The War Against Miss Winter (Rosie Winter Mysteries) [Kindle Edition]

Kathryn Miller Haines (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Set in New York City, Haines's assured debut brings the WWII era to vivid life, from a topical jump-rope song (Whistle while you work. Hitler is a jerk...) to Automats and jive joints. On New Year's Eve 1942, actress Rosie Winter, whose day job is with a Manhattan detective agency, finds the body of her boss, Sam McCain, hanging in his office closet, his hands and neck tied with phone cord. The investigating cop calls Sam's death a well-deserved suicide, but there's a missing play that a reclusive playwright and a rich widow want found. Rosie, a fast-thinking Hepburn type, takes on the case, aided by her best pal, Jayne (a petite blonde with... the voice of a two-year-old dubbed America's squeakheart). This is a fun romp, though the author, herself a playwright and actor, provides some dark commentary on avant-garde theater and war as well as an unexpected and wicked twist in the novel's final act. (June)
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Review

“Perfectly captures the feel, sights and sounds of New York in the 1940s.”

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Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 285 KB
• Print Length: 338 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0061139785
• Publisher: HarperCollins e-books (October 13, 2009)
• Sold by: HarperCollins Publishers
• Language: English
• ASIN: B000ROKXVK
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #286,864 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

More About the Author

Kathryn Miller Haines is an actor, mystery writer, and award-winning playwright. In addition to writing the Rosie Winter series for HarperCollins, she's also writes a mystery series for young adults also set during World War II for Roaring Brook Press. The first book in the series, The Girl is Murder, is about 15 year old Iris Anderson whose life is turned up side down when her mother kills herself and her father returns injured from Pearl Harbor. She also blogs about World War II and pop culture at www.thegirlis.blogspot.com

Here's a brief Q&A with Kathryn about why she decided to write a young adult novel:

This is your first mystery for young adults, after penning several of popular mysteries for adults in your Rosie Winter series. What made you decide to write for this new audience?

I love reading YA books and, as when I first tried my hand at mysteries, I wanted to see if I could write one for myself. I also felt like there was a whole world of World War II that hadn't been explored very much - what was the war like from the perspective of teenagers? In fact there's a great non-fiction book called Teenage that talks about adolescence through history that really got me buzzing about what life was like then.

What were some of the mysteries you enjoyed reading when you were young? I'm assuming Nancy Drew, due to the mention in the book, but I'd love to hear a few of your early faves.

Absolutely loved Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys. Truth told, though, I didn't read a lot of mysteries as a young 'un. I was a big Judy Blume fan (particularly Blubber, a book that has stayed with me all these years). Bridge to Terabithia will still make me cry. And I never met a Lois Duncan book I didn't tear through (though I guess those kind of are mysteries/thrillers).
What kind of research did you do to create an authentic early 1940s-New York City setting? Was there any difference in your research process for a young readers title compared to your work for adult titles?

I read a lot of great non-fiction books about the war, went through contemporary to the war issues of newspapers, magazines, comic books; listened to music and radio shows; looked at fashion; watched movies - pretty much surrounded myself with the kind of pop culture that I would've probably been into had I lived during that time.

With the adult mysteries, I think readers are looking for the nitty gritty details about the period whereas I don't think YA readers have the patience for a four page info dump on the history of air conditioning. It was freeing in some ways because I didn't have to be as specific and heavy handed with creating my world. I felt like I could create a flavor of the period without having to drown each scene in period detail. It became a lot more about experiencing the world through the character for me.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Reviewed by Sabrina Williams, July 31, 2007

By 

Front Street Reviews www.frontstreetreviews.com - See all my reviews

This review is from: The War Against Miss Winter (Rosie Winter Mysteries) (Paperback)

It is incredibly satisfying to discover new authors with a flair for fiction that typically denotes decades of publishing under the belt. In one such exceptional debut novel, The War Against Miss Winter, actor and playwright Kathryn Miller Haines introduces readers to Rosie Winter, aspiring actress, part-time file clerk, and amateur sleuth. Rosie takes on a job keeping books for a private detective to make ends meet in between acting jobs. When she has the unpleasant experience of finding her boss Jim's dead body in the office after a holiday break, she finds herself being forced from all directions into resuming Jim's work and recovering a missing play manuscript that may very well be the cause of his death. Rosie is not alone in her quest and the person who shares a common goal is willing to commit murder under the watch of a corrupt legal system to achieve it.


Readers will immediately find Rosie endearing. She is funny, smart, sarcastic and sassy: a feminist before her time. She stands tough against the many shady characters she encounters, ignoring obvious threats to her survival. Who can't respect a woman who can sit down and offer a doughnut to a mob henchman who's been tailing her? She makes it difficult to say goodbye to The War Against Miss Winter when the adventure is over. We can rest assured, she'll be back with another mystery in 2008, The Winter of Her Discontent. Hopefully there are many more adventures in store.


On a more somber note, with The War Against Miss Winter being set in 1943 in the midst of World War II, Haines captures the turmoil brewing in a society paranoid that the enemy lurks around every corner. Citizens struggle with rationing, moral dilemmas in what would otherwise be mundane daily activities, the emotion of sending loved ones off to war, and the devastation of loss as soldiers inevitably succumb to the perils of battle. Rosie can't walk a block without seeing a war poster or some reminder of the conflict overseas. Finding the manuscript almost becomes a way of distracting her attention from the fact that her own boyfriend has shipped out without a letter or a goodbye.


Haines has created a novel that not only provides a perplexing journey, but actively engages the reader in solving the mystery. This is the type of story that causes the mind to wander with possibilities as it progresses, eager to solve the crime. The characters could have stepped right out of the screen of a classic black and white detective flick, complete with drama and slang. This reviewer will be eagerly awaiting the next installment of Rosie's adventures.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars No rivets for Rosie, October 5, 2007

By 

Amanda Richards (Georgetown, Guyana) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The War Against Miss Winter (Rosie Winter Mysteries) (Paperback)

An undeniable triumph for both author and lead character on debut, "The War Against Miss Winter" is a witty, period-perfect portrayal of the exploits of an endearing young woman who has one eye set on stardom, and the other on the look-out for anything of a suspicious nature. Set in New York in the 1940s, our heroine, Rosie Winter, is a talented, yet unemployed aspiring actress, who has a fall-back day job at a small detective agency. Her boss, Jim McCain does the normal "cheating spouses" cases through the front door, but has another type of clientele that make use of the fire escape and the back window to his office.

Just after the Christmas holidays, Rosie visits the office and finds her boss swinging, and not in a good way. Although ruled a suicide by a cynical police investigator, Rosie isn't convinced, and soon finds herself swept up in her most dangerous role ever, involving mobsters, murderers, hired muscle, a missing play and a lot of people desperately seeking salvation.

Strong female characters dominate every chapter, and this novel is so rich in description that you'll turn the last page with the feeling that you were actually there. A very promising debut by Kathryn Miller Haines, and hopefully just book one in the Rosie Winter detective series.

Rated: 4.5 stars




Amanda Richards, October 5, 2007

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars major slang overkill, August 22, 2009

By 

rexclick (Switzerland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The War Against Miss Winter (Rosie Winter Mysteries) (Paperback)

I am 60 pages into this book and I'm not even sure I will finish it. The author has Rosie Winter speak and think in a slang so thick you almost can't see the plot behind it. Get Real, Kathryn Miller Haines (or stick to theater scripts)