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Rosie Winter Mystery #2
Ein Schlachtplan für Miss Winter
Keine Feldpost vom Exfreund, dafür Fleischrationierung und zwei linke Füße beim Vortanzen: Die Laune von Rosie Winter, Broadway-Schauspielerin ohne Engagement, ist in diesem Frühjahr 1943 nicht die beste. Und dann wird auch noch Al verhaftet, Rosies treuer Kumpel aus der New Yorker Unterwelt.
Broadway-Starlet Paulette Monroe wurde erschlagen. Al, ein Muskelprotz im Dienst der Mafia, gesteht die Tat. Klar, daß ihm jeder glaubt. Doch Rosie Winter kennt Al und weiß, daß er kein Mörder ist. Als für die Show, in der Paulette die Hauptrolle hätte spielen sollen, noch Tänzer gesucht werden, sieht Rosie ihre Chance. Zusammen mit ihrer Freundin Jayne macht sie sich daran, Als Unschuld zu beweisen. Mit Witz, Verstand und dem Herz auf der Zunge ermittelt Rosie Winter wieder in der kriegsgeplagten New Yorker Theaterwelt der 40er Jahre.
Broadway-Starlet Paulette Monroe wurde erschlagen. Al, ein Muskelprotz im Dienst der Mafia, gesteht die Tat. Klar, daß ihm jeder glaubt. Doch Rosie Winter kennt Al und weiß, daß er kein Mörder ist. Als für die Show, in der Paulette die Hauptrolle hätte spielen sollen, noch Tänzer gesucht werden, sieht Rosie ihre Chance. Zusammen mit ihrer Freundin Jayne macht sie sich daran, Als Unschuld zu beweisen. Mit Witz, Verstand und dem Herz auf der Zunge ermittelt Rosie Winter wieder in der kriegsgeplagten New Yorker Theaterwelt der 40er Jahre.
487 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2008
13 people are currently reading
276 people want to read
About the author
Kathryn Miller Haines
9 books137 followersKathryn Miller Haines is an actor, mystery writer, and award-winning playwright. She grew up in San Antonio, Texas, and received her BA in English and Theatre from Trinity University in San Antonio and her MFA in English from the University of Pittsburgh. She's a member of the Mary Roberts Rinehart Chapter of Sisters in Crime and has been a board member of the New York chapter of Mystery Writers of America. In addition to writing the Rosie Winter mystery series for HarperCollins, she's also written a young adult mystery series for Roaring Brook Press, a division of MacMillan, the first of which, The Girl is Murder, was nominated for 2012 Edgar Award for Best Young Adult Novel. In April 2017 she will publish her first standalone contemporary thriller, The Girl From Yesterday (Simon and Schuster). Kathryn is an adjunct faculty member for Seton Hill's MFA in writing popular fiction.
She lives in Western Pennsylvania with her husband, son, daughter and their two dogs.
She lives in Western Pennsylvania with her husband, son, daughter and their two dogs.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 56 reviews
April 2, 2017
To preface, I started this (a trade paperback) because my Kindle quite simply had a hissy fit. When all's said and done, unless someone pours glue over it you will always be able to at least open a book: one reason I don't think "dead tree books" will ever go away.
"Discontent" is right (though the only "winter" is Rosie herself – this takes place in March. Which, all right, is technically winter…); Rosie is discontented, disgruntled, unhappy, and cranky. And miserable. She has every reason to be – her boyfriend (or is he?) is missing in action, and she can't get any further information; the War and the shortages and rationing and blackout that go with it are making life in general and life in the theatre in particular more challenging, not to mention the constant casualty lists in the paper; the weather is dismal; she is between shows; and her buddy Al has been arrested for murder. Still, it isn't what you might call fun when the first-person narrator is irritable to the point of chewing out her best friend and barely trying in a role she feels she is miscast for. It's a tribute to Kathryn Miller Haines and my fond memories of the first book that I stuck with her through the beginning of this one.
