It's definitely a good book for fans of Knives Out! It is a gripping whodunnit with a historical sprinkling and several twists that occurred at times when I was least expecting it.

When I read books in this category, I do make note of key details and make some predictions, but mostly I just try to enjoy the ride of the story the author is telling and allow myself to gasp when something happens.

Just like other whodunnit-style stories, this book is packed with quite a load of characters, multiple timelines, and intriguing details to keep a shroud of mystery around the real story. The story is mostly centered around Annie who is trying to solve her great-aunt's murder, so you collect details primarily from her perspective. Normally with my reviews, I write a spoiler-free synopsis of the book, but I find that challenging to do with this book, solely because the reader needs to go into with only the author's synopsis and enjoy the ride. Boy, is it a ride!

I appreciated the author's writing and found the storyline to be very gripping. I had a hard time putting this down to sleep at night and putting it away at the end of my lunch break at work. When this book is released, I highly recommend it if you like whodunnit-style stories or need a break from your usual read.

To the author: Hello from a fellow Washingtonian! I love reading authors that come from or live in the beautiful PNW. I have always wanted to take a trip to England, primarily to see London, but after reading your book, with the descriptions, when I do make that trip, I want to see much more than London. Thank you for the journey you took the reader through in this book. I hope to read more from you in the future!

Described as being "For fans of Knives Out and The Thursday Murder Club"? SIGN. ME. UP.

While I don't think this necessarily had the fun and intrigue of the comp titles, I did really enjoy it. Not typically a fan of multiple timelines, this one really worked. Overall, not sure I would continue with the series, but I would be interested in other titles from the author.

How to solve your own murder.

Frances Adams and her friends are attending an English county fair in 1965 when her life takes a drastic turn. A fortune teller makes a terrifying prediction that one day Francis will be murdered. Francis spend the rest of her life trying to solve the murder that hasn’t actually happened yet. No one takes her seriously until 60 years later her fortune comes true. In the present day Annie Adams, Francis’ niece must solve the mystery of who murdered her aunt. Along the way she digs up secrets about her aunt and her friends from that summer in 1965 but someone doesn’t want this murder solved and the closer she gets to solving the crime the more danger she is putting herself in.

I found How to Solve Your Own Murder a cute and cozy whodunnit story. I really liked the dual timeline of Frances and her friends summer adventures in 1965 and current day Annie and the Castle Knoll cast of characters. Frances was such an interesting character and I loved reading about her life in 1965. If you’re a fan of Knives Out I think you’ll really like this book. I did feel like the present day had one or two many characters that it was a little bit hard to keep track of at some points.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for an eARC in exchange for my review

Read this if you like:
-playing Clue
-dual timelines
-cozy mysteries

Absolutely loved this classic whodunnit. There were so many twists and turns that had me guessing until the very end.

Taking to heart a fortune that was given to her as a young woman, Frances spent her whole life trying to prevent her own murder. Can Annie solve her great aunt’s murder before it’s too late?

Thank you to Kristen Perrin, NetGalley and Dutton Books for this ARC. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

I loved this book! The fortune, Frances’s diary, Annie’s sleuthing, the clues coming together, all the suspects/side characters. I can easily see why this is compared to Knives Out - it has all the Clue-esque characters and fun without the false endings, plus Frances gets a voice through her diary. For some reason this evoked The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield in my mind, one of my all time favorite books. This story was just a lot of fun - I adored the characters, the mystery, the writing, literally everything. I’d love to see more of Annie and Detective Crane in future stories. Highly recommend!

Thank you to Netgalley and PENGUIN GROUP Dutton for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I did enjoy this book! That said there were areas for improvement like the pacing of the story. I did immensely enjoy the dual timelines as they were interesting if the story felt stagnant. I think I enjoyed young Frances more. I always appreciate going back in time like that.
I had taken a detective class in college so I had a lot of fun with the whole whodunit aspect and liked the use of the red herrings.
Altogether it was a solid book.

This was my first murder mystery in a while, and I loved it! Annie’s great aunt Frances was murdered, and Frances spent 60 years trying to prevent her own murder after having her fortune read as a teenager. Annie uses all of the clues in Frances’s home to discover who murdered her great aunt. There were tons of twists and turns, and it felt like I really got to know all of the characters of Castle Knoll and really solve the puzzle with Annie. I did not guess the ultimate ending, and the actual twist had me shocked! I loved the twist and the ending showing the aftermath of the discovery. Definitely a must read!

I really enjoyed this book! It was always hard to put down but towards the end it seemed to leave out some information that might have been helpful to readers. I wasn’t expecting what happened at the end but it felt rushed and like lots of missing pieces led to it. Overall a good read though!!

