revisit the world of Ocean Side and share another Samantha Wolf mystery with her fans.  If not, at least she can rest easy knowing she gave readers a solid 12-book series that is worth the read.

 

RATING:  8 plush armchairs with stuffing hanging out of 10 for offering up one final mystery for Samantha Wolf to solve, filled with ghosts, treasures, and wills - all the makings for a great story! 

Samantha Wolf Mysteries, Book Eleven - The Secret of Sanctuary

Thirteen-year old Samantha Wolf and her best friends, Allyson Parker and Cassy Covington, are back for another mystery in the eleventh installment of the Samantha Wolf mysteries by Tara Ellis.  Since there is always a somewhat lengthy break between my reading of each book in this series, it takes me a bit to get used to the present tense style of writing.  I still have not figured out why Ellis chose to take this route when writing this series, but I give her credit for sticking with it - eleven books, and still going strong (the twelfth book is out on Amazon, and I need to get it). 

The Secret of Sanctuary is a unique story, as Ellis brings into the mystery characters from an adult mystery series she writes called "The Secret of Sanctuary Cozy Mysteries," written under the pen name of Tara Myers and featuring a veterinarian named Ember Burns (who has red hair, go figure).  Cassy's older sister, Lisa, takes the girls (and Sam's brother Hunter, as well as Ally's brother John) for a week's vacation to the mountain town of Sanctuary for a week's vacation of camping, free from any and all danger and mystery.  Of course, this is Sam Wolf we are talking about, so we know from the get-go there is going to be some kind of mystery in Sanctuary (particularly since the local vet also happens to be a mystery-magnet as well!).  As with all of Ellis' prior books, this one has a slow build up before the reader learns what the mystery actually is.  In this case, it involves an archeological dig near the very campsite where the girls are camping and an old legend involving the cry of a Banshee.  A local old-timer says the Banshee has not been heard in years, but the professor and his five students messing around with the effigy mound could very well call the Banshee back to protect the sacred site.

Ellis does a great job of mixing in old legends with possible treasures, along with misunderstandings and mysterious strangers to create a mystery worth reading.  The strange sounds in the night ... the deadly trap with a wild bronco ... the crying girl in the bathroom stall ... the two men who don't seem to fit in with the rest of the town ... the disconnecting of the RV's battery ... Sam can't help but smell trouble brewing, and when she and Ally take off on their own to follow a potential suspect, it leads them right into the middle of it all - and they find themselves in greater danger than any they've faced before!  Ellis may start off a bit slow, but she definitely builds the danger and suspense towards the end, so that you can't put the book down until you've found out just how it's all going to end!

Now, admittedly, I knew nothing about Ellis' other series prior to reading this book.  My first discover of this was the introduction for this book, which tells readers about her adult mystery series.  I found the name "Ember Burns" rather amusing, and the town and its citizens rather quaint.  Maybe one day, I might go back and purchase the first book in that series just to see how it reads.

One thing I can definitely commend Ellis on is her dialogue and banter among the kids.  Sam and her brother, Hunter, definitely act like siblings.  And the camaraderie among Sam, Ally, and Cassy reads naturally, each with their own personality, playing well off the others.  It's also nice to see how she has not only aged the characters physically as the series progresses, but she has matured them, so that some of the childish rivalry we saw in the first several books has become more of a playful banter and, at times, a level of respect for one another.  Even Sam, who is the main character, has learned some self-control, as well as an ability not to fly off the handle with her brother and his teasing.  It's things like this that keeps the series real and enjoyable to read.

While one of the culprits turns out to be someone that is not so surprising, Ellis does provide a major twist with this person's co-conspirator.  I did not see that coming at all, but once revealed, it does rather make sense.  In fact, if you pay close attention as you read, the clues are there.

Overall, this is definitely one of the better books in the series.

RATING:  9 copies of True Stories of Terror to Keep You Up at Night out of 10 for another great story with a bit of an archaeological lesson thrown in for good fun!

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!