Al, it seems, has turned himself in for the murder of a young actress, and part of Rosie's misery is that she feels guilty: Al showed up to see her just hours before he was arrested, and she can't shake the feeling that he was trying to tell her something or ask her for help, and she brushed him off (being cross at the time). He doesn't want her help now, and says and does everything in his power to dissuade Rosie and her good friend and roomie Jayne from helping, but they will not be dissuaded. And off they go into a new investigation, centered around a new production, a mystery-shrouded mob-related situation, interwoven with new progress in the other abiding mystery in Rosie's life: the problem of her missing not-quite-fiancé.
I'm a bit impressed by the fact that Rosie seems to have grown from the last book, and also does so within this book. She has, in a couple of ways, a more solidly grounded reality to her than do a great many fictional characters who are expected to carry their books: hers is no white-washed Mary Sue personality. When she is miserable – discontented – she can and will take it out on those around her, including her beloved Jayne. She loathes Ruby, the snobbish knock-out housemate who will go far in acting even if she has to destroy everyone in her path, and the two of them have a constant sniping relationship; realistically, neither is blameless in the nastiness. There is real pain on both sides, but they flat out don't like each other, and that will, apparently, never change: they may end up temporary allies as required, but they'll never be bosom pals. Rosie says and does things that she regrets, that cause pain, as do others; she learns from what she is feeling, from what is happening around her, and advances. I can't think of a non-coming-of-age story in which there's so much development to a character.
I don't think the slang in the book has changed since last outing, but for some reason I found it annoying in Discontent. "Shut your box" seemed to especially get on my nerves. On the other hand, it strikes me that if the slang of the time was so prevalent then, with no trace of it surviving here and now, then I should feel better about the constant use of "like" and all the rest of the stuff that makes me twitch; in a decade or so it'll start going away, and be gone … when the next generation's slang takes over. Oh well.
I only hope in the next books Rosie doesn't get a role through someone else's misfortune. That would have a similar feel to the "cozy" mysteries where the main character comes upon a corpse every six months or so; I wouldn't want to be friends with that person, and I wouldn't want to be in a show with an actor who was such a jinx.
At the beginning of the book I wasn't sure I'd make it through; by the end I was friends with Rosie again, and cared as much about what happened to her as ever; in her guilt over and apologies to Jayne for her ratty behavior she is also making amends to the reader, and that's another sign of growth. This is a very good book in a very good series.
"Discontent" is right (though the only "winter" is Rosie herself – this takes place in March. Which, all right, is technically winter…); Rosie is discontented, disgruntled, unhappy, and cranky. And miserable. She has every reason to be – her boyfriend (or is he?) is missing in action, and she can't get any further information; the War and the shortages and rationing and blackout that go with it are making life in general and life in the theatre in particular more challenging, not to mention the constant casualty lists in the paper; the weather is dismal; she is between shows; and her buddy Al has been arrested for murder. Still, it isn't what you might call fun when the first-person narrator is irritable to the point of chewing out her best friend and barely trying in a role she feels she is miscast for. It's a tribute to Kathryn Miller Haines and my fond memories of the first book that I stuck with her through the beginning of this one.
Al, it seems, has turned himself in for the murder of a young actress, and part of Rosie's misery is that she feels guilty: Al showed up to see her just hours before he was arrested, and she can't shake the feeling that he was trying to tell her something or ask her for help, and she brushed him off (being cross at the time). He doesn't want her help now, and says and does everything in his power to dissuade Rosie and her good friend and roomie Jayne from helping, but they will not be dissuaded. And off they go into a new investigation, centered around a new production, a mystery-shrouded mob-related situation, interwoven with new progress in the other abiding mystery in Rosie's life: the problem of her missing not-quite-fiancé.
I'm a bit impressed by the fact that Rosie seems to have grown from the last book, and also does so within this book. She has, in a couple of ways, a more solidly grounded reality to her than do a great many fictional characters who are expected to carry their books: hers is no white-washed Mary Sue personality. When she is miserable – discontented – she can and will take it out on those around her, including her beloved Jayne. She loathes Ruby, the snobbish knock-out housemate who will go far in acting even if she has to destroy everyone in her path, and the two of them have a constant sniping relationship; realistically, neither is blameless in the nastiness. There is real pain on both sides, but they flat out don't like each other, and that will, apparently, never change: they may end up temporary allies as required, but they'll never be bosom pals. Rosie says and does things that she regrets, that cause pain, as do others; she learns from what she is feeling, from what is happening around her, and advances. I can't think of a non-coming-of-age story in which there's so much development to a character.
