Rosie Winter Mysteries

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.

It's tough shooting for stardom when there's a war on. But Rosie's got enough pluck for two: she's willing to stumble around in a Broadway dance chorus that she has no right to be a part of, in a musical that's got "flop" written all over it. And all the while, she's worrying about her missing-in-action soldier boyfriend, who hasn't written in months. Lately, she's also been keeping bad company with her mob-muscle pal, Al, who's dabbling in a host of shady money-making enterprises in this time of shortages and rationing. But despite his illicit line of work, Al's no killer. When the cops finger him for his girlfriend's murder, Rosie and Jayne, her close compatriot/fellow castmate, set out to clear big Al's name, and plunge into an intricate backstage drama featuring a bevy of suspiciously well-dressed wannabe starlets. But the plot could soon be taking another lethal turn, bringing a final curtain down on Rosie, Jayne, and all their good intentions.

New York, 1943: Aspiring actress Rosie Winter has been marooned in New York throughout the war. Now, faced with the news that her ex-boyfriend Jack might not be coming home again, she's desperate to leave the home front and head for the war front. So when Rosie and her best pal Jayne get an offer to go to the South Pacific to perform with USO Camp Shows, they jump at the chance. But being a greasepaint soldier isn't as easy as they had hoped. Not only are the cast members surly, the schedules inhumane, and the housing conditions primitive but they also have to travel with a major-and majorly difficult-Hollywood star. But none of that is as bad as living in a war zone, and when tragedy strikes, Rosie and Jayne are left wondering if they are being targeted by the enemy or if something far more sinister is afoot.

"Kathryn Miller Haines perfectly captures the feel, sights and sounds of New York in the 1940s….A lot of fun."  -Rhys Bowen Aspiring actress and sometime sleuth Rosie Winter is back in When Winter Returns-the fourth installment of Kathryn Miller Haines's atmospheric and suspenseful World War II era mystery series. Fans of historical whodunits like the Maisie Dobbs books by Jacqueline Winspear-and readers who love stories of feisty female sleuths, like Alexander McCall Smith's #1 Ladies' Detective Agency novels-will thrill to Rosie's big city adventures, as she encounters espionage on her own doorstep.