Thank you to Netgalley and PENGUIN GROUP Dutton for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

First off I’d like to thank NetGalley and the author for allowing me an early copy! This book instantly gave me Agatha Christie vibes and I was loving it!
You are following 2 timelines in this story, there is Frances in 1965 that had received a note telling her about her eventual death/murder and then you follow her great niece who stumbles upon her murdered great aunt in the mansion in the future.
Then you follow both as her great niece is trying to find her great aunts murderer while Frances is doing everything in her power to stop the person that will eventually murder her. I loved the vibes of this book and the back and forth of trying to figure out who the culprit was and I wasn’t expecting the ending!
Can’t wait to read more from this author!

In the captivating novel "How to Solve Your Own Murder" by Kristen Perrin, the reader is transported to the quaint English village of Castle Knoll in 1965. Frances Adams, a vivacious teenager, has her life turned upside down when a fortune-teller makes a chilling prediction: she will be murdered. Driven by this ominous prophecy, Frances embarks on a lifelong quest to solve a crime that hasn't happened yet. Decades later, in the present day, Annie Adams arrives at Castle Knoll to attend the reading of her wealthy great-aunt Frances' will. However, she soon finds herself entangled in a web of secrets and lies when Frances is found murdered under mysterious circumstances. Determined to uncover the truth, Annie delves into her aunt's past, unearthing a trail of hidden motives and long-buried grudges. As Annie delves deeper into the investigation, she stumbles upon a cast of quirky and suspicious villagers, each with their own connection to Frances. The endearing yet eccentric residents of Castle Knoll become potential suspects, leaving Annie questioning whom she can trust. The line between friend and foe blurs as Annie navigates a labyrinth of deception and danger. With each step closer to the truth, Annie realizes that she might be inheriting more than just her aunt's fortune. As she inches closer to unmasking the killer, she finds herself in the crosshairs of a ruthless murderer. The past and present collide in a heart-stopping climax, where Annie must confront the darkness at the heart of Castle Knoll and fight for her own survival.

3.75 stars

I loved the dual timelines and the murder mystery, but it took a while to get going and it was kind of slow at times. It took me a while to get rolling and get attached to the characters.

Thanks NetGalley and publisher for the digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

I can see why this book is getting so much buzz - what an entertaining read!
This book does an excellent job of striking the right tone for a true whodunnit - it's a little bit campy, and while it certainly doesn't make light of the death of the victim, the focus is more on solving the crime and untangling decades of secrets and lies while doing it.
A wealthy widow spends much of her life obsessed with a fortune given to her at country fair that predicts her murder, and goes about trying to solve it before it finally happens. After her fortune comes true, her grand-niece arrives and is given incentive to find the killer.
Annie and Frances are both great protagonists - the author perfectly captures teen politics in Frances's world, and navigating early adulthood in Annie's. Both are interesting, smart and resilient and have multiple dimensions.
I was particularly impressed by the world-building here - Castle Knoll and its residents really came alive on the page, and given the care that so clearly went into that I certainly hope there will be more stories that take place here - I sure wouldn't mind adding it to the list of countryside towns like Three Pines or Cabot Cove with endearing residents and a disproportionate murder rate. This is a great adult debut from Kristen Perrin!

Thanks to NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is apparently the first book in a series -- Castle Knoll Files. It is set in a small town in rural England and has dual narrators along with dual time frames. Frances is 17 years old in 1965 and has her fortune told at a local country fair -- "...All signs point to your murder." Her story is told through her diary. Annie is 25 years old in present day and is summoned to a meeting with Great Aunt Frances to discuss her role as sole benefactor. She arrives only to discover that Great Aunt Frances has recently been killed. The details of her will require that either Annie or nephew-by-marriage Saxon to solve her murder within one week in order to inherit the estate.

The plot itself is intriguing and had potential, but didn't live up to my expectations. The story was not as fast-paced as I would like. There are too many characters, especially multiple generations of families to keep track of. Red herrings abound, along with dangling plot lines and unresolved situations. For those readers who may have gotten bogged down by the many characters and muddled details, everything is pretty much explained in one of the final chapters.

It was an entertaining cozy mystery, but readers must pay close attention to the various characters and situations in order to follow along with the plot. I'm not sure that I can recommend this book, and will probably not be reading the sequels.

Many thanks to NetGalley for an advanced reader copy and an honest review. The book is due to be published March 26, 2024

Read more of my reviews at https://thegoodreader13.blogspot.com/.

Thank you to netgalley and Penguin group dutton publishing for the arc.

Now, Okay, this was like a solid and very HIGH 3.5⭐️ read for me so close to 4. Funnily I have been looking for a good whodunit mystery and this checked off so many boxes and it was definitely like a knives out esque plot. Like, The beginning was a little slow but I wasn’t bored I was just like okay what’s going to happen and when things started going oh they went! I was completely enthralled by the aunts teen years and the mystery behind emily and all their friends and then you get the present of who killed great aunt frances? and Genuinely I did not NOT know. I pride myself on always being able to know who did it very early on but this was threw me for a loop. And even the question of what happened to Emily. I hadn’t guessed that at all and it was just so good to finally get it unraveled.

