“Your future contains dry bones. Your slow demise begins right when you hold the queen in the palm of one 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 to your murder.”

In 1965, Frances Adams receives the terrible fortune predicting her future murder. She lives the rest of her life in fear of the prediction coming to fruition, and alienates herself from those around her in the process. She is considered the crazy old woman in her local town and no one believes in her crazy rantings. But when the recipients of her fortune find her dead in her study, the town quickly realizes they were wrong and in more ways than one.

How to Solve Your Own Murder was an incredible murder mystery read! I enjoyed this book from start to finish. The secrets revealed during flash backs of Frances’ young adult life were fascinating! I loved the characters involved and the banter/humor was great. The solving of the murder was also very fast-paced and kept my entire focus! I did not guess the murderer correctly, and I love it when that happens! I definitely recommend reading this if you are a fan of humorous, drama filled, murder mystery books!

(2.5) Thank you to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Dutton for sending me an eARC of this novel. Unfortunately, I thought the story was pretty mediocre and drawn out, and I found myself continuously checking to see how many chapters I had left. I didn't feel like enough clues were dropped throughout the story, and Annie just randomly solved it with a few chapters to go. There are a lot of mysteries that I like better than this one, and they would certainly be a more engaging read.

The title and premise caught my eye immediately, but unfortunately this book ended up being a little underwhelming. I did not feel attached to the huge cast of characters and often found them difficult to distinguish, and the reveal was disappointing. Overall this book had potential but ultimately didn't deliver.

Finally a mystery that I throughly enjoyed and did not guess the culprit way before the big reveal!

The main character, Annie, has been tasked with figuring out who murdered her Great Aunt Frances and she does a bang up job of doing it. The book switches between present day and the diary of Aunt Frances. In some books this becomes a tedious chore to read, but Kristen Perrin has done a marvelous job giving voice to both characters.

My only complaint is that it took a bit for the story to get rolling, but soon I was invested and needed to know what the heck was going on.

I look forward to seeing if the author turns this into a series.

Thank you to NetGalley and
PENGUIN GROUP Dutton for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

It took me a few chapters to fully become invested in the characters and story but once I did it was a fast-paced mystery. I would have loved more of the writings of Great Aunt Frances though since it’s her mystery being solved. Some of the characters needed more fleshing out to become invested in them.

Not sure if the author plans on making this a series of books but I would read future sleuthing between the main character, Annie, and Detective Crane.

Overall, I really liked the book and characters. I loved the story idea of Great Aunt Frances trying to solve her death before it ever happens.

This book was fun, and honestly, I was pretty shocked by the reveal because it felt like a race to solve the murder before even our own main character (Annie Adams) did. A race I sadly lost but had fun taking part in.

As Annie dives in deeper, she finds herself following the fortune her great aunt received and becoming a target herself.

While she was a fun character to read from the perspective of, I so terribly never wanted to stop reading France's chapters. I felt more of a connection to her, and the writing for her section was so beautifully laid out, and her emotions complex. It's not that Annie is a bad character, it's just clear from the beginning that as the main character, she will not only be fine but will succeed which eliminates the feeling of risk or character development. Despite this, I enjoyed the mystery that surrounded her and the suspense of the mystery becoming unraveled.

The big reveal of who it was was a bit underwhelming. It makes absolute sense but is still underwhelming because I felt slightly cheated that we got a lot of buildup for a few good candidates for the role of the villain and nothing went anywhere with them.

Despite it all, the book was good, fun, and felt like a well-thought-out murder-mystery.

*Received in exchange for an honest review.

This is such a fun book, and very fast paced! I loved the generational characters, that were all drawn very well. I think my only sticking point is that Ford still seems very fishy -- how did he know she needed a new winter coat?