Samantha Wolf Mysteries, Book Nine - The Mystery of Old Gully Trail

After the rather turbulent events in the last book, author Tara Ellis tones down the mystery a bit for the ninth book in the Samantha Wolf series. It's actually been kind of nice to read a series where the characters grow, not only physically, but emotionally and intelligently as well, and where the mysteries vary, so that there is not just a standard, formulaic plot in each book.  Samantha and her friends, Ally and Cassy, have matured as the series has progressed, having learned from experience - and Sam has even learned to accept the punishment her parents dole out each time she breaks the rules to solve a mystery (even if she breaks the rules for a good cause!).  It's actually rather refreshing to read a series where actions actually do have consequences (as they would in the real world), so I give Ellis props for keeping it real.

The Mystery of Old Gully Trail opens at the end of the school year, with the girls helping Cassy's aunt clear out some trails for her horse-riding classes.  They happen across a young girl, who is rather precocious and who happens to be lost (not that she will admit that).  It turns out she is a descendant of Old Man Gully, who owned a house set deep in the woods, and about whom are plenty of stories told in town that keep the kids away from the place!  Of course, it's not really haunted, and the young girl lives there with her aunt and uncle.  Her name is Penelope Gully, but everyone calls her Penny for short.

Now, let's stop a moment and think about that name.  "Penelope."  That is not a generally used name for girls, and yet when it comes to children's mystery series, there are two series from back in the day that used this same name for the title character (and both series happened to be written by the same author - Mildred Wirt Benson!).  Penny Nichols and Penny Parker.  The formal name for both characters was Penelope, and yet both went by the name Penny to all who knew them.  I find it very interesting that Ellis would chose this name for the character, and have to wonder if perhaps Ellis is familiar with those series by Benson and inserted the name as a way to pay homage to those characters from the '30s and '40s.

In any event, let's get back to the story, shall we?  Penny, as the descendant of Old Man Gully, inherited the property, including all of the riding trails on the property, and her aunt is managing her affairs until she turns legal age.  Everything seems just fine, until her aunt reveals that someone is trying very hard to buy the property, and they are taking legal action to prove that the property never really belonged to Old Man Gully in the first place - meaning Penny could lose everything, including the elaborate tree house on the back of the property that Penny and her mother used to use.

The mystery of who is behind the legal action ties into the town's Founder Day celebration, as the citizens prepare to dig up and open a time capsule buried by the town's founders 100 years ago.  And, needless to say, one of those founders was Old Man Gully, and Sam, Ally, and Cassy are anxious to see what the old man buried in the capsule, as they are hoping it will provide evidence that Gully owned the property after all.  Along the way, there is a stolen medallion from the town library, an overheard conversation between two men about being double-crossed, and a hidden key that unlocks a box hidden deep within the woods, and you've got a fairly decent (and somewhat tame) mystery for the girls to solve.  Add into this the fact that young Penny is known for telling tall-tales, leaving them with the question of what to believe and what not to believe when she tells them something ("The Boy Who Cried Wolf" anyone?), and it provides a nice build up to a chase through the woods, a false accusation, and a surprising reveal as to who is trying to take the property from Penny!

Again, there's not really much danger in this mystery, but that's okay.  Ellis provides plenty of riddles to be solved and treasure hunts through the woods, and there is a scene involving Sam and Ally being chased through the woods by one of the bad guys that is rather humorous (and shows not only Sam's ingenuity and quick thinking, but also Ellis' talent for foreshadowing).  The final chapter provides a nice wrap-up to the story as Sam celebrates her birthday with her family and friends and receives a birthday gift surprise that she has been wanting for a while!

Aside from the "present-tense" story telling (not sure why that bothers me so much, but I still have difficulty with it and basically read it in past tense, regardless of how it is written), it's another great tale of Samantha Wolf and friends that is worth the read.

RATING:  8 "x"es that mark the spot out of 10 for keeping the variety in mysteries so each story is different and enjoyable!

Samantha Wolf Mysteries, Book Eight - The Legend of Shadow Mountain

The Samantha Wolf Mystery series has turned out to be a surprisingly fun series to read.  It's kind of a shame that the series is not picked up by a major publisher and marketed for sale in bookstores and such.  There are way too few mystery series for children on the shelves today - everything seems geared for fantasy or school-oriented series, and not even Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys have very many books on the shelves (which is so sad, when I can remember the bookstores, and even department stories, carried shelves and shelves of those series!).  But, until such time as the Samantha Wolf Mystery series becomes the next big thing in bookstores, I'll continue to watch for them to show up on Amazon and keep buying them!

