IF I HAD A HAMMER

A new job, a brutal murder, and Camelot has ended.

In 1963, Dot Morgan’s life was changed forever. She witnessed the assassination of John F Kennedy through the lens of her boxy Kodak Instamatic camera, bringing traumatic aftereffects of the brutality that happened as they stood on the parade route in Dallas.

She starts her first real secretarial job with a boss who has no sympathy for her trauma. When Dot’s only work friend has a mysterious accident at a demolition site, she digs around on her own only to find very little love between two brothers and no one hammering out justice to find a murderer.

The suspects are all around Dot and as she tries to sift through their motives, her cousin Ellie is going through PTSD on her own, losing interest in work, and her fiancé all the while quoting some of JFK’s finest speeches.

With so much change in her world, can Dot still tell the difference between good and evil?

. . .

“In Teresa Trent’s second book for the Swinging Singles Series, she once again offers a unique story with an engaging cast of characters. Dot Morgan, devasted after witnessing a presidential assassination, steps into a new job, and loses a trusted ally while remaining innocent and flexing to understand the opportunities 1963 offers women. A must-read for any reader who enjoys stepping back into the ‘swinging sixties.’” 

~ Terry Korth Fischer, author of the Rory Naysmith Mystery Series

“In author Teresa Trent’s If I Had a Hammer, President John F. Kennedy’s shocking 1963 assassination triggers a sea change in a young eye-witness. Returning to a small-town secretarial job, the heroine becomes entangled in local murder investigations. While trying to solve the crimes, she realizes new possibilities and potential. This mystery’s a nostalgic treat for babyboomers.” 

~ Linda Lovely, author of the HOA Mysteries

“Mix great music, bellbottoms, and counterculture in with one of the most turbulent times in American history for a groovy setting full of peace, love, and of course, a murder that turns secretary, Dot Morgan’s life upside down. She has to solve the mystery before someone else ends up dead. Trent’s latest,if I Had a Hammer, the second in her Swinging Sixties Mysteries, is a twisty mystery and a fun trip back to a generation that changed everything.” 

~ Heather Weidner, author of the Jules Keene Glamping Mysteries

and the Mermaid Bay Christmas Shoppe Mysteries