I was so excited to receive an ARC of How to Solve Your Own Murder! This murder mystery is a unique one - it's told in the present time, and also through the main character's Great Aunt Frances' journal from 1965. Annie arrives in her Great Aunt's small town to learn about being included in her will, only to find Frances has been murdered. Frances has spent her whole life preparing for this day, and las left behind info and instructions to help in solving not just her own murder, but the disappearance of her friend Emily back in 1965.
With a quirky cast of characters in both time periods, Annie has her hands full learning about secrets from her past and trying to stay out of a killer's way while figuring out the ultimate whodunit.
I had a lot of fun reading this story! Both timelines were well told, and kept me on the edge of my seat! Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I loved this murder mystery so much! I wish it was a series. It kept me guessing and looking for clues right along with Annie! I loved Aunt Frances journal. I will most definitely be
recommending this one!

Received as an arc through Netgalley in exchange for a honest review.

Dnf at 30% 😭

I never dnf arcs but I could not, for the life of me, find it in me to get invested in this story. It lacks the tension and rabid curiosity that should be imminent in a murder mystery. Even the scene when the body is found seemed quite lackluster.

Another contributing factor to my lack of investment lies in the characters. I am so wholly uninterested and uninvested in the characters, that I'm finding it hard to care about them. I was thinking about the 2 main characters, Frances and Annie, and realized I know so little about them that I honestly couldn't even tell you a single personality trait of theirs? Supposedly Frances is eccentric and superstitious, but that is only really hearsay so far. Are Annie and Frances intelligent women? Kind? Naive? Cunning? I honestly could not tell you. If I am a third into a book, and cant even name a single personality trait, that's no good in my opinion.

And even the other characters: Oliver, Saxon, Mr. Gordon, Mum, Archie, etc. None of them appear to have any personality so far. I couldn't tell you what they are like, or what their personality is. Elva is really the only character with any bit of intrigue or personality to her.

I feel really awful for giving this book a poor rating and review. Having interesting, richly layered characters is just so extremely important to me. This book missed the mark on that account. If that isn't something that is super important to someone, they may like this story better than I.

Reminiscent to Agatha Christie's style of writing, this book centers on Frances, the woman who knows she's going to be murdered, and Annie, her niece who must now follow Frances' breadcrumbs to the truth of her mysterious death. This is a fun read with interesting characters and an engaging storyline. Overall, a great pick to snuggle up with this winter.

Thank you to Dutton Books for an advanced copy of "How To Solve Your Own Murder''.

The Book begins with a premonition: 'Your future contains dry bones. Your slow demise begins right when you hold the queen in the palm of one hand. Beware the bird, for it will betray you. And from that, there's no coming back. But daughters are the key to justice, find the right one and keep her close. All signs point toward your murder'.

This was a delightfully sinister and twisty path towards discovering who killed Frances Gravesdown. I often detect who the murderer is early on, but this one kept me guessing until the very end. Learning how each line of the premonition came to pass and eliminating suspects when everyone has a motive kept me engaged and wanting to read more.

My own premonition is this: you will love this book,

If you love a good mystery, do NOT hesitate to pick up this book. I was a little skeptical after the first chapter, but the second chapter sucked me in. It's one of those books that you want to sail through the pages to find out what happens next, but at the same time you want to stop and savor all the intricacies of the story. Perrin has done an excellent job of marrying the present with the past in a tantalizing mix.

I stayed up too late to finish this - always a good sign! An enjoyable mystery that kept me guessing (I was wrong) until the end. Uses the not-uncommon structure of an old journal to weave past and present mysteries into one good story. I had a little trouble keeping track of which of the young characters in the diary were the much older characters in the present day - and there are quite a few, not easily distinguishable characters to keep track of. There were also two character transformations - one from bad to good, and one from good to bad - that never rang entirely true. But overall a good read. I’d recommend this book to readers that prefer their mysteries be thoughtful; and less violent (but not as trite or tweet as so many ‘cozies.’) And would definitely read more in this series.

Thanks to NetGalley for the arc!
Wow- what a great little mystery! This was so good! Not much of a thriller, just a plain mystery novel. It was a quick read but had such a string of clues to try to work out the “who”. Very easy to get caught up in! Anyone looking for a quick, easy mystery read - this is it!

This book gave me such Knives Out/Agatha Christie vibes and I absolutely ate it up.