I don't think the slang in the book has changed since last outing, but for some reason I found it annoying in Discontent. "Shut your box" seemed to especially get on my nerves. On the other hand, it strikes me that if the slang of the time was so prevalent then, with no trace of it surviving here and now, then I should feel better about the constant use of "like" and all the rest of the stuff that makes me twitch; in a decade or so it'll start going away, and be gone … when the next generation's slang takes over. Oh well.
I only hope in the next books Rosie doesn't get a role through someone else's misfortune. That would have a similar feel to the "cozy" mysteries where the main character comes upon a corpse every six months or so; I wouldn't want to be friends with that person, and I wouldn't want to be in a show with an actor who was such a jinx.
At the beginning of the book I wasn't sure I'd make it through; by the end I was friends with Rosie again, and cared as much about what happened to her as ever; in her guilt over and apologies to Jayne for her ratty behavior she is also making amends to the reader, and that's another sign of growth. This is a very good book in a very good series.
July 25, 2015
Marginally better than the first novel in the series, but then I have lowered my expectations of the authoress. Haines is a noir fiction wannabe that just can't quite pull it off because she's too firmly entrenched in cosy fiction. It's unfortunate that a writer who voluntarily places their books in a well-documented historical period (a not far distant one, either--plenty of people still around who were there!) couldn't take a bit more care with their language. Ms Haines is more 80s-90s than forties, in phraseology as well as references. Rosie speaks of someone being "better than the average bear", as if a girl in the 1940s would have seen Yogi Bear's cartoons--which were not first aired until 1961. The US did not have "litres" of Black and White whiskey in the war years; in those days it was fifths--besides the fact that the US never even tried to adopt the metric system until the seventies, and it didn't really take. I know, I was in school then,just as Ms Haines was. They tried to make us learn conversion tables instead of just switching over and knowing that people would "get it" in less than a year, once they figured out that a kilo of potatoes is this many, and a litre of milk is so much. A panhandler would not ask "Any change, Miss?" in the 1940s--that phrase became current in the 80s. In the war years, they might ask her if she could "spare a dime" or a nickel or whatever; but they usually had something to offer, even if it were only pencils or apples or some such. When Rosie and Jayne are wakened by an air-raid siren, they are "too wired" to go back to sleep. In the forties, they might have spoken of being "wound up" like an old-fashioned, pre-digital watch; "wired" became popular in the early nineties, the Internet era.
The grammatical howlers are fewer--though she needs to review the use of gerunds versus infinitives (it's my day job). However, there were a few things that really showed the lack of proofreading, however unskilled. How hard is it to differentiate "peace of mind" and "presence of mind" (ability to think and act quickly)-- entirely different concepts? Yet someone "has the peace of mind" to phone for an ambulance after Olive gets run over by a hit-and-run driver!! Someone "transgresses" the line between actor and dancer, instead of just crossing it. Well, my girl, "transgress" means to sin or break the law in normal English, it doesn't mean adding to your skills! Haines mixes her metaphors pretty badly, too, as well as mangling popular slang of the period. You might be told to "go chase yourself" or "go climb your thumb", as my parents often told us to do as kids, but I doubt anyone would say in narrative "she told me to go chase my thumb." That, along with "a scowl slicing her pretty face in half"--oy. A scowl usually scrunches your face together. A grin might slice it in half, if it were ear to ear, but--shame about that writer's group.
Is this the future of American light fiction? People who can't handle basic mechanics, never mind historical facts? I fear so. The windup of the story takes place in the same exact setting as book one--a darkened empty theatre. But that's okay, you know a "cosy" like this has to end reasonably well--and besides, I knew who the baddy was going to be from said baddy's first appearance. It was just a matter of time.
