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Crying in the Chapel: A Swinging Sixties Mystery
Teresa Trent
Level Best Books Historia
214 Pages
Published March 10, 2026
This is a rarity these days: an engaging short novel without wasted space. It is a mystery where an ordinary person (meaning not a professional sleuth) keeps solving mysteries. Dot Morgan, a secretary, keeps finding herself around people that kick the bucket mysteriously. A bit farfetched? Perhaps but it is fun. This is part of a series with catchy titles that takes place during the 1960s in Texas. This is what sets this set of novels apart from many others. The setting of Texas and the 1960s is well established and rather fun. In this particular entry, Dot is trying desperately to get married but people around her keep dying. She is trying to solve these murders so she can walk down the aisle with her beau, even as she is getting cold feet because she is wondering whether she is expected to be a dutiful housewife staying home and keeping the hearth fires burning. Thus, in actuality, while this is a nice light read for those times where you, the reader, has had her fill of heavy 500 page tomes with depression and family strife, the author still manages to raise social issues. She just does not take it so seriously that it weighs down the novel.
This series is great as a palate cleanser, where you want something short and sweet but still not banal. This one is better than one of the earlier in the series I read; the dialogue was realistic and clever and I could not help but root for the protagonist. Also, the cover was fun.
Synopsis:
It’s August 1965, and Dot Morgan is finally getting married to the dashing reporter Ben Dalton. Her wedding day, August 14th, promises to be perfect—if only it didn’t follow Friday the 13th. What could go wrong? Planning a wedding with the members of the Camden Chapel, Dot thinks she’s overwhelmed, but then it gets worse when a body is found on the church lawn. Dot decides to focus on her wedding to Ben, but when police reveal the victim didn’t jump from the belfry he was pushed—she can no longer look away. Her suspects aren’t hardened criminals; they’re the same church members who bring casseroles and ask about her family. With her wedding day fast approaching, Dot must unmask a killer hiding in plain sight, or the secrets of Camden Chapel will remain buried in the summer heat.
Author Biography:
Teresa Trent is the author of four different mystery series. The Swinging Sixties Series which features Dot in a small town in Texas starting in 1962. The Henry Park Series, which features Gabby, an artist in Colorado who is also psychic and The Piney Woods Series featuring Nora, a woman who came to a small town in Texas to find out she is related to many of the people there. Her first series, The Pecan Bayou Series, she started writing way back in 2011. That series has nine books and features Betsy, a woman who writes helpful hints and solves mysteries. Teresa is the voice of the Books to the Ceiling Podcast where she narrates scenes from new mysteries coming on to the market. Books to the Ceiling is featured wherever you listen to podcasts. Teresa lives in Texas with her husband and son.
Thanks to Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tours and Level Best Historia for a copy of this book. All of the opinions herein are my own.
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