by James Ponti
First sentence: “My life was filled with countless embarrassing athletic failures.”
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Review copy pilfered from the ARC shelves at work.
Others in the series: The Sherlock Society
Content: There is talk of murder, some intense situations, and friendship drama. It’s in the Middle Grade (grades 3-5) section of the bookstore.

It’s time to go back to school, and Alex, Lina, and Yadi don’t want to give up on solving mysteries. Thankfully, a hurricane hits their town just as school starts, which unearths a body buried in a pool. A body that was connected to an unsolved jewelry heist that happened when Alex’s grandfather was 12. The body of one of the grandfather’s friends. So, of course, they need to tackle solving the case: who stole the jewels, who killed Ignacio, and who framed him for the theft of the jewels.

Much like the first one in this excellent series, this one is a super-tight mystery, with humor and a bit of an undercurrent of drama (between Lina and Alex’s sister, Zoe), but mostly a focus on the hurricane that hits, its aftermath, and solving the mystery. (I do love that Grandpa comes along as adult supervision. That’s really fun.) It’s fun, it’s exciting, and I think it’s perfect for kids who want a mystery.