The grammatical howlers are fewer--though she needs to review the use of gerunds versus infinitives (it's my day job). However, there were a few things that really showed the lack of proofreading, however unskilled. How hard is it to differentiate "peace of mind" and "presence of mind" (ability to think and act quickly)-- entirely different concepts? Yet someone "has the peace of mind" to phone for an ambulance after Olive gets run over by a hit-and-run driver!! Someone "transgresses" the line between actor and dancer, instead of just crossing it. Well, my girl, "transgress" means to sin or break the law in normal English, it doesn't mean adding to your skills! Haines mixes her metaphors pretty badly, too, as well as mangling popular slang of the period. You might be told to "go chase yourself" or "go climb your thumb", as my parents often told us to do as kids, but I doubt anyone would say in narrative "she told me to go chase my thumb." That, along with "a scowl slicing her pretty face in half"--oy. A scowl usually scrunches your face together. A grin might slice it in half, if it were ear to ear, but--shame about that writer's group.
Is this the future of American light fiction? People who can't handle basic mechanics, never mind historical facts? I fear so. The windup of the story takes place in the same exact setting as book one--a darkened empty theatre. But that's okay, you know a "cosy" like this has to end reasonably well--and besides, I knew who the baddy was going to be from said baddy's first appearance. It was just a matter of time.
October 21, 2010
I can't say I enjoyed this one, the second in the Rosie Winter series, as much as I did the first. However, with Rosie leaving New York in the third installment, I'm hoping a change of scenery and a different cast of characters will be an improvement so I am planning on reading the third.
Why did this one not work for me as well? A. There were two "cases" going on. The first one involving gangsters and the blackmarket and mysterious happenings in the theater was a bit lame. The second one involving a group of greedy actresses surprised the heck out of me, but left me with a bad taste in my mouth. B. I'm sick to death of Ruby. I hope she is not in the third.
Still love Rosie though.
Why did this one not work for me as well? A. There were two "cases" going on. The first one involving gangsters and the blackmarket and mysterious happenings in the theater was a bit lame. The second one involving a group of greedy actresses surprised the heck out of me, but left me with a bad taste in my mouth. B. I'm sick to death of Ruby. I hope she is not in the third.
Still love Rosie though.
June 2, 2011
I mistakenly read this book not realizing it was actually #2 in a series of mysteries; that's one of the dangers of not wanting to read the back cover lest the synopsis give away too much. I realized pretty quickly going into it that there was at least another book in front of this one, but then realized that it probably didn't matter. There were some references to past adventures, but summed up enough to not ruin any of the surprise should I go back to read #1. Big thumbs up for that.
Rosie Winter is the protagonist of Kathryn Miller Haines's mysteries. The setting is NY. Year is somewhere's about the 1940s. World War II is in full swing. Rosie lives in a boarding house with other women, all of whom are in the theater circuit. The story starts with some meat.
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I actually didn't have high expectations for this book. I figured it would be like a classic pulp noir, and in some ways it was. But this Rosie Winter is fun and somewhat quirky, the kind of gal I would like to know. We could exchange snarky comments over a cheap lunch. The story itself is an enjoyable read - not too sappy, not too complex, yet not too simplistic either. It's a different setting from a lot of the other World War II novels I read, and it's a way different story. Haines obviously did her research - from the fashions, the trends, the way women spoke, the music, the film stars and starlets, the mobsters, the war lingo. It all came alive here. (And I really hate making comments like that. It just happens to be somewhat true in this case.)
I picked up the book initially because, well, it was only like a buck in a used bookstore; but also because I did notice that Haines is the artistic director of a Pittsburgh-based theater company. Local talent, hot damn! I do try to throw a little respect at the local writers/artists/what-have-ye. Happy to say Haines did not let me down, and I will gladly search out the other Rosie Winter mysteries.
Rosie Winter is the protagonist of Kathryn Miller Haines's mysteries. The setting is NY. Year is somewhere's about the 1940s. World War II is in full swing. Rosie lives in a boarding house with other women, all of whom are in the theater circuit. The story starts with some meat.
