When Winter Returns

Starred review from March 8, 2010
Set in the fall of 1943, Haines's captivating fourth Rosie Winter mystery (after 2009's Winter in June
) finds Rosie and her best pal, Jayne Hamilton, back in New York after a harrowing South Pacific U.S.O. tour. First, they pay a call upstate on the parents of Jayne's late fiancé, Billy DeMille, who was killed in action two months earlier. To their surprise, they discover the Billy they knew stole the identity of the DeMilles' son, who died in the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. Back in Manhattan at the George Bernard Shaw Home for Women Pursuing Theatrical Vocations, Rosie must share rooms with her nemesis, Ruby Priest, and Jayne with weird Ann Fremont. At fake Billy's old digs, they uncover German letters written in disappearing ink and a stash of cash. To add to their woes, Jayne's ex-mobster honey, Tony, is causing trouble, and they can't land roles because another mobster has blackballed them. Haines vividly recreates WWII-era New York City, while daring Rosie never loses her “can do” attitude.

May 1, 2010
After a three-month USO tour in the South Pacific in 1943, actresses Rosie Winter and her best pal, Jayne Hamilton, visit the parents of Billy DeMille, Jaynes fianc', who was recently killed in action. It turns out that their Billy is not Jaynes Billy. A hunt to discover who Jaynes fianc' really was takes the two gals to Yorkville, the German section of Manhattan, at a time of rising prejudice against Germans. Rosie may occasionally overstep her bounds, but she is loyal to a fault and absolutely dogged. In the fourth in this series, she ferrets out answers involving Billy; assists a henchman of Jaynes ex-boyfriend, mobster Tony B.; handles the blackball preventing Jayne and her from getting theater roles; and even helps the man she once loved and his current fianc'e overcome his depression when he comes home from the war with one leg. Haines captures the spirit of the home front in a story that includes murder and sabotage while hinting that a new romance is in store for Rosie. Thoroughly entertaining for anyone who enjoys reading about the WWII era.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)