Brooklyn Legacies

October 14, 2019
Stein’s entertaining fifth mystery featuring Brooklyn historian Erica Donato (after 2017’s Brooklyn Wars) finds Erica searching for a long-lost plaque that identified the building where Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass was printed. Her quest takes her to Brooklyn Heights, where she meets her idol: scrappy, aging activist Louisa Gibbs. Louisa’s next-door neighbors are Jehovah’s Witnesses, whose headquarters loom over her garden. Church officials claim that a strip of her property actually belongs to them, and the real estate developers to whom they hope to sell their building won’t close the deal until the boundary dispute is resolved. Louisa asks Erica to research her family home’s history in readiness for the inevitable court battle. When the church official handling the real estate deal is found dead, Donato ends up investigating not only his murder but also a crime that rocked Brooklyn Heights back in the psychedelic ’60s. This lively tale illustrates the evolution of a fascinating New York neighborhood. The love for Brooklyn that Stein shares with her protagonist shines through on every page.

November 1, 2019

Louisa Gibbs is a well-known firebrand advocating for the preservation of Brooklyn's historic neighborhoods. Daniel Towns is responsible for selling the vast land holdings of the Jehovah's Witnesses Watchtower, most probably to developers. One of these holdings abuts Louisa's 19th-century historic home, and both parties are disputing property lines. When Daniel gets threatening letters, Louisa is the prime suspect, until she, too, receives them, forcing the police to look elsewhere, with no clues to guide them. The subsequent murder of Daniel Towns in the underground tunnels connecting the various Watchtower buildings baffles everyone. Dr. Erica Donato, a new graduate specializing in Brooklyn history, has befriended both Louisa and the detective investigating the letters and murder, and both have asked for her assistance in solving the crimes. VERDICT This fifth book in the "Erica Donato" series (after Brooklyn Wars) is fascinating primarily for the history of Brooklyn aspect. Erica is not a particularly endearing character, nor is she an astute detective--she acts before she thinks and fails to see evident facts. While this installment stands on its own, the series will attract Brooklynites and those interested in its history.--Edward Goldberg, Syosset P.L., NY

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2019
A fifth sort-of case for Brooklyn historian Dr. Erica Donato shows her teaming up with an aging local activist against rapacious Jehovah's Witnesses. Uh-huh. Louisa McWilliams Gibbs isn't called the duchess of Brooklyn Heights for nothing. In her time, she's marched, she's demonstrated, she's organized, she's importuned City Hall, she's done everything humanly possible to help her beloved borough retain the best of its distinctive character in the face of wishy-washy government bureaucrats, bean-counting civil servants, and slick real estate speculators out to make a quick buck. Now that she's too old for most of those activities--she has a hard time even getting up and down the stairs without the assistance of Sierra, her hipster aide--trouble has ironically come right to her doorstep in the person of Daniel Towns, a Watchtower bigwig intent on selling a parcel of properties the Witnesses own to mega-developer Mike Prinzig, of Prince Projects. Since Louisa's home adjoins one of the Witnesses' buildings, Towns wants to broker the sale of her home to Prince Projects too. When Louisa bridles and stiffens her spine, two activities she's very good at, someone begins harassing her with a series of anonymous letters she reluctantly describes to Erica and a pair of NYPD officers. The report falls flat once Louisa and Erica realize that Towns has been getting anonymous letters too, and even flatter when Towns is found dead inside one of the well-kept underground tunnels connecting the buildings. In the experienced hands of Erica (Brooklyn Wars, 2017, etc.), however, the promising mystery runs down rather than winding up. And despite restoration expert Nancy Long's tale of woe, there's precious little in the way of disclosures about the Witnesses either. It's hard not to sympathize with the cop who tells Erica, calling to report on the latest anticlimactic developments: "I have real crimes to handle here." A modern Battle of Brooklyn Heights for fans of borough history only.

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October 15, 2019
Erica Donato is back. In Brooklyn Wars (2017), she was writing her history dissertation while solving a crime at the Brooklyn Navy Yard; in this fifth in the series, she's involved in the tangled past of Brooklyn Heights, then-home of the Jehovah's Witnesses' world headquarters. The organization seeks to expand its real-estate holdings but is held back by one determined old lady, Louisa Gibbs; Louisa was a neighborhood champion in her day, and her commitment hasn't dimmed. Louisa and her Witness archnemesis both receive hate mail, and, when one of them is found dead, Erica must dig through capitalist motives in the present as well as otherworldly voices from the past to keep the neighborhood and her new friends safe. The mystery here isn't easily solved; diverse forces for good and for nefarious gain are at work and will keep readers engrossed and guessing. Donato's fans will enjoy her new professional direction as well as a surprise in her personal life that's held till the book's satisfying close. A must for fans of the series and for amateur history buffs.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)