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I actually didn't have high expectations for this book. I figured it would be like a classic pulp noir, and in some ways it was. But this Rosie Winter is fun and somewhat quirky, the kind of gal I would like to know. We could exchange snarky comments over a cheap lunch. The story itself is an enjoyable read - not too sappy, not too complex, yet not too simplistic either. It's a different setting from a lot of the other World War II novels I read, and it's a way different story. Haines obviously did her research - from the fashions, the trends, the way women spoke, the music, the film stars and starlets, the mobsters, the war lingo. It all came alive here. (And I really hate making comments like that. It just happens to be somewhat true in this case.)
I picked up the book initially because, well, it was only like a buck in a used bookstore; but also because I did notice that Haines is the artistic director of a Pittsburgh-based theater company. Local talent, hot damn! I do try to throw a little respect at the local writers/artists/what-have-ye. Happy to say Haines did not let me down, and I will gladly search out the other Rosie Winter mysteries.
October 10, 2009
Not too long ago I read and reviewed the first book in the Rosie Winter series, The War Against Miss Winter. As much as I enjoyed that book, I have to say that this, the second book in the series, decidedly blew even that book out of the water.
The author really hits her stride with the story here. Maybe it's because we really dive right into the thick of things here and kind of skip all the back story and establishing whatnot that has to be included in a first book, but The Winter of Her Discontent had me wishing I was able to read while I was at work so I could devour the story faster.
This book also did something that doesn't usually happen for me- it made me want to research more about the events that were described. I enjoy historical novels but my curiosity about the events and the time period is usually satisfied by the author's note or the preface or whatever the book has going on. This made me want to find out about black market meat, war profiteers, war brides, dance halls, the USO, the New York mob in the 40s, you name it. The picture of New York that was painted as the backdrop for the story made me want to find out how it compared to the reality.
On top of a really well done historical setting, the author creates a mystery that doesn't give too much away but is still laid out well enough for readers to figure out whodunnit on their own. Clues are marked clearly enough (no dog snot on the carpet here,) without the story being too simple or watered down. At the same time, enough loose ends are dangling and the teaser at the end of the story just make me excited to read the third installment in the series and hope that more are forthcoming.
Overall Grade: A
Read more reviews at What Book is That?
The author really hits her stride with the story here. Maybe it's because we really dive right into the thick of things here and kind of skip all the back story and establishing whatnot that has to be included in a first book, but The Winter of Her Discontent had me wishing I was able to read while I was at work so I could devour the story faster.
This book also did something that doesn't usually happen for me- it made me want to research more about the events that were described. I enjoy historical novels but my curiosity about the events and the time period is usually satisfied by the author's note or the preface or whatever the book has going on. This made me want to find out about black market meat, war profiteers, war brides, dance halls, the USO, the New York mob in the 40s, you name it. The picture of New York that was painted as the backdrop for the story made me want to find out how it compared to the reality.
On top of a really well done historical setting, the author creates a mystery that doesn't give too much away but is still laid out well enough for readers to figure out whodunnit on their own. Clues are marked clearly enough (no dog snot on the carpet here,) without the story being too simple or watered down. At the same time, enough loose ends are dangling and the teaser at the end of the story just make me excited to read the third installment in the series and hope that more are forthcoming.
Overall Grade: A
Read more reviews at What Book is That?
January 26, 2016
just as enjoyable and addictive as the first. things that would ordinarily bother me in a lesser-written book (i hate it when my heroines need rescuing and i was able to "solve the mystery" a bit sooner than rosie) were easy to get over - or at least ignore - because it was just such a fun read. it's so much more of a pleasure when your detectives have a sense of humor (hello, maisie dobbs, you should get one). and it sort of feels like these books are an opportunity for all the girl fridays in chandler and all the other hard-boileds (who, don't get me wrong, i also love) to have a voice.
February 22, 2016
The story was perfectly workmanlike and engaging. Though I deeply question whether someone would have been referred to as being in the "air force" in WWII, considering that the Air Force proper didn't exist until 1947. Though Wikipedia tells me that the Army Air Corps became part of the Army Air Force in 1941/42, so I guess it's possible. My dudgeon is reduced to DEFCON 4 until further evidence is acquired. ;)
January 28, 2019
I totally guessed the murderer on this one, so that makes me happy. There were a lot fewer 40s slang references, which improved the readability a bit. This second installment did lose some of the charm of Rosie, because her argumentative personality didn't come through as forcefully. I still enjoyed the historical tidbits the author included throughout the story, and the conclusion was satisfying. A fun murder mystery.
