It’s 1962 in Camden, Texas, and Dot Morgan is almost done with her secretarial schooling. But she’s taking on helping her father with a run for the local city council. However, the election hits a snag when her father’s opponent dies. The police think it was a tragic accident, but Dot thinks something else is going on. The trouble is, if she convinces the police that it was murder, will she and her father become the top suspects?

It did take me a couple of chapters to get fully into this book, mainly because I felt like I was trying to remember all the characters and their relationships to each other. But once I got that sorted out, I was hooked. There are plenty of complications for Dot to deal with, and I enjoyed seeing how she dealt with everything. She is strong. There are plenty of great characters, including a potential love interest. That time in history is also brought to life, including the changes society was going through. I already can’t wait to see these characters again. If you are looking for a fun historical mystery, you’ll be glad you picked up this one.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC.
This is such a great little read! I saw it on NetGalley and I'm so happy I ended up reading it. The story is simple but well executed. It's an easy read which is what I needed right now. I have a few other books on the go which are either very long, or deals with heavy content, so this was perfect. What stood out to me the most are the strong female characters! Obviously, being set in the Sixties, there were still set views of what women should do and how they should speak/act. Dot, the main character, challenges these societal norms. She stands up for herself, supportive of those around her, she's more concerned with furthering her education and starting a professional career than finding a husband; she's independent, taking charge of her own life.
The Twist and Shout Murder Mystery is a wholesale murdery mystery sprinkled with humour, feminism and the importance of friendship, community and family!

1962. A small town in Texas, Wait! I've lived this! A most fun, quick delightful read! Dot is an amazing character. Love her Texas sass! This book grabs your attention and keeps it! I definitely want more!!! Thanks #netgalley and #LevelBestBooks for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are mine.

A very surprisingly good story although it’s very cheesy. And has some questionable writing at times, though it was still very good overall

A good start for a new mystery series: compelling, entertaining, and well written.
Dot is an interesting characters, the historical background and the setting are interesting, the solid mystery kept me guessing.
Can't wait to read another one in this series.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

A quick and easy read that I found myself picking up after a long day to unwind. The characters are beautifully written and I came to love them within the first few pages and was rooting for them all the way to the end. At times I wanted to stop reading because I just wanted the experience to go on for longer.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a curious little murder mystery! Dot, a young woman in secretary school in her hometown, encourages her father to run for an open city council seat. This decision moves them into the circle of the rich and powerful in their town, bringing with it murder and intrigue!

What I loved:
- Dot is very likable. I enjoyed reading about her life and the lightheartedness she brought to otherwise very serious matters. Her role in the story reminded me a bit of Miss Marple.
- The other female characters - though they sometimes feel like caricatures, almost every female character experienced growth of some sort throughout the story.
- I genuinely didn’t see the twist coming.
What I didn’t love:
- Extraneous characters who were not red herrings. I am definitely trained to suspect everyone, especially the least likely to commit the murder. In this story there were a lot of extraneous characters who were never pulled in as red herrings - what’s the fun in that?!
- Sixties-era issues that seemed a little forced into the story. Pre-marital sex, abortion, and women in the workforce were all important issues in the 60s, but I’m not sure including them in this story added anything. There was no engagement with the weight of them as issues, they seemed to be included to ensure the reader knew the story took place in the 60s.

Overall, if this becomes a series, I would read the next one!

I enjoyed this book however I did feel slightly let down by the title, as this has nothing to do with either the crime or the book in general and so was slightly misleading. However that said the story flowed really well and the characters were well considered and written. If I could change one thing it would be the title.

I'm' a fan of Teresa Trent's Pecan Bayou series, so I was intrigued to meet a new cast of characters, in a new town, and even a new time period. Dot is definitely a different protagonist from Betsy, the Happy Hinter. She's independent and spunky--good traits for a woman carving her own path in the 1960s. Trent did a good job of taking me back to a time that was simpler in some ways, but certainly came with its challenges for career-minded women. Particularly a female sleuth!

I look forward to getting to know the cast of characters in Camden, Texas, and seeing where Trent takes Dot in her career and adventures. Twist and Shout is a great start to a fun new series.