The Legend of Shadow Mountain is the eighth book in the series, and this time around Samantha and her friends face something much more frightening than a mystery to solve - they face the danger of the Alaskan wilderness!  Sam, Ally and Cassy are excited to be flying up to Alaska to spend time with Sam's father, who has been up in Alaska for months working, earning money to support the family.  Sam's brother (Hunter) and Ally's brother (John) are joining them, and they share the small plane ride up the coast with a young woman and her toddler son.  Everything is going just fine, and Sam is just beginning to think this trip may not hold any adventure to it, when the pilot decides to take a quick detour to show them some of the beautiful mountain ranges where panning for gold was a big thing back in the day - but that detour turns to terror when the plane ends up going down into the woods, crashing and severely injuring the pilot!

Ellis sets aside the mystery element in exchange for a survival story, as John and Hunter must lead the three girls on a trek up the mountain to find a spot high enough to send a signal that they hope emergency planes may see in order to rescue them.  The pilot may not have long to live, and with the mountainside woods filled with bears and other possible dangers, the five youngsters are forced to stick together, put aside their differences, and face their fears to make the trek through the dense woods.  Of course, there is also the legend of the Taquka-aq, the Kodiak bear, which is said to protect the infamous Shadow Mountain.  No one dares climb that mountain, and those that do have faced dire consequences!  So, of course, it is that very same Shadow Mountain that Sam and her friends must climb in order to burn the signal fires for help!

And, Ellis can't help but sneak in a little bit of a mystery into the story involving a gold miner who fell in love with one of the locals, only to disappear one day into the mountain, never to be seen again.  As the group makes their way up the mountainside, they come across a small cabin that may have been used by that miner back in the day, and Sam notices a strange symbol on the lantern in the cabin ... finding a similar symbol carved into a tree not that far away ... and yet another similar symbol on another tree.  Just what do these symbols mean?  Sam, Ally, Cassy, Hunter, and John not only figure out the meaning, but they ultimately uncover a shocking find that could lay to rest a mystery that has been unsolved for more than 50 years!  (Leave it to Sam to turn a dangerous situation into yet another mystery!)

This is not your typical Samantha Wolf mystery, but it is a refreshing change of pace that allows for all of the characters to show some of the growth their characters have been experiencing as the series progresses.  And that is another thing I enjoy about the series - the characters are not stagnant.  They age, they learn, they grow, they mature - they are "real" people.  Yes, the books continue to be written in present tense, which can be a bit jarring when 99% of the books you read are all in past tense, but the stories are engaging enough that by the third or fourth chapter, you no longer take notice (and I'm not sure if it's because my mind is automatically reverting everything to past tense, or if it's just because the stories are THAT good!).

I still have several more books in this series to read, and I hope that Ellis plans to keep the series going indefinitely, so that we can watch Sam age well into her teens and solve hundreds of mysteries!

RATING:  9 antique lockets out of 10 for changing things up a bit and placing Sam and her friends in a situation where it will take more than a few clues to get them out of it!

Samantha Wolf Mysteries, Book Seven - The Case of the Curious Canine

I can't believe it's already been a year since I read the last Samantha Wolf mystery.  I guess I never realize just how many books I have to read until I look at how long it is between each book of a particular series that I read.  Author Tara Ellis is already up to book eleven with this series, so I guess I am pretty far behind in my reading.  But, that's okay, because it just means I still have more stories of Sam and her friends, Ally and Cassy, solving mysteries and trying hard to not get grounded while doing it!

The Case of the Curious Canine features a mystery that will strike a chord with any animal lover.  Sam and her friends are volunteering at the local animal shelter - on a trial basis, since Sam has a very difficult time not getting attached; but since her brother is allergic to the animal dander, she can't have a dog at home.  But she promises her mother she can handle it, and Trish Spartan, the woman who manages the shelter, is glad for any help she can get.  Her last assistant left unexpectedly, and her current assistant can only work part time.  So, the help that Sam, Ally, and Cassy can provide on weekends is certainly welcome.  Of course, this is a mystery series, so it isn't long before a mystery manages to find Sam!

