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perednia's review against another edition
3.0
Erica Donato is making a life for herself and her daughter, going to grad school, working part-time in a museum and renovating their Park Slope home. She misses her husband, who died too young, but she treasures her friends and family. What was a quiet life is shattered when the renovaters, including her daughter, discover the bones of a teenage girl, cradling a teddy bear, hidden in a wall of the house.
Soon, Erica and her teenage daughter, Chris, are encountering strangers threatening them in the street and on the phone. Retired cop Rick Malone, friend of Erica's father, has been a surrogate parent to both of them, but now he's not answering phone messages.
Meanwhile, Erica's friend introduces her to dashing and rich Steven Richmond, who offers her consulting work. He represents developers who want to be highly regarded when they change the neighborhood. Erica is not certain how her historian credentials work into this, but as a grad student and single mother welcomes the extra money to look up material about where she lives. The search is also to try to find out about the early 1970s, when that girl's remains were walled up inside Erica's home.
To help with the historical record, Erica befriends a crochety retired newspaper reporter who broke stories about the gentrification of part of Brooklyn. Leary's old clippings and notes of the days when runaways crashed in Park Slope homes and landlords wanted them out are interesting not just to Erica the historian and homeowner where a skeleton was found, they also attract the attention of those who may not want the past brought to light.
Stein does well in setting up both the main characters -- Erica and her daughter, their friend Joe, the contractor who is renovating the house, and other characters -- and the whodunit. There are times when the story threatens to veer into romance rather than mystery, but it's intentional for both the plot and for the character development of Erica the young widow. The groundwork laid in this novel should provide a sturdy foundation to further books in the series.
One area in which Stein particular excels is in bringing Erica's Brooklyn neighborhood to life. Readers see what it was like back in the day, as well as the vibrant district it is now. Families have roots of several generations or as newcomers make a block their own. The interactions play a key role in solving the mystery of the skeletal remains, but also show what makes Brooklyn a special place to the author and her main character.
Soon, Erica and her teenage daughter, Chris, are encountering strangers threatening them in the street and on the phone. Retired cop Rick Malone, friend of Erica's father, has been a surrogate parent to both of them, but now he's not answering phone messages.
Meanwhile, Erica's friend introduces her to dashing and rich Steven Richmond, who offers her consulting work. He represents developers who want to be highly regarded when they change the neighborhood. Erica is not certain how her historian credentials work into this, but as a grad student and single mother welcomes the extra money to look up material about where she lives. The search is also to try to find out about the early 1970s, when that girl's remains were walled up inside Erica's home.
To help with the historical record, Erica befriends a crochety retired newspaper reporter who broke stories about the gentrification of part of Brooklyn. Leary's old clippings and notes of the days when runaways crashed in Park Slope homes and landlords wanted them out are interesting not just to Erica the historian and homeowner where a skeleton was found, they also attract the attention of those who may not want the past brought to light.
Stein does well in setting up both the main characters -- Erica and her daughter, their friend Joe, the contractor who is renovating the house, and other characters -- and the whodunit. There are times when the story threatens to veer into romance rather than mystery, but it's intentional for both the plot and for the character development of Erica the young widow. The groundwork laid in this novel should provide a sturdy foundation to further books in the series.
One area in which Stein particular excels is in bringing Erica's Brooklyn neighborhood to life. Readers see what it was like back in the day, as well as the vibrant district it is now. Families have roots of several generations or as newcomers make a block their own. The interactions play a key role in solving the mystery of the skeletal remains, but also show what makes Brooklyn a special place to the author and her main character.
maria_3k's review against another edition
2.0
I really wanted to like this book, and some aspects were all right. The Park Slope setting seemed pretty accurate, and of course gentrification is a hot topic. Even the reflections on 70s counterculture were okay, but the writing was stilted, and the protagonist was only somewhat likable, and the coincidences were two far-fetched. Also, two bottles of wine for a two-person picnic? Huh?
booksuperpower's review against another edition
4.0
Brooklyn Bones is scheduled for release in early February. This is a Poisoned Pen Press publication. The author is Triss Stein. I recieved this book from Netgalley for an honest review.