August 11, 2011
I really love the time period and what was happening at the time on the homefront. I had a bit of trouble with the middle of this story, but I found the conclusion very interesting.
September 9, 2020
It’s good, but I think Maisie Dobbs ruined me. It’s a good distraction from real life.
December 1, 2019
The Winter of Her Discontent is the second book in the Rosie Winter mystery series set in World War Two. Rosie is an actress with Mob connections who used to work for a detective agency and turns her hand to solving murders. In this outing, set in 1943, her Mob-friend Al has confessed to a murder he didn’t commit and she’s determined to find the real killer. The victim is an actress who was set to star in a Broadway play. Rosie and her roommate, Jayne, audition for the dance chorus so they can investigate. It quickly becomes clear that the play is being set up to fail and someone has a vendetta against the lead actresses. Taking the form of a cosy mystery, Miller Haines spins out Rosie’s investigation, which soon splits into a couple of strands and also deals with tensions in Rosie’s boarding house and her attempt to find out more about her boyfriend’s missing in action status. There’s plenty going on, though it’s a little slow at times, all pretty staged (perhaps no surprise given its theatre theme) and reasonably well telegraphed. I never really warmed to Rosie, the story often teetered on the edge of credibility, and Al’s confession made very little sense given the lack of evidence and he could have just gone to ground instead. Nonetheless, it’s engaging and entertaining enough read.
November 24, 2020
Time period – 1943 in the midst of WWII. Location – Manhattan, especially in the theater district. The war has caused rationing of common essentials, from meat and gasoline to chocolate and silk stockings. The mob has over the black market for these goods. The mobsters have colorful names such as Tony B., Vinnie the Butcher and Big Al. Big Al gets his keister thrown in the hoosegow for supposedly murdering a rising starlet. (I love the way Haines uses the language, names and social mores of the 40s.) Rosie Winter is an actress who gets accidentally cast in a failing musical, “Goin’ South.” Rosie’s job is to find out who really murdered the starlet, why accidents keep happening to members of the cast, get to the bottom of the black-market meat syndicate and shed light on the more than cozy relationship between actresses and servicemen on leave.
Haines has obviously done a lot of research on the 1940s to write this colorful account of struggling actresses, mobsters and lonely servicemen. The one anachronism that bothered me was the repeated reference to everyone reading the Times. The New York Times was an upscale, elitist newspaper. The middle class was more likely to read the Daily News, the Mirror or the Journal-American – all defunct now.
Haines has obviously done a lot of research on the 1940s to write this colorful account of struggling actresses, mobsters and lonely servicemen. The one anachronism that bothered me was the repeated reference to everyone reading the Times. The New York Times was an upscale, elitist newspaper. The middle class was more likely to read the Daily News, the Mirror or the Journal-American – all defunct now.
September 18, 2021
"The Winter of Her Discontent" was even better than the first book in the series. Such a fun, engaging story. Despite the laughs, however, the reader never forgets the underlying seriousness of the wartime setting. Again, Ms. Haines does a wonderful job with place and setting. And her characters are pretty good, too. I think Jayne is one of the best sidekicks I've ever encountered in a mystery series.
I was a little disappointed with Rosie in this one. She continually coerced Jayne to place herself in harm's way. Not what one should do to their best friend.
I guessed the killer early on, her motives becoming crystal clear once the scam at the Stage Door Canteen was uncovered (I also suspected Zelda, Izzie and Olive were up to no good). My second disappointment with the book came when it took Rosie forever to connect the dots (in fact, she didn't figure it out until a gun was pulled on her).
It's sad that Jack is missing, but I'd really like to see Rosie get together with Al. I never thought I'd be rooting for a mobster. The next book should be interesting as it seems Rosie and Jayne will be heading out on the road with the USO. Fun times ahead.
I was a little disappointed with Rosie in this one. She continually coerced Jayne to place herself in harm's way. Not what one should do to their best friend.
