Brooklyn Bones: An Erica Donato Mystery

An unconvincing sleuth mars this first in a new mystery series from Stein (Murder at the Class Reunion). In the course of a renovation of widow Erica Donato’s Brooklyn townhouse, the discovery of a young girl’s skeletal remains behind a wall upsets Erica’s 15-year-old daughter, Chris. Chris, who can’t help identifying with the dead girl (“She had her favorite music, like me, and her jewelry, and even a bear”), insists that her mother allow her to investigate the circumstances that led to the girl’s death. Chris throws a tantrum when Erica reasonably refuses, but manages to persuade her to have a family friend who’s an ex-cop follow up with the police. That request eventually leads to tragedy, and gives the single mother, a graduate student specializing in Brooklyn history, a fresh crime to solve. The implausibly naïve Erica makes suspension of disbelief difficult, and predictable plot developments don’t help. (Feb.)