Erica Donato, a young widow and mother of a teenage daughter, is renovating her house a little at a time. Her friend Joe is helping her do the work and has hired Erica's daughter,Chris to help him out a little. One afternoon, while knocking down a wall, Chris makes a gruesome discovery. The skeleton of a teenage girl was 'buried' behind the wall.
Chris is shocked and can't stop thinking about the girl. She wants to find out who the girl was and what had lead to her death. Her innocent questions start making some people very nervous. So nervous in fact that Erica and Chris start receiving warnings to stop asking questions. Erica, a historian, starts doing a little investigating herself after sending her daughter off to camp. Some people are more than willing to help Erica by letting her look at old pictures,documents, and files. Others are outright hostile about Erica's looking into the past.
One layer peeled back, reveals another layer, then another. Somehow, Erica's own neighborhood and house had been a melting pot of hippies, drug abuse, slumming rich kids, slumlords during the 1970's.
Then out of the blue, another murder occurs that rocks Erica's world. With no help from the police,Erica leans on old and new friends to help her uncover what happened to the murdered girl and to her old friend. But, is Erica too trusting? Does one of her friends or neighbors have a secret they've been hiding all these years?
This is good old fashioned murder mystery. The setting is obviously Brooklyn. The author is very knowledgeable about the area and neighborhood she is writing about, which brings the scene alive.
Erica is a relatable character. She's not wisecracking, silly, or any over the top type character. Erica is just a single mother trying to make ends meet and carve out her own little comfortable place, sharing her life with a few close friends and family. When a new job opportunity, her part time job at a museum and the investigation into the murdered girl start to intertwine, the mystery deepens and the suspense builds up to a cresendo. My e-reader had to be replaced while I was in the middle of this book and I had to wait several days to finish it. It drove me nuts.
I would recommend this book to any mystery lover and maybe even to those who enjoy more of a lighter/cozy type mystery. The language is mild, no sexual content, and no overly graphic violence.
Overall I would give this one a B.
Erica Donato, a young widow and mother of a teenage daughter, is renovating her house a little at a time. Her friend Joe is helping her do the work and has hired Erica's daughter,Chris to help him out a little. One afternoon, while knocking down a wall, Chris makes a gruesome discovery. The skeleton of a teenage girl was 'buried' behind the wall.
Chris is shocked and can't stop thinking about the girl. She wants to find out who the girl was and what had lead to her death. Her innocent questions start making some people very nervous. So nervous in fact that Erica and Chris start receiving warnings to stop asking questions. Erica, a historian, starts doing a little investigating herself after sending her daughter off to camp. Some people are more than willing to help Erica by letting her look at old pictures,documents, and files. Others are outright hostile about Erica's looking into the past.
One layer peeled back, reveals another layer, then another. Somehow, Erica's own neighborhood and house had been a melting pot of hippies, drug abuse, slumming rich kids, slumlords during the 1970's.
Then out of the blue, another murder occurs that rocks Erica's world. With no help from the police,Erica leans on old and new friends to help her uncover what happened to the murdered girl and to her old friend. But, is Erica too trusting? Does one of her friends or neighbors have a secret they've been hiding all these years?
This is good old fashioned murder mystery. The setting is obviously Brooklyn. The author is very knowledgeable about the area and neighborhood she is writing about, which brings the scene alive.
Erica is a relatable character. She's not wisecracking, silly, or any over the top type character. Erica is just a single mother trying to make ends meet and carve out her own little comfortable place, sharing her life with a few close friends and family. When a new job opportunity, her part time job at a museum and the investigation into the murdered girl start to intertwine, the mystery deepens and the suspense builds up to a cresendo. My e-reader had to be replaced while I was in the middle of this book and I had to wait several days to finish it. It drove me nuts.
I would recommend this book to any mystery lover and maybe even to those who enjoy more of a lighter/cozy type mystery. The language is mild, no sexual content, and no overly graphic violence.
Overall I would give this one a B.
clambook's review against another edition
2.0
A little too latte Brooklyn for my tastes. If the self-involved protagonist is supposed to be originally from a blue collar neighborhood, she sure doesn't act like it ( see Laura Lippman's Tess Monaghan for comparison). DNF.
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