The War Against Miss Winter

by Kathryn Miller Haines | Mystery & Thrillers |
ISBN: 0061139785 Global Overview for this book
Registered by KML of Charlotte, North Carolina USA on 6/22/2007
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1 journaler for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by KML from Charlotte, North Carolina USA on Friday, June 22, 2007
From Publisher's 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."

Note: This is an Advance Reading Copy, received from Harper's First Look program (www.firstlookbooks.com).

It's not often that you find a mystery set Stateside during World War II, and the glimpses of life on the home front are a fascinating part of this novel; I particularly enjoyed the slang and idioms that were part of conversations (though there were a couple of times when they felt a little forced), and that New York attitude is much more fun to read than to experience! It's also rare to find a mystery in which the heroine hangs out with gangsters, but isn't drawn into the mob, and I found myself hoping that that would not be a plotline in a future installment.

The mystery itself has some interesting twists and turns, as it goes from an investigation into the murder-disguised-as-suicide into a desperate search for a missing play by a newly-deceased playwright. The comments about and views of theater life, and the academic approach to plays and playwriting, provide tension and help to keep the war issues from dampening the spirit of the book. And Rosie - not Rose! - is good company through it all.

Anyone who enjoys Carola Dunn's Daisy Dalrymple books is likely to enjoy this one, too, and vice versa. Here's hoping this finds its way to someone who'll appreciate it!

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