The Twist and Shout Murder is an enjoyable and entertaining historical cozy mystery series. The mystery behind the murder kept me guessing till the end. The setting is fantastic and so is the storytelling.
Looking forward to knowing what's next for Dot Morgan.

I had a blast watching Dot Morgan find herself and emerge as a strong, woman. Initially she comes across as rather demur, a young woman whose goal in life is to be a secretary. Dot has ambitions, however, even if they initially involve getting her father to run for the unexpected seat on the city council. He's reluctant but she talks him into it. Teresa Trent creates an adorable image of Dot and her father, Mike, dancing to the Isley's "Twist and Shout" in the kitchen, a nice connection to the era.

The trouble soon begins. Dot abruptly joins the Camden, Texas, Ladies Club thinking it might be helpful to her father's campaign. Head socialite Barb immediately makes her uncomfortable and turns her into a glorified gofer. I won't detail the plot but ultimately the candidate opposing Dot's father is murdered. Suspicion naturally falls on Dot's father, Mike, and Dot finds herself asking questions that bring her both attention and potential danger. Despite all this, Dot's basic kindness and moral code stand out against the political nastiness and class barriers exemplified by many of the ladies' club. One highlight of the increasing frustration felt by Dot as she tries to confront potential murderers is her burgeoning friendship with a reporter who seems almost as nice as Dot. Oddly enough, their basic niceness isn't cloying or annoying but welcome in contrast to the not so nice events about them.

So, who is the murderer? Or, maybe it really was an accident? And, what is going on with the side story involving Ellie and her long-time beau Al? Will Ellie or won't she? Will Dot ever manage to pass that shorthand course? How long would it take to transcribe 100 pages of a textbook into shorthand? I'm not sure I even want to know. Is the reporter friend or foe? Will they be able to deflect the insinuations cast by the story on Mike's late night trip to a, uh, bordello, to rescue a friend? Will Dot's mother believe the real story and stand by her man? Who was guilty of adultery? Did that play into the murder? Will Dot find the courage to stand up to Barb and the Camden Ladies Club? And how about that hit-and-run accident? What role, if any, does that play in the story? Finally, of course, who wins the campaign for city council?

All these questions and more will be answered in "The Twist and Shout Mystery". It was a delight watching Dot, who started out so demur and soft spoken, emerge as a strong woman ready to take on not just the Camden Ladies Club but the world. Remember 1962? That wasn't always the case for women back then, hence it's a delight to have Trent share this character on the brink of a world about to change. I'm looking forward to following Dot on her journey through the "Swinging Sixties" and, hopefully, beyond. Fun read with bits of the history of the time scattered throughout and a growing stronger every day main character. What's not to like?

Thanks to #NetGalley and #LevelBestBooks, part of the #IBPA (Independent Book Publishers Association, for the chance to meet Dot and travel back through time to 1962.

Thank you Netgalley and Level Best Books for this arc! What a fun, easy read! The writing was engaging and I loved the characters. Dot is a great main character and I loved how she stood up for herself and for her friends. I liked how societal issues were addressed throughout the book and how they added to the story. If you want a light and engaging read, this book is for you!

Camden, Texas 1962. A town with one library, a movie theater and a powerful family who runs it. Dot Morgan, single and independent didn't want to believe the only way a woman's life will be fulfilling is to marry. With the support from her parents, Dot enrolls in the Hudson's Secretarial School.

Dot encourages her father to run for city council and when she joins the Camden Ladies Club with the hope of getting their support to back her father, she realizes the ladies aren't so nice. On the night of her father's campaign one of the town's elite is murdered and Dot dives in to help solve the murder.

The Twist and Shout Murder was a fun and fast-paced read. I was able to imagine how each character looked and how they were dressed from the author's writing. Little touches of the 60's era were scattered throughout the story which was nice since I was born in 1960, however I would've like to experience more of a small town feel in the story. There were lots of twists and turns to solve the murder, however I guessed the killer before I was halfway through the book, but I still enjoyed the journey.

I look forward to reading the second book in the series to see where Dot is in her life and other series Teresa Trent has written.

Thank you Netgalley and Level Best Books for a digital advanced reader's copy which I voluntarily read and expressed my honest opinion and review.

