The Sherlock Society by James Ponti

In the debut novel of his new series, James Ponti introduces us to a set of siblings with the last name Sherlock. Inspired by their last name, they begin solving mysteries to make some summer cash. They gather their two friends and their grandpa to join in on their entrepreneurial venture. As they explore Miami in search of Al Capone’s missing treasure, they stumble upon a real crime. They approach the police about the recently dumped toxic waste, which is killing creatures and plant life in the everglades. Learning there is little the police can do; they set out to solve the case themselves. Of course, they land themselves in heaps of trouble along the way. Will these tenacious kids crack the case?

Reading Level: 8-12
Read Aloud Age: 8+

I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Sherlock Society! Overall, I feel this is a great pick for a middle grade reader. I would especially recommend it to a child who isn’t the most voracious reader. It is exciting, high interest, full of entertainment, and easy to read language.

The book is set in Miami, exploring the everglades. I was very intrigued to learn about Al Capone’s history in the area, the python snake infestation, and the varying biomes within the area. There’s a lot to explore in this book and families and children could easily get lost down little rabbit trails of interesting information.

Something of note; the main issue in the book is a company dumping waste in the everglades and killing the surrounding plants and animals. While there is obviously a bit of environmental agenda here, I do not feel it is overly pushed.

The only real questionable behavior is the lying and deceit that goes on while they are investigating. While working to gather information, they misrepresent themselves and lie to several people. This sort of deceit obviously comes with this sort of sleuth genre, but I’d leave it up to parents to decide if they feel it’s appropriate for their child.

Questionable Behaviors:

Grandpa tries to “run” (swim) away from a police boat, mentions he has a “checkered history” with the police p.5
Grandpa alludes to his not wearing underwear in borrowed clothing p.11
Main character’s older sister is rude and curt toward him in the beginning of the book, they eventually reconcile Zoe wants to make money so she’ll have power over her parents p.47
The characters lie to a bait shop owner and a sugar cane factory owner in order to gather information pertinent to their investigation chapters 21 & 24
“Kane’s a bad guy, and maybe that means we have to bend the rules a little.” p.272

This review is written by Good Book Mom contributor, Rachel Horn. To learn more about Rachel, click HERE.

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