I guessed the killer early on, her motives becoming crystal clear once the scam at the Stage Door Canteen was uncovered (I also suspected Zelda, Izzie and Olive were up to no good). My second disappointment with the book came when it took Rosie forever to connect the dots (in fact, she didn't figure it out until a gun was pulled on her).
It's sad that Jack is missing, but I'd really like to see Rosie get together with Al. I never thought I'd be rooting for a mobster. The next book should be interesting as it seems Rosie and Jayne will be heading out on the road with the USO. Fun times ahead.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 31, 2022
I’m not sure I can judge the writing, because the main thing I didn’t like was that I’m just not into nitty-gritty-city & Mob stories. The book was a gift, & I usually like WWII era stories, so I gave it a shot. I will say, it turned out to have more to do with WWII than I at first thought when I started reading it. I know there were a couple of continuity errors, although I can’t remember both of them now; the more minor one was her removing her shoes twice; the other was bigger, which is why it’s so annoying that I can’t remember it! The amount of lingo/jargon/slang of the era at the beginning was so excessive I almost stopped reading right there; fortunately it eased off after that—“fortunately”, because there were words/phrases that I didn’t know what they were talking about! The book should have a glossary of the slang!
June 26, 2019
Rosie Winter is an aspiring actress in New York City. The problem is, it is 1943 and most of Broadway has been shut down for the war. More than just the lights on Broadway are dark, so are many of the theaters and jobs are scarce. Rosie and her best friend and roommate, Jayne, both live in the George Bernard Shaw House for aspiring actresses, but they may soon have to move out if they don't get a job.
To make matters worse, Al, her friend and a member of Jayne's part-time boyfriend's gang, is suddenly arrested for a murder Rosie is SURE he didn't, couldn't, commit. When a job in an upcoming play comes available, both girls leap at the chance, although it is in the dance corps and Rosie is no dancer.
But there is more going on at the theater than a new play.................
To make matters worse, Al, her friend and a member of Jayne's part-time boyfriend's gang, is suddenly arrested for a murder Rosie is SURE he didn't, couldn't, commit. When a job in an upcoming play comes available, both girls leap at the chance, although it is in the dance corps and Rosie is no dancer.
But there is more going on at the theater than a new play.................
July 12, 2018
Set in WWII New York, Rosie Winter is an aspiring, well, something. Dancer, actress? Part-time PI? She lands a role in a new Broadway play but it seems to be plagued by a series of "accidents" that incapacitate several members of the cast. The director, who is trying to make a comeback, is in debt to the Mob. And what's going on in the basement of the theater? Rosie is a wise-cracking, gum-chewing character right out of gangster movies. For that matter, so are the mob characters, the other actresses and Rosie's best friend, Jayne who's involved with a mob muckety-muck. There are a few surprises and the book dos a good job of evoking WWII era New York.
March 4, 2023
This book is set in the 40's during WWII. Rosie and her friends talk about all they give up for the war (like meat). They are single, struggling actresses at a time when there aren't many shows because of the war. NO ONE has any money--not the promoters or the public, so it's tough going. Rosie also has a personal link to the war. Her "sweetie" went off to fight and she hasn't heard from him. Through each book she gets a little bit of news from different sources, but still doesn't know his whereabouts or condition. I like her character a lot! I also feel for these people who struggled through war times to make ends meet! I can't imagine... Looking forward to #3!
December 9, 2024
I plowed through the first book in this series; loved it. This one fizzled out, hard, with the storyline and characters. I ended up speed-reading the last bunch of chapters in the parking lot at the library so I could finally return it. There was a big twist in there but it wasn’t enough to really trudge through the whole book to get to. #bummer
July 26, 2018
Pros: Great use of era slang.
Interesting inside look at theater
Interesting point of view of WWII
Not a bad mystery and solution.
Cons:
It just seemed to drag. I thought she'd never get to a point.
Interesting inside look at theater
Interesting point of view of WWII
Not a bad mystery and solution.
Cons:
It just seemed to drag. I thought she'd never get to a point.
