When Annie's Great Aunt Frances summons her to go over a reading of her new will, Annie is both intrigued and excited. She hasn't met Frances before but knows all about her quirky personality. The cause of the quirkiness: a fortune told to Frances decades ago with her friends Emily and Rose. It completely upends and changes Frances' life.

When Annie get to Castle Knoll, the tiny town Frances lives in, chaos ensues. Frances is found dead, fulfilling her fortune. In order to keep her inheritance (to include the home she lives in with her mother), Annie has to find the killer before anyone else does. This will change not only the trajectory of Annie's life forever but of those close to her as well. Annie will learn not everything is as it seems, especially when it comes to those closest to Frances, not even when it comes to Frances' best friends. Can Frances help Annie solve her mysterious death from the grave?

I want to call it a cozy mystery, but maybe it isn't a cozy mystery? I think it made me feel that way because of the small town vibe, the closeness of the community, and the sense of family. It also could be that it was set in England, and that is always a favorite setting of mine. The vibe is just automatically different there. How the story weaves from past to present really pushes the plot forward in a fun way. I loved that the past was told from Frances' point of view via her diaries. I LOVED the characters in this book. They all had different personalities that really fed off one another. Annie was bright eyed and somewhat naive. Frances was quirky and a bit paranoid, Emily is manipulative, but the reader has to feel compassion for her based on what they learn about her. Rose is the quiet one, trying to keep everyone and everything together how she thinks it should be. It was interesting to see how the characters from the past relate to the present, both in person and through family ties. What a fun mystery read!

A fun read, though not necessarily light-hearted, the book had twists and an intriguing set-up. Will recommend and am waiting for the sequel.

I loved the two timeliness. One on the future and one through the journal entries. I had fun tryong to figure out who did it and all the characters.

Review for The Secret by Lee Child & Andrew Child

The Secret delivers everything fans of the Jack Reacher series crave—tight pacing, sharp dialogue, and a lead character who thrives in high-stakes situations. In this installment, Lee Child and Andrew Child continue their collaborative momentum, offering a thriller that feels both familiar and fresh.

The plot revolves around a secret buried deep within government corridors and the people willing to kill to protect it. Reacher, with his trademark instinct and sense of justice, steps into the chaos with precision and unwavering focus. The action scenes are crisp and satisfying, and the pacing rarely lets up.

What stands out here is the seamless blending of the brothers’ voices. The book maintains the stripped-down, punchy prose that defines the series while introducing just enough complexity to keep longtime readers engaged. Reacher remains consistent—a force of nature—but the authors continue to layer in new angles to his character.

While the plot may not reinvent the wheel, it's executed with skill and energy, making it a solid entry in the long-running series.

Final thoughts: The Secret is a no-nonsense, well-oiled thriller that proves Reacher still has plenty of life left in him. A must-read for fans, and a solid jumping-in point for newcomers.

4 out of 5 stars

Everyone liked this but it was a bit too cozy or something for me. I don't know. Trying to force myself to catch up ends up resulting in hating everything probably.

I used this book for the cozy mystery book club at my library and all the participants really enjoyed reading it.

I found this book to be pretty fun but not quite what I expected. I'm not mad about it. I think I read this book when I was in a bit of a reading slump so the timing wasn't the greatest. I probably would have enjoyed it more had I read it at a different time.

"An enormously fun mystery about a woman who spends her entire life trying. to prevent her foretold murder only to be proven right sixty years later, when she is found dead in her sprawling country estate..." - from Goodreads.

This is definitely a book for mystery lovers. I started this one as my last read of 2024 but ended up reading the majority of it on New Year's day making it my first read of 2025. It was a fun mystery that pulled me in right from the beginning. The book is told from two different timelines. One is in the present and is told from the viewpoint of Annie who is Frances' great niece. The other timeline is told from Frances' perspective around the time she received the fortune and thereafter through her journal entries. I read this one constantly guessing and trying to figure out who might have murdered Frances. I will say that this book has a lot of characters. I can see this being an issue for some readers to keep track of them all. For me, it made the book feel like a game of Clue where I suspected everyone at one point or another for a variety of different reasons. The ending definitely surprised me as I didn't guess the whodunnit behind it all whatsoever. I did have a few questions left on the why's behind it but overall found it to be a satisfying mystery.

Mystery readers and those looking for a suspenseful read should pick this book up. There's actually going to be a sequel to this coming out this year that I will definitely be reading. Four stars and a fun way to start off my 2025 reading year.

Interesting premise, but lacked on the follow through for me. The book alternates between present and diary entries from when the main character was a teenager, and while normally dual TL doesn't bother me, it wasn't hitting for me in this instance. The characters also fell flat, in my opinion, making them hard to really get into.

I loved this one so much that I made it one of my book group picks at the library so I could talk about it more(: -- they all loved it too!