My only cons were:

- A lot of characters. A lot of relations I couldn’t keep track of and still aren’t sure about (though in a big game of clue like this had been it works because there’s a lot of red herrings and it throws you off track)

- I think the wrap up could’ve been a little more clear like maybe a separate scene itself because it felt a little odd placed where it was and there was so much information and people it was like okay I see but then again do I?

- Personally I liked the story of Great Aunt Frances as a girl more than the present story only because it was just so dark at times and felt so strange with the relationships she had with her friends. But that present story was still such a ride.

Overall this is a good murder mystery and has you guessing until the end.

A classic whodunit involving 2 crimes, a long ago missing friend and a dire fortune teller's prediction. There are essentially 2 main characters. One is the rich old aunt in her youth before she spends most of her adulthood obsessing over her own future demise. The second is her great niece who is tasked with figuring out the great aunt's death. There are twists abs turns and danger and a love interest. And everything ties up in a nice bow at the end. In short, a fun read

There are a couple of hints towards the end of this book leading me to believe that this need not be our last interaction with Annie Adams and her new found friends and enemies in the sleepy village of
Castle Knoll. Seeing the entry for How to Solve Your Own Murder (Castle Knoll Files #1) in GoodReads gave me more concrete hope. I will be looking forward to more installments with our queasy writer turned amateur sleuth. This is no hard-boiled detective. Annie has a tendency to faint when finding a body or being confronted with a killer. That doesn't stop her from putting the pieces together to solve the mystery of her great aunts demise in brilliant fashion although with a great deal of humor along the way. This book is funny, fast-paced, suspenseful, eery, and sometimes oogey, with enough read herrings to keep everyone guessing. I look forward to more!

Thanks to NetGalley and Dutton for making an advance copy of this title available for an honest review.

Annie always heard how her great-aunt Frances learned from a fortune teller that she’d be murdered, turning Frances paranoid as she tried to avoid her fate. Annie can inherit her great-aunt’s money if and only if she solves the murder. This fun mystery jumps back in time to Frances’ life when she first heard the fortune, leaving clues for who would eventually kill her decades later and exposing the eccentric characters of her local village. An intricately plotted debut with likable characters for fans of "The Thursday Murder Club."

The story takes place during two time periods. One is written through journal entries from Frances in the mid 1960s. Frances visits a fair with her friends where the fortune teller predicts her murder. Frances spends her life obsessed with solving the mystery of her own murder before it happens. In present day, Frances' grand-niece, Annie is called called to her estate for a reading of her will, when France is found murdered. The will stipulates that whoever solves her murder, will receive everything. The race is on to see who can solve the mystery first.

This mystery just didn't quite do it for me. The idea was an interesting one and had a lot of the pieces of a good mystery, but it didn't quite read as I'd hoped. I enjoyed going back and forth between present day and the diary entries to reveal the answers. There were too many characters in the book that I didn't feel like I understood well enough to connect with. It was hard to keep track of at times.

Wow! What a fantastic book. It completely drew me in and had me totally eager to solve the murder... someone predicted her death 60 years in advance, and the poor woman lived in fear her whole life. Nearing old age, she decides to set some traps, knowing the killer will strike soon. Which family member of friend had a grudge they couldn't let go? Chapter by chapter, I kept thinking... this is a 5-star book... I'm loving the mystery, the suspense, the drama. And as the details drew to a close with the extended family and the secrets from 60 years ago, things looked highly promising. A second body is found, and a mysterious disappearance is solved, but who would go to lengths to keep anyone from finding out so many years later? Had me until the end, and then it teetered a bit on not strong enough for all the previous drama and scenes, so it's more like a 4.5 star-book. Still totally worth reading! Can't wait to see more from the author too.

How to Solve Your Own Murder starts with the premise of sixteen year old Frances hearing a fortune teller tell her she will be murdered. What she doesn’t know is it will take 60 years for the forecast to come true. The title is a bit of a misnomer, because the way Frances sets up her will, it’s left up to her relatives to solve her murder. Whoever solves it first stands to inherit everything. If they can’t solve her murder within a week, or if the police solve it before one of them, everything will be sold off.
The story is told from the perspective of Annie, her great-niece, in the present day and from Frances’ journals from 1965-66. The journals detail the time leading up to the disappearance of Emily, one of Frances’ best friends. Despite being told in the present day, this definitely feels like an old school mystery - a small village setting, inheritance issues, plenty of suspects, everyone with a secret of some sort. It was fun and entertaining.
Annie is an engaging character, hoping to become a published mystery writer, and young and brash enough to take some crazy chances. Perrin also did a good job of fleshing out Frances. Not as easy to do as everything we learn about her is through her journals, her files and others’ memories of her. The plot moves along at a brisk pace, with Annie trying to determine who she can trust while staying one step ahead of both her competition and the detective on the case. I’ll admit to being flummoxed and not figuring out the culprit before Annie. The ending was well thought out and not rushed.
I’m not sure the comparisons to Knives Out or Thursday Murder Club are apt. Don’t go into this expecting lots of humor.
My thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Group Dutton for an advance copy of this book.