Who has been harming the dogs in Oceanside?  The girls thought volunteering at the shelter would be fun, but it changes to concern when more than one dog is brought in with what appears to be severe allergic reactions to something.  As if that isn't strange enough, Sam sees two men driving slowly along the wooded area to Cassy's house, as if they are looking for something.  When they see her watching, they speed off.  The next thing you know, one of the men shows up at the animal shelter and claims one of the dogs as his own!  Sam smells a rat, but everything thinks she is seeing something that isn't there.

Then there's the matter of Ally's neighbor, for whom she babysits the woman's daughter from time to time.  The little girl is highly allergic, and the lab coat her mother brings home one night nearly sends her daughter into an asthma attack.  Sam's suspicions grow stronger that something very wrong is happening in Oceanside, particularly since the initials on the woman's lab coat are identical to the initials she saw on the car!  The only problem is, no one will believe her.  In fact, Trish warns Sam, as do Cassy's mom and her own mom, to not look for mysteries where there are none.

Thankfully, Sam has faithful friends who will help her - and so they do, even to their own peril!

Ellis provides another well-plotted mystery, and I'm even reaching the point where I don't notice the present tense story-telling as much as I used to.  I think my mind is just automatically switching it to past tense as I read it - for some reason, present tense writing just doesn't seem to read as well as past tense (for me, at least).  I know some authors will say writing in present tense keeps the reader in the "here and now," as if everything you read is happening at that exact moment.  But, for me, the past tense style reads more naturally.  In any event, Ellis' characterization and mystery plots overpower any problems I have with the tense.

Oh, and spoiler alert - Sam makes yet another new friend by the end of this mystery - one that I have no doubt will be sticking around!

RATING:  7 L-shaped medicine dispensers out of 10 for showing that even the most hard-nosed people can have a soft-spot when it comes to animals!

Samantha Wolf Mysteries, Book Six - A Mysterious Christmas on Orcas Island

It feels good to get back into the world of Samantha Wolf and her friends. Although it always takes me a bit to really get into each of these books (less because of the story and more because of the present-tense narrative which is difficult to swallow when 99% of the books I read are all written in the standard past tense), but by the half-way mark, I get accustomed to it and don't notice it as much. Plus, by the half-way point, the story is starting to reach its crescendo, the girls are fully delving into the mystery, and there is considerably more action!

A Mysterious Christmas on Orcas Island is set - big surprise! - over the Christmas break. The girls are out of school for the holiday, and Sam and Ally get invited to visit their friend, Sandy Hollingsworth, on Orcas Island. The girls originally met Sandy back in the second book of this series, when they solved a mystery at Camp Whispering Pines (and the book indicates that the camp was "the summer before," indicating that time is definitely moving forward for these characters in this series). It's nice to see that author Tara Ellis does not create throw-away characters. The Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys books are famous for introducing "good friends" of the sleuths into various books, who seem to be central to that particular mystery, but then those characters are never seen, heard from, or even mentioned ever again (despite their "good friend" status). So, to have a series where characters are mentioned or, better yet, re-appear from time to time creates a believable world that is considerably enjoyable to read and fall into.

The mystery is not apparent at first - in fact, Ellis gives readers a major red herring - well, actually, TWO major red herrings regarding the mystery with which Sam, Ally, and Sandy will become involved. Why are Adam and Cece acting so strange? What was the conversation Sam overheard? Who is the strange Bikeman that was watching them on the Ferry? Are the flashes of red that Sam keeps seeing in the woods really the ghost of "Alice"? What is the mysterious project that Sandy's father is working on? So many questions, and Ally thought this trip to Orcas Island was going to be a nice, relaxing break. She should have known better, since mystery always has a way of following Samantha Wolf wherever she goes!

One thing about this story that makes it special is the fact that Orcas Island is a real place off the coast of Washington state, as is the village of Eastsound on the island. The Moran Mansion, named Rosario, also exists in the real world, and the legend of Alice the ghost is actually real (the legend - whether she does actually appear or not is a whole 'nother story!). Thus, while the mystery itself and the characters are all a work of fiction, the real setting gives the story a measure of believability that draws the reader in. And when that snow storm hits, trapping Sam, Ally, and Sandy on the freezing cold island with a desperate criminal who will do just about anything to succeed in his/her plan - well, let's just say it results in a kidnapping, an assault, a daring rescue attempt in a blinding snowstorm, and an ingenuous escape plan that would make Nancy Drew proud!