With the next book coming out this month, I'm excited to see what's going on with Annie now! I find that I'm pickier with my mystery/thriller books because it's not my usual genre but this one really caught my attention and had me wanting another book about my favorite characters ASAP. It's a small town mystery with a bunch of interesting characters who could really all be suspects but you still hope some are friends. Annie has been summoned to the estate of her estranged great aunt Frances to potentially inherit her fortune but only if she's the one to solve Frances's impending murder. As a mystery author, this should be right up her alley! The premise is wild and fun: a teenager is given a fortune about her future murder in 1965 and spends the rest of her pretty long life trying to prevent it/solve who will be the murderer by uncovering everyone else in town's secrets. I love that we get to know Frances as a teenager through her diary and see how that fortune changes her and turns her into the Frances of present time -- an eccentric, not terribly well liked busybody. We also get to see some of the other characters in both the present and as teens through Frances's diary, which definitely makes some of them look more suspicious the further we read on but also humanizes them, seeing how they matured from teens to adults and what has/hasn't changed. Not only are we getting two different timelines, but two different mysteries, that of Frances's murder in the present timeline and her best friend Emily's disappearance in the past, so there's really a lot going on and I struggled to put it down because I was so immersed in the drama! There's plenty of tension and edge of your seat moments as the clock ticks down to find the murderer and keep her aunt's estate from going to developers, while Annie tries to solve the mystery before the others including a certain detective that I look forward to seeing more of in the next book! Overall it was a fun, well written, cozy mystery with plenty of twists and characters to both like and loathe.

I highly recommend it to all the whodunit lovers and anyone who's looking for a new small town mystery series!

Enjoyable murder mystery in the vein of Agatha Christie with a hint of Knive's Out. The author gives us the mystery of solving your murder before it happens. I enjoyed the dual perspective/time lines of the protagonists.

This was a quirky novelist row on me with time. At first, I wasn’t too sure about it but the more I read the more I enjoyed it. Thank you.!

Thank you NetGalley for the preview. This books was thought provoking and kept me wanting more. I love the way the characters developed and would love to read something else by this author

Annie is summoned to her estranged Aunt's house. Soon after, her Aunt Frances is found murdered and she leaves behind instructions that whoever solves her murder will have control of her estate. Annie starts receiving threatening notes, but realizes they aren't really meant for her. She digs into the Castle Knoll Files, or Aunt Frances's journals, and piece by piece starts putting together the puzzle of a two murders, one in the past and one in the present. Can she figure it out before the murderer comes for her too?

Fun mystery but the pacing felt uneven and slow at times and I never felt invested enough for it to be a page turner. I would be interested in reading more Kristen Perrin though, it felt like it had potential!

YESSSS, this book is sooo good. What a fun ride this was. I would recommend it highly. I like this authors concept and character development. The premise is so unique.

I loved it! The plot was solid and I had no idea who dunnit! It was captivating and the characters were intricate

This engaging mystery captures your attention from the very beginning. Annie Adams is a mystery author. She is called upon by her eccentric great-aunt, Frances, who has spent decades fearing for her life due to an unsettling prophecy from a fortuneteller. When Frances is discovered dead, a pressing question arises—was her death due to natural causes or was it murder?

At Castle Knoll, Annie is caught in a web of secrets as she competes with ambitious heirs and a clever detective to uncover the truth. With an old diary and cryptic clues, she navigates a dangerous game where her life is at stake.

This fast-paced, page-turning, who-done-it book is filled with fun twists. Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for the ARC. This review and these opinions are my own.

Fun cozy murder mystery set in the English countryside. A fortune told to a teenage Frances drives the life an eccentric woman until her death in her sixties. Her great niece Annie is summoned to the estate to hopefully solve her murder an inherent the estate. I enjoyed this atmospheric mystery and look forward to the next book. Thanks to NetGalley and Dutton for an advanced copy for an honest review.

"How to Solve Your Own Murder" by Kristen Perrin is a captivating debut thriller that skillfully blends elements of classic whodunits with modern storytelling. Published in 2024, this novel follows Annie Adams, an aspiring mystery writer who finds herself embroiled in a real-life murder case when her estranged great-aunt Frances is found dead.

The premise is intriguing: Frances spent her entire life trying to prevent her own murder after receiving a chilling prophecy in 1965. Perrin expertly weaves together past and present, using Frances' journal entries to provide insight into her character and the events that shaped her paranoia.

The novel's strength lies in its atmospheric setting of Castle Knoll, a quaint English village teeming with eccentric characters, each harboring their own secrets. Perrin's vivid descriptions bring the village to life, creating a claustrophobic backdrop for the unfolding mystery.

Annie is a relatable protagonist, whose passion for mystery writing adds an interesting layer to her amateur sleuthing. Her impulsiveness and determination drive the plot forward, though some readers may find her actions occasionally frustrating or unrealistic.

While the novel has been compared to works like "Knives Out" and "The Thursday Murder Club," it carves out its own identity with its exploration of family secrets, inheritance, and the lasting impact of past actions. The plot is well-paced, with enough twists and red herrings to keep readers guessing until the end.

Perrin's writing style is engaging and accessible, making for a quick and absorbing read. However, some readers noted that certain plot elements felt far-fetched, requiring a suspension of disbelief.

In conclusion, "How to Solve Your Own Murder" is an entertaining and promising debut that will appeal to fans of cozy mysteries and psychological thrillers alike. While it may not revolutionize the genre, Perrin's fresh take on classic mystery tropes and her skill in crafting an atmospheric setting make this a worthwhile read.