Good morning! Welcome to Camden, Texas, May, 1962. Hurry and get a cup of coffee from the percolator because we don’t want to be late for the Hudson Secretarial School. Wait, let me turn up the radio. I love this song. Twist and Shout by the Isley Brothers. I see you dancing around over there. Don’t spill your coffee. I’m told I look like Sandra Dee, but I really wish I looked like Elizabeth Taylor, and if I couldn’t get that, I’d settle for Debbie Reynolds, but even Eddie liked Elizabeth better. It doesn’t matter because I think Rock Hudson is the most handsome man of all. He’d never cheat on Debbie Reynolds, you know?

I’ve been extra busy helping my father run for the vacant city council seat left open by Phil Boggs after he choked on a chicken bone. He always was first in line at every buffet, and rumor was he slept through many of the city council meetings. My dad is nothing like that. He genuinely wants to help people. He’s running against the brother of our local D.A., Morton Manning. Everyone says my dad’s opponent has an “in” because his family runs this town, but I have a plan. I’ve joined the Camden Ladies’ Club and am hoping to get my dad in front of all the right people. So far, they’ve let me do the jobs they feel are below them. I had to make thirty flower arrangements in a day for these women, and then they put someone else’s name in for the credit.

We’d better hurry. Quick, grab my shorthand practice notes. My teacher, Miss Robinson, seems to be angry with me all the time. I don’t know what I ever did to her, but she’s grown noticeably cooler after my father announced he would be running against the D.A.’s brother. From what I’ve heard, the guy is a screwup. I guess politics was the best place for him.

Hey later we could stop by this new restaurant on the edge of town. It’s called McDougals. No wait, that’s not it. McDonalds. They make food fast. Isn’t that amazing? Guess how much they charge for a hamburger? I know—let’s make it a quiz. Okay, here goes.

A. .39
B. .45
C. .35
D. .59

Share your answers in the comments and I hope you pick up a copy of my first adventure, The Twist and Shout Murder!

The Twist and Shout Murder, A Swinging Sixties Mystery #1
Genre: Cozy, Historical
Release: January 2022
Purchase Link

In 1962, Dot Morgan was told the best thing she could do besides being a nurse or teacher was to learn to type. While attending secretarial school, she decides to rub elbows with an elite ladies’ club to help her father with a struggling campaign for city council. Instead of getting the help she sought, Dot is thrown into a world of adultery, deceit, and murder when one of the town’s sons is found dead.

Time to put that 45 on the record player and bring out your best dance moves in The Twist and Shout Murder.

About the author
Teresa Trent writes cozy mysteries, historical mysteries and romance. She writes about books on her blog, Books to the Ceiling,  and lives in Houston, Texas with her husband and son.

All comments are welcomed.