Many thanks to NetGalley and for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
How to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin comes out on March 26th, 2024
4/5 Stars

Synopsis:
When Annie Adams is summoned to the small village of Castle Knoll to attend an inheritance meeting at the request of her Great Aunt Frances (who she has not met), she is intrigued. Though she has not met her, Annie has heard about her Great Aunt's eccentricates, namely around a fortune foretelling her murder. When she arrives at the estate, she discovers that her Great Aunt's fortune has indeed come true. With that, Annie is thrown into a world of mystery as she races to solve her Frances' murder. Told in dual timelines with flashbacks via Frances' diary entries as a teen and young woman, this story will keep you guessing right up until the very end.

Thoughts:
This is such a fun, cozy mystery. I'll admit that it took me a little bit to get into and initially I struggled to keep the characters straight when jumping between the past and present. Once I got into it and was connecting each character in the past to who they are in the present it got much easier and I became much more invested. I enjoyed the dynamic between Annie and the detective but thought the little bit of tension/romance felt forced so glad there wasn't a lot there. All in all this book definitely gives Knives Out and Clue vibes so if either of those appeal to you then you should check it out.

How to Solve Your Own Murder takes place in the English village of Castle Knoll. It's a contemporary mystery with journal entries that give glimpses into the 1960s.

The story starts quite dramatically, with a flashback to Frances receiving an ominous fortune at a traveling fair in 1965. In the current timeline, Frances's great-niece Annie arrives in Castle Knolls to find that Frances has been murdered.

This was an entertaining mystery, and I will definitely read the next book in the series! I liked the quaint and quirky characters in the village. The story also goes a bit darker than typical cozy mysteries,

Disclosure: Received an uncorrected ARC of this book from NetGalley and Dutton/Penguin Random House LLC (Thank you!) in exchange for an honest review.

This was a clever and fun mystery. No spoilers ahead to ruin anything for other readers but from just the title you can surmise this is a murder mystery. In the past, teenage Frances receives a enigmatic fortune that foretells her murder. She spends her life trying to figure out the fortune to avert her death (hence the book title).

The author artfully alternates between the past and the present to help piece together all the clues and information necessary to solve the murder. I was kept guessing all the way until the reveal, more savvy sleuths may be able to figure out the whodunit sooner. The publisher synopsis stating fans of The Thursday Murder Club series will enjoy this book is spot on.

It's not clear to me how there will be more books in this series but I am looking forward to book #2 as well as the movie/series (the author alludes in the acknowledgments to the cinematic rights of the story landing in the right hands).

I love weird and cozy mysteries so bad you guys don't even know. So much fun and easy to read when I'm driving and I put it as text to speech. (yes this is insane, I know).

The mystery in this book was really fun!
I felt like I was in the game CLUE and the author did a great job of making you feel like you were really there.
I absolutely loved the aspect of the great aunt’s diary being found and we got to read bits and pieces of it right along with the character. I really enjoy when there’s a flashback in a book for the entire story.
I think the characters were really well thought out and the storyline was very dynamic!
I loved uncovering all the little secrets and finally finding out what really happened in the end!
Thank you NetGalley for my arc copy, I am leaving this review on my own.

Do you enjoy reading murder mysteries? Do you like mysteries set in the English countryside at a sprawling estate? Are you a fan of Knives Out or Agatha Christie? If so, I recommend reading How to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin. This was an entertaining and cozy murder mystery. I think this would be a perfect book to read on a rainy day curled up on the couch with your cat (or your dog, or your hamster..you get what I’m saying).

There are many interesting characters in this story. I thought Annie was a relatable character and I enjoyed following along with her as she tried to solve the mystery. I loved the English countryside setting and the Knives Out vibes of this book. This story features two timelines (present day with Annie and the mid 1960s with Frances) and I thought both timelines were interesting. There were some surprising twists that I thoroughly enjoyed. There were some slower parts in the story, but overall, I had a fun time reading this book. I think this is the first book in a series and I look forward to reading the next one.