Aside from the present tense narrative, this series is absolutely one that I enjoy and would recommend - the characters are fun, the mysteries are well-plotted, and the supporting cast is always growing.  Hope that Ellis keeps the series going for some time to come!

RATING:  8 games of foosball out of 10 for putting the girls in an entirely new environment that offered up some great new dangers in solving this mystery!

Samantha Wolf Mysteries, Book Five - The Haunting of Eagle Creek Middle School

It's been almost a year since I read the last Samantha Wolf mystery, so figured it was about time to delve into her next big adventure. Despite the author's use of present tense rather than the standard past tense used in fiction writing, I have grown rather fond of this series. It is almost a modern-day take on Nancy Drew, with a bit of Trixie Belden thrown in for good measure. Samantha ("Sam") is a typical teenager, with chores and problems at school, but she and her friends are never one to shy away from a good mystery, even if it means they could get in trouble with their parents.  Sound familiar?

The Haunting of Eagle Creek Middle School is set right before Halloween, and author Tara Ellis provides her protagonist with the perfect setting for a good mystery - a haunted house! Or rather, a haunted school! It seems that the school where Sam, Ally, and Cassy now attend has its own resident ghost story. None of them believe it, of course, because there is no such thing as ghosts, right? But when their school club decides to host a haunted house to raise funds for charity, in the hopes of helping a local afterschool program that is struggling, Sam and her friends find that secrets abound everywhere...

What really happened to the husband of Mrs. Potts, the benefactor of the afterschool program?

How much truth is there to the story of the ghost of a former janitor who supposedly died at the school?

And just what part does a local politician, Gregory Kingsman, have in all of this?

The book certainly has all the right elements for a good, old-fashioned mystery, and it is fun to follow Sam, Ally, and Cassy as they stumble across clues and slowly put together the pieces of the puzzle. Their determination to help Mrs. Potts, the afterschool program, and the secret that Mrs. Potts is keeping is admirable indeed, and Ellis manages to build just the right amount of suspense to keep the story moving at a pretty good pace. And the real danger faced by all three girls when they uncover the identity of the person behind everything and actually get kidnapped by the villain reads like a true Nancy Drew mystery!

And while the mystery is a stand-alone story, there are elements that continue to build from previous books (although you don't need to read them to understand what is going on - Ellis provides enough explanation to make it easy to catch up) and clearly story-points that will be resolved or built upon in future mysteries.  Ellis has created a believable world of characters and settings with the right amount of danger and mystery to make it a fresh and enjoyable read.  I definitely recommend this series to those who enjoy children's and young adult mystery series.

RATING:  8 pieces of unique and unbreakable wood out of 10 for proving that an ongoing mystery series for children and young adults can still survive in today's market!

Samantha Wolf Mysteries, Book Four - The Heiress of Covington Ranch

This series grows on me more and more with each book I read.  I still do not like the "present tense" writing style, but I'm gradually getting to the point where my mind is automatically changing it to past tense as I read it.  Not sure why some of the current authors are writing in present tense these days, but for me, it's distracting from the story and forces me to concentrate a bit more on the words and verb tense as I'm reading, rather than simply enjoying the flow of the story.

Aside from that, this fourth Samantha Wolf mystery is by far the best in the series so far.  The Heiress of Covington Ranch definitely hearkens back to the days when children's mystery stories told the tales of secret messages, hidden clues, and missing relatives.  Author Tara Ellis continues the timeline for her aging characters, as summer is over and Samantha ("Sam") and her best friend, Ally, begin middle school.  As I'm sure all of us can remember, starting a new school, where we may know a few kids from the previous school, but having to be in separate classes from our friends, the fear of finding classes and making new friends - well, that is an experience in and of itself.  But Sam and Ally quickly make friends with newcomer Cassy, who is a lot less fortunate than her classmates - she wears the same clothes, her lunches brought from home are not as healthy or filling as everyone else's, and she is very reserved, not letting anyone else get close.  Until Sam and Ally convince her that none of that matters - and particularly when Sam stands up to some girls who try to bully Cassy.