A quick, easy read which kept true to the era.

Full of mayhem and murder with a sassy main character.

A cozy mystery with plenty of action.

Recommended 3 stars from me.

Set in the sixties, the story followed a young lady named Dot who is attending classes to become a secretary. Her father is running for city council and at an event for the people running, a despicable man named Anson Manning, brother to the local DA is murdered.
The story followed Dot’s suspicions about who killed Anson and the cast or characters that are all suspects.
Dot is spunky and smart as a whip. She’s got gumption and just the right amount of whimsy to be the perfect “small town junior detective”.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this and didn’t see the twist coming at all.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Review of "The Twist and Shout Murder" by Teresa Trent

"Things had to be lined up just right for the spark to catch. The killer had to feel the heat spreading from one problem to the next. I only worried I would set myself on fire in the process."

Dot Morgan, the ambitious young protagonist of The Twist and Shout Murders, finds herself caught in the crosshairs of small town sabotage, slander and even murder. Dot is a refreshing standout from the rest of the close-minded thinkers of 1962 Camden, Texas, using her morals and her wit to help usher the town out of the more restrictive 1950s.
When a hit-and-run leaves a single mother hospitalized and a suspicious death is swept under the rug, Dot decides to stir the pot instead of minding her own business like one of the good little Camden Ladies Club members. With the odds and powerful members of the town stacked against her, Dot challenges the society whose dated gelatin mold she refuses to conform to.
Teresa Trent keeps the reader guessing until the very end in this mystery littered with suspicious characters. Her attention to detail flushes out the time period's changing styles, ideologies and the latest fads - hello, golden arches hamburgers!
While there were a few distracting errors that a bit of editing could fix, that's not to say this book wasn't an enjoyable read.
The tense scenes really drive the story forward while the heart of the story takes its time and allows us the opportunity to rub shoulders with the good, the misguided or the plain ugly people of Camden, Texas. Dot is a young woman with enough grit and determination to keep Texas on its toes. This won't be the last we hear from her.

This book wasn't for me. I thought I liked a cozy mystery, but I didn't find this setting cozy. There were also slightly too many villains for my taste, and the dynamics between the characters we were intended to like were stiff and awkward. I was particularly troubled by the relationship between the narrator, Dot, and her father. It was just so strange. All of their interactions made me cringe.

The book tells the story of a young woman in South Texas in 1962 attending secretarial school and finding herself in the middle of small-town drama as she coaxes her father into running for city council. There is an accident/murder that she gets swept up in trying to solve, and in so doing she weaves a distressingly tangled web that made me wish she would stop meddling.

I think the book was trying to shine a light on the validity of a woman's right to prioritize her education or work instead of marriage, but it felt clumsy. It also tried to take down the town's most powerful couple, but it didn't successfully provide the commentary on structural power that it thought it did. There was a momentarily interesting subplot around abortion and the fact that the powerful will always have access to abortion even if it's illegal, but even that opportunity was squandered as it wound up clumsily and in a way that didn't feel as empowering as it thought it was.

I may have taken it too seriously. This book seemed to want to be light and pleasant, but overall it was a little too cringey for me to enjoy it.

This is a great cozy 60s mystery. I so appreciated the historic details of the time period interspersed throughout the novel. It made it so much fun to read. Dot is a great character and very likable. The mystery itself was well written and had some twists and turns that kept me interested. All in all a very enjoyable read and one I highly recommend!!!

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle by Level Best Books and #NetGalley for my honest opinion. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

I need more from this series now! Dot Morgan is perfect.

Summer, 1962, and Dot Morgan are a winning combination. In The Twist and Shout Murder: A Swinging Sixties Mystery by Teresa Trent, summer in Camden, Texas, is about to heat up. Dot is in her final semester of secretarial school, her father is running for city council, and her cousin, Ellie, is frustrated with life—love life, that is. Dot has big plans now that the world is changing and women will have more opportunities. But Dot isn’t prepared for small-town personalities or powerful political families and soon finds herself outmaneuvered. Trent’s pacing is terrific. The countless sixties details make it a fun read. I can’t wait to read the next book in this series.