3.5/5 stars

In 1965, seventeen year old Frances is at the Knoll Country Fair with her two best friends. When they visit the fortune teller, she makes a prediction that Frances will one day be murdered.
Her fortune was told as a riddle that Frances spends her whole life trying to solve. She becomes obsessed with every detail of the riddle and keeps files on every person in the small village of Castle Knoll.
60 years later, she invites family members to her estate to discuss the details of her will. Upon arrival at the estate, Frances is found dead. The autopsy confirms she has been murdered. Frances knew this would soon be her fate, but she left one final task before anyone can inherit her assets.
Her niece, Annie, is determined to uncover the truth about the people of Castle Knoll, and the fortune that determined the fate of her Great Aunt Frances.

This murder mystery kept me on my toes!! Every chapter left me with wide eyes and excited to continue reading! The story jumps from the present time investigation to Frances’s diary when she was younger.
There are a lot of deceitful people in this book. It was a little difficult to remember who each character was at first, but the author does a great job at reminding you who they are and how they are related when they become more of a topic of discussion.

I honestly had no idea who the murderer was, because after every chapter I kept changing my mind!

“Your future contains dry bones. Your slow demise begins right when you hold the Queen in the palm of your hand. Beware the bird, for it will betray you. And, from that, there is no coming back. But daughters are the key to justice, find the right one and keep her close. All signs point toward your murder.”

Okay, team, I had fun with this ARC! When Annie arrives in the small village of Castle Knoll for an inheritance meeting, her great aunt (whose death was foretold at a county fair almost sixty years before) is murdered before Annie gets to meet her. Unfortunately, in her attempt to avoid being murdered, great Aunt Frances made a lot of enemies.

I love a small town cozy mystery and a dual timeline. Not to mention me being sold every time a book is set in a British manor. The main challenge I had was that it took a bit for me to get hooked by the story. I could have used a few less side characters and more development of the ones that were there.

Thank you so much to @duttonbooks (there is still a request from me pending for the new Riley Sager if y’all are feeling generous) and @netgalley for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review. How to Solve Your Own Murder by @kristenperrinwrites comes out TOMORROW, March 26th!

Y’all I really enjoyed this book! The back and forth of past and present was so captivating! (Look at me using big words👀).

Frances was such an amazing character and getting to know her and the town was so much fun. Definitely a WILD story that blew my mind. I promise, you won’t see the end coming👀.

Thank you to @netgalley @duttonbooks for the arc.
AVAILABLE MARCH 26TH

🏷️
#arc #netgalley #bookstagram #booktok #bookrecommendations #bookreview #book #bookarcs

I have a fickle relationship with the mystery genre. I love the thrill of unraveling the unknown and discovering the truth, but hate when all those classic elements necessary for the genre become too predictable. Luckily, Kristen Perrin's How to Solve Your Own Murder didn't disappoint. Annie summoned to idyllic Castle Knoll by a mysterious great aunt she's never met. Unfortunately, that aunt is murdered, but no one is surprised since Great Aunt Frances has been trying to solve her own murder (as predicted by a fortune teller) for decades. Now, it's up to Annie to put together the clues and suspicions left by her aunt to find the culprit and guarantee her inheritance. She has plenty of obstacles in her way: suspicious locals, threatening notes, cryptic hints, and an attractive detective who may not have her interests truly at heart.

The use of Frances' diary entries from 1965 builds the world and characters in interesting ways. We come to know these characters in the past and contrast them against their current personas. The ticking timeline to solve the case or lose everything adds a nice sense of tension as Annie wanders Castle Knoll and learns its people and their secrets. Although we never really know Frances, we learn of her through the diary and the people around her, and she's pretty fascinating. Annie is a good protagonist to navigate this case, and her reactions feel realistic. This is a town and a character that I could see popping up again (sequel?) but I'm happy for whatever time I spent with them.

Overall, I recommend this book for fans of the mystery genre and its tropes, people who believe anything a psychic tells them, and those who daydream about an inheritance in the English countryside. My full-length review will be posted on my blog on 3/25 and promoted on Instagram.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group for the advanced copy.

If you're looking for a cozy thriller this is it! It kept me hooked and on my toes the entire time. I loved the dual POV from present to past through Frances' journal entries. When I tell you I didn't see the twist coming at all! Up until it was revealed I literally didn't know who did it. Highly recommend for anyone who loves AGGGTM!