As with any good mystery, what starts out innocent enough soon reveals secrets and a long-kept mystery that Sam can't resist sticking her nose into.  One of their new teachers, Miss Covington, is seen crying in her car - and after a football game, she is seen fighting with a man in the parking lot.  Sam's mother warns her not to get involved, but when has any good sleuth followed her parent's warnings?  Soon enough, Sam discovers that Lisa Covington is the heir to the Covington estate, which includes a valuable jewel, the Eye of Orion.  But the Eye was stolen years ago, and Miss Covington was accused of playing a part.  She claims she is innocent, that she was duped by her boyfriend - but that, and the fact that she was adopted and her formal adoption papers could never be found, prevented her from claiming her inheritance, which included the now abandoned Covington Ranch at the top of the hill where Sam and Ally have grown up riding their bikes and following trails.

This mystery definitely has it all - the missing adoption papers, the lost family heirloom, the looming loss of the family homestead, a greedy uncle intent on taking it all away, a desperate search to save Miss Covington's legacy, and a surprising secret that affects more than just Sam and Ally's teacher!  And Sam is her determined self, doing whatever she needs to in order to help Miss Covington - and her quick wits and riddle-solving mind are put to the test with this one, that's for sure.  I do love, though, how she stands up not only to bullies at school, but also to Miss Covington's overbearing uncle and the bad buys at the end.  She may be a middle-schooler, but Samantha Wolf definitely has the makings of a fine Nancy Drew-esque detective!

If it hasn't been clear before, I'll make it abundantly clear now - I would highly recommend this series to any fans of Nancy Drew and similar series - Ellis certainly honors those series with this one!

RATING:  9 brown bag lunches out of 10 for keeping the traditional children's mystery series concept alive and well without resorting to "sabotage" as the trope of choice.

Samantha Wolf Mysteries, Book Three - The Beach House Mystery

Author Tara Ellis raises the stakes quite a bit with this third Samantha Wolf mystery. And I'll get this out of the way right from the get-go - I absolutely cannot stand this trend of writing books in the present tense.  It is very annoying, as it does not at all make it feel like it is happening now, nor does it draw me any further into the story than if it were written in past tense.  Maybe it's just me becoming old, but give me a story written in past tense - even if it is in first person, not third - but let's put an end to this present tense writing, please!

Now, that being said, The Beach House Mystery is much, MUCH more than just a mystery surrounding a house at the beach. It involves a possibly haunted lighthouse that was abandoned years ago.  It involves a stranger creature that has become somewhat of a myth in the small fishing village.  It involves a stranger family that is staying next to the beach house where Samantha and her family are staying.  And it involves an international corporation that is bent on gaining sole ownership of the the next big pharmaceutical creation to use for nefarious purposes.

Yes, you read that right.  While the story starts off as a simple enough mystery (worthy of Nancy Drew fans), it suddenly takes a rather more adult turn that centers around a kidnapped girl who is being used as leverage to force a scientist to create a drug that could be used not only as a miracle cure, but also a deadly weapon.  Definitely not the subject matter of a children's mystery, but quite frankly, it created a story that was engaging enough that I managed to stop focusing on the present tense and start focusing on the story.

Ellis also continues to present her characters in a more realistic way than many children's series, where the young sleuths seem to have every freedom and never face any repercussions for their acts.  Sam and her friend Ally go with Sam's parents to the beach house (along with Sam's brother Hunter and Ally's brother John) with a very specific stipulation - there is to be no funny business, no sticking their noses where they don't belong, and absolutely no solving mysteries.  They are warned that if either parents gets wind of the girls getting involved in another dangerous mystery, they are going right home.  Of course, Sam and Ally have been bit by the detecting bug, and when the young girl Erica cries out for her sister, Carrie, but Erica's parents insist there is no sister and warn Sam and Ally to just stay away, they know something's up.

