Mystery Trackers: The Secret of Watch Hill

I wanted to like this so much more than I did! I've played trials of the Mystery Trackers game series before, but this is the first I have purchased. The graphics are slick, hidden object scenes are pleasing to the eye, the voice acting is decent, and the story has faint shades of Stranger Things (the Mimic design, the secret lab).
As is so common with these hidden object/adventure games that are churned out so rapidly, the story line is thin with barely any dialogue. In addition, the games suffers from extremely linear game play, and vanishing tool syndrome coupled with single-purpose tool syndrome (I need "something thin", but the tweezers, wire, file, and awl won't work; instead I have to find a knife. Also, once I use that knife, it disappears from my inventory and I then have to find a box cutter and a pair of scissors in order to cut something.)