I truly don’t know what to say about this book. I was so invested and I’m pretty sure I’ve gotten at least a year taken off my life by the amount of sleep I neglected to finish this book! I hated putting it down and now that it’s done I still can’t believe I got to read this book!

I would like to preface that I usually only read rom-coms or fantasy because that’s where I’m comfortable, but how could I pass by a book called “How To Solve Your Own Murder”?! I’m so glad I took the leap and read this book!

I’m not the biggest fan of different timeline for POVs but one of them was diary entries from decades ago? Oh….oh you know I ate that up FAST! I also enjoyed that the bad guy in the end wasn’t some character that you met once and was never mentioned again. I want to solve the murder too!

All in all, such a fun read!!

DnF at 50% this was just slightly too cozy romance for me. I couldn’t get into the premise, which sounded so good, there were too many characters but I did really enjoy Frances pov

You know those books that catch you by surprise by how much you love them? That's How to Solve Your Own Murder. I knew, just from the synopsis, that I would like it, but, once I met Frances and heard the story of the mysterious prediction for her future, I was hooked. It;s a whodunnit with a unique twist, and I loved every single part of it, from the small-town setting of Castle Knoll, and all that small tows entail, to the cast of secret-keeping, deceptive characters. It's easy to see why How to Solve Your Own Murder is showing up on must-read lists everywhere, and this is one I'm going to be recommending to all my book-loving friends!

How To Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin surprised me in all the best ways. Annabelle “Annie” Adams receives a letter informing her that she is requested at a meeting in which she will be the benefactor of her Great Aunt Frances’s estate. Annie is both excited and nervous to meet the eccentric aunt that she has heard so much about, but twists and turns greet her once she arrives in her Aunt’s small country town of Castle Knoll.

Told in dual time-lines and POVS we learn about Great Aunt Frances as a teen and the fortune that foretells her murder; and her great niece Annie, an aspiring writer who is thrown into solving, not one, but two, murder mysteries.

This cozy mystery kept me guessing right to the end. There were times I had trouble following Annie’s logic, but nevertheless, this book was a fun and entertaining romp. I was very invested in the POV of young Frances and was sometimes frustrated that the pacing of her story was so engaging and page turning, whereas Annie’s POV sometimes felt a little slow, especially at the beginning of each of her chapters. Nevertheless, Annie was a likable character who was easy to root for.

Give How To Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin a read if you enjoy cozy mysteries set in the England countryside, a mix of likable and unlikeable characters, dual timelines and POVS, and family mysteries like Knives Out.

3.75 Stars rounded up to 4 Stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for the ARC, How To Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin, in exchange for my honest review.

4.5 stars for this debut cozy mystery. In 1965, teenager Frances Adams visited a county fair with her 2 best friends. What was initially a fun outing turned into a nightmare for Frances who, after visiting a fortuneteller, was told she would be murdered. She spent her entire lifetime preemptively trying to solve a crime that hadn't happened yet.
In the present time, Annie Adams, 25 year-old great-niece of Frances has been summoned to Gravesdown Hall to discuss her will. Unfortunately, Great Aunt Frances is found murdered in her library before this meeting can take place. However, Frances left Annie and her other guests at Gravesdown Hall an assignment: Whoever solves Frances' murder within the week will be the sole heir to her money and property. If the police crack the case first, the estate will be turned over to real estate developers, thus destroying the charm of a village filled with people who doubted Frances.
Told in 2 POVs, in the present with Annie and teenage Frances' journals, this novel will have you guessing until the very end.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Dutton for this e-arc.*

✨ REVIEW ✨

• How to Solve Your Own Murder
• @kristenperrinwrites

Annie Adams is summoned to the English country estate of her bizarre Aunt Frances - a woman who lives her entire life by a fortune she heard 60 years earlier predicting her murder - to find her … murdered. 😳

What unfolds - besides a mile long list of suspects - is a reading of the Will that sets off a race against the clock (and cousin) to find the murderer.

Interwoven with Frances’s teenage exploits with her frenemies and lovas, Annie also finds herself working to solve a missing persons case that plagued Frances, her friends, and the town for years.