Read
April 15, 2020The 2nd book in the Rosie Winter series seems to hit its stride more--or maybe I just didn't notice as much slang-talk. This one finds our heroine involved in a play with a dicey, mobster backer, and investigating black market meat during the rationing of WWII.
March 24, 2022
Second of the series This one's mystery is less weird than the first as Rosie faces beef shortages, her inability to be a dancer, and a play that is continually being sabotaged. all while trying to find out about her MIA boyfriend.
June 28, 2018
Great story line but simplistic writing that sometimes felt a bit forced to emphasize the time period. If you are a mystery fan it is a fun twist on the genre, but not a sophisticated read.
January 4, 2021
a little slow but I look forward to the next installment.
February 16, 2023
I’m unexpectedly obsessed, literally read it in one shot
April 7, 2023
A Library find.
Easy read!
Interesting characters!
Easy read!
Interesting characters!
June 14, 2025
I liked the concept of this story but the execution was very underwhelming. It needed a stronger female narrator as the main character to be more interesting for me.
October 16, 2009
The second installment in Kathryn Miller Haines’s Rosie Winter series, The Winter of Her Discontent sees Rosie grotesquely miscast in a strange Broadway play, while she is attempting to prove the innocence of her friend Al, a small-time crook who’s confessed to murdering a big-time actress.
As nice fluffy bits of light reading with a side of interesting historical background, these books are quite entertaining. I can see Rosie being played by someone like Rosalind Russell, which helps me to visualize the setting. The plot of The Winter of Her Discontent was much less convoluted and therefore much better done in this installment, and Ms. Miller Haines has obviously done lots of research to capture the flavor of the war "Stateside" although she makes some jarring errors when it comes to events overseas, the most egregious being that the Germans were not “poised” to invade Norway in March 1943, since they had already invaded Norway in April 1940! Still, I enjoyed reading about Rosie and Jayne and I like their friendship, as well as the "background" on the Stage Door Canteen and fabulous little details such as the rationing of meat, etc.
As nice fluffy bits of light reading with a side of interesting historical background, these books are quite entertaining. I can see Rosie being played by someone like Rosalind Russell, which helps me to visualize the setting. The plot of The Winter of Her Discontent was much less convoluted and therefore much better done in this installment, and Ms. Miller Haines has obviously done lots of research to capture the flavor of the war "Stateside" although she makes some jarring errors when it comes to events overseas, the most egregious being that the Germans were not “poised” to invade Norway in March 1943, since they had already invaded Norway in April 1940! Still, I enjoyed reading about Rosie and Jayne and I like their friendship, as well as the "background" on the Stage Door Canteen and fabulous little details such as the rationing of meat, etc.
October 1, 2014
3.5 STARS
"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." (From Amazon)
I really enjoyed the second book and am committed for the rest of the series.
"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." (From Amazon)
I really enjoyed the second book and am committed for the rest of the series.
July 25, 2011
Rosie Winter is a struggling actress in NYC during WWII. She lives in a boarding house for actresses. When a gangster Rosie befriended in the first book of the series is arrested for the murder of an actress, Rosie believes in his innocence. To find out the real killer, she and her roommate join the victim's play. Suspicious accidents jeopardize the success of the play, providing Rosie with more questions than answers. Rosie waits for V-mail news of her boyfriend (or maybe ex-boyfriend) serving overseas, and volunteers at the Stage Door Canteen, where actresses serve dinner and dance with servicemen on leave. Rosie is a plucky woman who is loyal and compassionate. While she cannot right all wrongs, she persists until all the mysteries are solved and the bad guys' efforts are blocked. The snappy period dialogue is a treat, and Rosie's everyday wartime hardships make history come alive.
July 23, 2012
This series gives readers a pretty good picture of what World War II was like for performers in USO performers in the Pacific from the point of view of a world weary actress turned amateur sleuth from necessity and curiosity. The mysteries are fun, suspenseful in part, and clean, with a few crude words, but not much more to mar the stories. The actress uses mobster cant, but she runs with mobsters, so I guess it's sort of realistic. The mobsters, in general, turn out to have "hearts of gold." There is some oblique hints at immorality, but considering the atmosphere the book uses as its setting, it's very innocent.
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