The pacing in the story is good - a slow build-up in the first third of the book, a deeper delving into the mystery during the second third of the book, and a thrilling conclusion in the final third.  And there is one specific moment in the story when I realized just how caught up in the story and characters I was - when Sam and Ally return from a day of hunting clues to find Sam's mother upset - it seems Erica's mother lied about how Sam and Ally helped rescue her, making it seem as if the entire incident was Sam and Ally's fault!  I began to grow aggravated at the unfairness of the situation, wishing I could reach into the book and slap the heck out of Erica's mom for lying to get two teenagers in trouble - and then it hit me:  this is just a book!  So kudos to Ellis for getting me that involved with the mystery!

This series is evolving and getting better with each book, so I'm looking forward to reading the next books with the hope they continue to hold up as well (and with the hope that I'll eventually get used to the present tense annoyance).

RATING:  8 falling sand castles out of 10 for surprising me with much more to this mystery than what it originally appears to be.

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.

Samantha Wolf Mysteries, Book One - The Mystery of Hollow Inn

A haunted inn.  A missing treasure.  A hidden inheritance.  A lost will.  All of these things have the making of a great Nancy Drew mystery (isn't it funny how all children's mysteries all seem to compare themselves to the one great teen detective?).  Only, this isn't a Nancy Drew book.  Rather, these are all the elements of the very first Samantha Wolf mystery, The Mystery of Hollow Inn.

Author Tara Ellis definitely starts this series off right! This first book in the Samantha Wolf Mysteries series is well-written with a superb plot and a spunky protagonist.  Samantha Wolf is an inquisitive twelve-year old who, when she finds out there is trouble at her uncle and aunt's new inn, is determined to get to the bottom of things.  As with any good detective, Sam has her trusty sidekick, Alyson Parker (a/k/a Ally).  While Sam is always ready to jump into the middle of things and never backs down from a challenge, Ally is a bit more timid and more ready to turn things over to the adults rather than try to do it herself.  But, like Bess and George are to Nancy Drew, so is Ally to Samantha Wolf - a loyal friend who overcomes her fears to help her solve the mystery.

While I am not a huge fan of this trend in children's mysteries to make the protagonists so young, the fact that Sam and Ally are twelve years old doesn't really bother me so much in this book.  The girls are visiting Sam's aunt and uncle in their recently renovated inn up in the mountains of Montana.  Upon arriving, however, they discover that the inn may be haunted!  Guests have heard strange noises, have seen shadowy presences, and there has been inexplicable vandalism to the inn and some of the guests belongings.  Sam and Ally soon discover that these events could possibly be related to the inn's builder, one Shawn Hollow, who built the mansion for his wife.  Unfortunately, she died while giving birth to their fourth son, and thereafter, Hollow always blamed his son for his wife's death.  Legend has it that Hollow had a fortune in gold that he hid somewhere on the estate, and even after his death, none of his sons were able to locate it.

Sam and Ally, who don't believe in ghosts, quickly figure out that it's no ghost that's haunting the inn.  Someone is looking for that gold, and the girls are determined to find it first.  They face plenty of dangers - from a capsized canoe, to a rattlesnake in an abandoned mine, to being held at gunpoint - but no matter what they face, they never give up their search.  An old poem written by Hollow himself provides them with an all-important clue that could lead them to the treasure that just might save the inn.

The characters are all believable, and while there are too few characters to be suspects, the mystery is less about "whodunnit" and more about "where's the treasure."  At 141 pages, the book is an easy read, and it flows nicely and at a relatively good pace.  Ellis provides her readers with some great descriptions, but does not allow it to bog down the story.  She expertly lays the groundwork for the mystery, and all the clues are there if you know where to look for them.

The one distracting point of the book was the fact that it was written in present tense rather than the standard past tense.  I'm curious if that is becoming the new writing style, as Linda Joy Singleton uses the same tense in her Curious Cat Spy Club series, and each time I get a new book in that series, it takes me a bit to become accustomed to the tense.  Otherwise, I didn't really have any complaints about this book at all.  A very satisfying read and a fantastic first book for a series.

The cover art is definitely spooky and mysterious, with Sam and Ally outside of Hollow Inn at night, surrounded by the dark woods.  It is a wrap-around cover art that spills over onto the spine and around onto the back cover.

All in all, a definite recommendation for those who enjoy reading young adult and children mystery series.  Looking forward to the next book in the series!

RATING:  9 bronze bird baths out of 10 for taking children's mysteries back to their roots with haunted mansions, secret passages, and clues in cryptic poems!