Product Description

It's 1943, and the war escalating in Europe and the Pacific seems far away. But for aspiring actress Rosie Winter, the war feels as if it were right in New York City—what with food rationing and frequent blackouts . . . and a boyfriend she hasn't heard word one from since he enlisted in the navy. Now her rent is coming due and she hasn't been cast in anything for six months. The factories are desperate for women workers, but Rosie the Thespian isn't about to become Rosie the Riveter, so she grabs a part-time job at a seamy, lowbrow detective agency instead.

However, there's more to the Big City gumshoe game than chasing lowlife cheating spouses. When her boss turns up dead, Rosie finds herself caught up in a ticklish high society mystery, mingling with mobsters and searching for a notorious missing script. Maybe she has no crime-fighting experience—but Rosie certainly knows how to act the role. No matter how the war against Miss Winter turns out, it's not going to end with her surrender!

Evocative, entertaining, and wonderfully original, Kathryn Miller Haines's War Against Miss Winter introduces not only an unforgettable new sleuth but also an exciting new voice in the mystery genre, with a fast-paced tale of murder and deception that brings the World War II era vividly to life.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #37374 in Books
• Published on: 2007-06-01
• Released on: 2007-06-12
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

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)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review
"...Haine’s assured debut brings the WWII era to vivid life..." -- Publishers Weekly

"...a fun romp..." -- Publishers Weekly

"Give Kathryn Haines...a standing ovation!" -- Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

"highly satisfying and clever...a well-constructed theatrical treasure hunt." -- Pittsburgh Magazine

Review
"Give Kathryn Haines...a standing ovation!" (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette )

"...Haine's assured debut brings the WWII era to vivid life..." (Publishers Weekly )

"...a fun romp..." (Publishers Weekly )

"highly satisfying and clever...a well-constructed theatrical treasure hunt." (Pittsburgh Magazine )

"[a] pitch-perfect rendering of the early '40s, from rationing to java stops at the automat." (Kirkus Reviews )

"Perfectly captures the feel, sights and sounds of New York in the 1940s." (Rhys Bowen )

Customer Reviews

Reviewed by Sabrina Williams
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.

No rivets for Rosie
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

The War Against Miss Winter
The War Against Miss Winter is a fun historical mystery. It has a great plot with a surprise ending and Mrs. Haines
has great characters. Rosie the hero is a wonderful character who has a biting sense of humor! You can't help but love this book and hope Mrs. Haines writes many more mysteries!

Steve Rapaport