“Hurricane Heist” is the second book in James Ponti’s new detective series, “The Sherlock Society.” This very clever middle grade series features the first person narrator Alex Sherlock, his two best friends Yadi and Lina, his sister Zoe, and his grandfather, a retired journalist. They live in South Florida in Coconut Grove and since the first book, have been looking for Al Capone’s missing Florida treasure — a stash of money that was secreted somewhere in Southern Florida and never found.

Spoiler alert: it’s not found in this book either. What the group of friends who call themselves The Sherlock Society decide to investigate is a puzzle that Grandpa presents to them. In 1964, right when Hurricane Clyde tore through Miami Beach, there was a heist of jewels and artwork from the Moroccan Hotel on Collins Avenue. The jewels and artwork were there for the filming of a movie.

The night of the hurricane, the bell captain, Ignacio Gonzalez, disappeared. The FBI immediately figured he was the thief, especially when he was seen driving to Washington, D.C. the next morning and taking a flight to Europe. He was never seen again.

But Grandpa, who was Pete Lassiter, and whose father’s family owned a hardware store, had been at the Morocco Hotel the night of the hurricane and the theft. He and his father had been delivering supplies to the hotel before the hurricane. Pete liked Ignacio, who had been a pediatrician in Cuba, and didn’t believe he would resort to crime. He never believed Ignacio did the theft.

Now, when the Sherlock Society is ready to work on a new mystery, Grandpa presents them with the heist, and asks if they want to try to solve the crime and determine who really stole the jewels and artwork. They are all in.

But what makes both of Ponti’s novels in this series gripping from the start is the way he begins both novels with an exciting action scene. In this book, we meet the group when they are running in the dark through the Florida Everglades being chased by dogs, and finally they come across a wild animal that they (and we) find incredible. A rhinoceros. Ponti leaves us hanging about how that scene ends until almost the finale of the story. His ability to also use flashbacks from when Grandpa was 10-year-old Pete Lassiter to tell the story of the two hurricanes, Cleo and Clyde, one during the 1964 heist, and one as the group is starting their investigation.

The overarching mystery of Al Capone ties the books in the series together, the continuing development of the relationships between the main characters, and Ponti’s fine writing, all serve to make this a series kids will love. Ponti also includes thoughtful ideas that could make attentive readers consider and want to discuss. Grandpa tells the kids that the Bee Gees used the sound of tires on the bridge as the rhythmic inspiration for their famous song “Jive Talking.” Alex says, “I liked the idea that if you listened closely, even the mundane could become musical.”

When Grandpa is telling Alex about Ignacio, the pediatrician-turned-doorman, who escaped from Cuba to build a better life in America in spite of not being able to practice medicine, he explains why he admired him so much. It was in part because of “how he dealt with difficult circumstances. He lost his homeland and his career, but he still focused on helping people.”

Ponti’s books feature kids working hard to fit in, to deal with being different, to stand up for themselves, and to give back to others. We see his parents volunteering their time and his father working to overcome climate change. His mother provides pro bono legal support. They are all good people. And Ponti also provides plenty of humor as well, including the retired FBI agents who live in an assisted living facility in Miami Beach and who are thrilled to get to “work” again and help with the case.

All in all, this is a book that is a sure winner and would be a great read aloud. I’d love the listeners to work on the crime and share their own thoughts as the suspect list grows.

Please note: This review is based on the final, hardcover book provided by Aladdin (Simon & Schuster), the publisher, for review purposes.