🦴👸🏼🐦‍⬛🔑🌹🦴👸🏼🐦‍⬛🔑🌹

Cozy mystery set in the London countryside? Main character named Annie? An eccentric Aunt who has a murder board? Dual timeline? Mean Girls meets Cold Case meets Law and Order? SIGN ME UP EVERY 👏🏼 TIME 👏🏼. I really enjoyed this one !

Annie Adam's is back living at her moms attempting a new novel when she receives a strange letter in the mail from her Great Aunt's lawyer. She is being called back to her mom's hometown for a reading of her aunts will, except her aunt isn't dead, she's very much alive. At least she was until Annie arrived in town. The reading of the will happens, only after her aunt is found murdered in her study. The catch to receive her inheritance? Annie has to solve her aunts murder, but she isn't the only one. Her cousin, a detective, and a land developer are all competing to solve the murder and get the inheritance for themselves.

Since I am in my mystery/thriller era, it only made sense for me to request this when became available on netgalley. It actually sounded pretty close description wise to one of my recent reads (Everyone in My Family has Killed Someone) so it was a no brainer for me. How to Solve Your Own Murder is told from the point of view of Annie as she is investigating her aunt Francis' murder with some chapters wholly devoted to snippets from Francis' teenage diary about her life just before one of her best friends disappeared, never to be seen again. These diary entries lead Annie to attempt to solve not only Francis' early demise, but also the disappearance of Emily.

I gave this book ⭐⭐⭐💫. The reason being that I felt more connected with Francis' character through her diary than I did detective Annie. What Francis was experiencing in 1965 had a far more intriguing plot line than that of a woman in her 70-80's who died under mysterious circumstances. I enjoyed the story as a whole well enough but the investigation through Annie's eyes just didn't hold or pique my interest. I really think this book will be enjoyable for anyone who loves a good mystery that showcases some historical snapshots. Since this is the first in a series I will definitely be picking up the next one to see if I feel more of a connection with Annie and the rest of the community of Castle Knoll.

ARC Review! Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review! | 4.5 stars

When I want a cozy mystery, this is EXACTLY what I want. I find the cozy mystery genre to be a little bit cheesy, but Kristen Perrin's first book in the Castle Knoll series is anything but that. Set in a small town in England, this has the charming aspect of cozy mystery combined with a genuinely intense, fun, twisty murder mystery.

Frances Adams has always known she was going to be murdered. After a fateful day with a fortune teller as a teenager, she has spent the rest of her life trying to solve her own murder before it happens. And when her fate is finally sealed, her great-aunt niece now has to pick up the task of solving this mystery in order to gain her inheritance. But with a murderer still out there who clearly wants Frances' secrets buried, Annie might be at risk of inheriting Frances' fate rather than her fortune.

The story is told in alternating POVs from Annie piecing together clues and Frances' journal that reveals shocking secrets about her adolescence. Both stories are perfectly suspenseful and had me saying "just one more chapter" to figure out what happened. I honestly could've had just an entire book of Frances' story and would have been 100% satisfied.

If you're not a huge cozy mystery fan, this is definitely the perfect book to restore your faith in the entire genre. I am looking forward to seeing what's to come of this series!

4.5 stars
How to Solve Your Own Murder, by Kristen Perrin, is a clever, classically written mystery set in the quaint village of Castle Knoll, England.
Told in two timelines—1965 and the present—it begins dramatically with wealthy teenager, Frances becoming alarmed and obsessed by a fortune-teller’s pronouncement. It informs her life through adulthood as she fears for herself and her friends.
Almost 60 years later, Frances calls a family meeting to reveal the terms of her will and who will inherit her fortune. Thus, Annabelle, her great niece, is sucked into the vortex of the family drama, secrets and murder!
The story is told in first person POV by Frances by way of excerpts from her “Castle Knoll Files,” alternating with Annabelle’s present day narrative. As the chapters unfold, it is clear that the women share a similar intelligence, independent thinking and spunk! Annie, in particular, is energetic, practical, and a heroine who is easy to cheer for. There is a large cast of ancillary characters, and I had to take notes early, but by midway in the novel their relationships became clear.
This is a spirited mystery in the vein of classic British golden age whodunits. Given that it is subtitled, “Castle Knoll Files #1,” it sounds like there might be sequels and more mysteries from Frances’ files to come!

Thank you to Dutton and NetGalley for the ARC. This is my honest review.