The Sherlock Society by James Ponti is about a pair of siblings, Alex and Zoe Sherlock, who decide to open a detective agency during their summer break. Zoe wants to attend a cheerleading camp with her best friends, but her parents refuse to let her go. Now, Zoe is now stuck spending the summer with Alex and his two lame friends: Lina, an avid reader and new to the area, and Yadi, an aspiring cinematographer and rabid conspiracy theorist.
Alex, Lina, and Yadi are members of the Sherlock Society at school. They focus on solving puzzles and all things Sherlock. One day, Zoe reluctantly participates in a locked room puzzle with the Sherlock Society members, and she unexpectedly has fun and enjoys herself. Zoe has so much fun that she proposes to the group that they spend their summer solving mysteries and getting paid for it as detectives.
As the quartet tries to devise ways to get business, the siblings’ retired grandfather, a reporter, decides to show the kids his storage unit filled with his cold case files. He allows them to pick which case they want to try and solve first. They decided to find Al Capone’s hidden treasure which is supposedly located in their hometown of Miami. Their investigation leads them to the Everglades where they discover that someone has been illegally dumping waste in Native and protected areas.
I have read the author’s other middle school series, City Spies, and liked it. I was really excited to start reading this series as I love Sherlock and mysteries in general. The book is an entertaining read and filled with humor. I like that the author sprinkled in facts about journalism and Al Capone, however, I would have liked to see an appendix letting readers know which facts are true and which are made up about Al Capone or even ways on how children can get involved in volunteering or helping to clean up the environment. I feel like that would add an extra layer to the book for kids to connect to the characters. The book does leave off on a cliffhanger and I am interested in seeing what new adventures the Sherlock Society will have next.
**Disclosure - I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion**
No comments:
Post a Comment