How To Solve Your Own Murder follows two timelines: teenaged Frances in 1965 after receiving an ominous fortune about her eventual murder and present day when Frances great niece Annie finds Frances murdered after being summoned to her mansion.

I absolutely loved the setting of the story in the mansion in the quiet cozy town. There were so many characters I had to keep a notes app going to keep them all straight. I had so many theories throughout and not one of them was what it ended up being. The twist and ending were perfect and made sense with the rest of the story. There were a couple loose ends I feel like weren’t wrapped up in the end. I absolutely LOVED Frances POV.

Thank you to Penguin Group Dutton and NetGalley for my ARC in exchange for my honest review!

How to Solve Your Own Murder

4.25 ⭐️

It’s been a while since I’ve read a straight up mystery and this was such a good one to get back into it!

How to Solve Your Own Murder takes place in a small town in England. Annie Adams has just been summoned by her wealthy Great Aunt Frances, but when she arrives, Frances is died. In order to inherit the estate, she must compete to solve the murder with others.

I wouldn’t say this is a cozy mystery in that it didn’t have the humor those books normally have, but it was just a solid whodunnit. There were dual timelines as you read some of the passages from Frances’ dairy from her teenage years. I honestly didn’t guess the murderer until it was revealed and it made me enjoy it all the more!

This was cozy murder mystery tucked in somewhere in between Knives Out and an Agatha Christie. The setting was picturesque, creating the perfect landscape for the story to unfold in. The author masterfully jumps back and forth between journal entries from the 1960s and the sleuthing taking place in present day. The clues are sprinkled and the story is set up nicely. With a large cast of characters, I found it a little confusing at times and definitely difficult to keep suspects straight. This is amplified by the fact that the time jumps involves members of the same families, and therefore same surnames. While an ample number of players makes for a more intriguing mystery, when they are left at surface level it can feel more dizzying than purposefully misleading. This fact alone played into the ending feeling a little rushed despite the author creating a neat and tidy ending.

Relating this book to knives out was perfectly spot on. I enjoyed the movie and very much enjoyed the book! I also love the time setting and intricacies woven through the plot. I was kept on my toes throughout.

everyone has those days; the days where you just have a feeling. that feeling that you're going to ace that exam tomorrow, finally finish folding your clothes, or squeeze in an extra shift at starbucks so you'll finally have enough money to pay this month's rent. well, yesterday i had that feeling. so obviously i used that boost of productive energy to read this entire book in one caffeine-filled night.

this is an arc review, however there are light spoilers

how to solve your own murder starts with young frances in 1965, a bright young girl at a fair with her two best friends. but frances receives a bone-chilling prediction that one day, she will be murdered. and she is.

then we are whisked away to the present tense, where annie adams is asked to visit frances' sprawling house in the countryside. but by the time annie arrives, her great-aunt is already dead.

annie adams is our protagonist, although, honestly, all i wanted were more pages from frances' perspective. she was just such an intriguing character, and had so much potential. annie, i could say otherwise. while i loved her determined spirit, often times i felt myself lacking in motivation to continue the book; and it wasn't because the plot-line wasn't interesting. annie's pov just didn't bring anything to the story, and i wish that her thought processes could've had more vigor. she doesn't have that "iconic detective" feel about her.

plot: while annie rapidly tries to uncover frances' secrets, and the underlying motivation of her murder, she starts to fear that the killer may not only be interested in frances, but her as well.
as a murder mystery should be, perrin's book is extremely fast-paced. like, put the book down because it's giving you a headache fast-paced. put simply, it was overwhelming at times, and the large set of suspicious characters didn't make some chapters any less of a migraine.
and now for the murder itself; the reveal was..underwhelming. throughout the book, i just kept thinking that annie's confusion and the high stakes of the murder would lead to a more evil? killer(s). while i obviously didn't sympathize with the "bad guys", i didn't hate them. and as a result, felt cheated by the otherwise truly wonderful rising action and climax of this mystery.
this is a side-note completely irrelevant to everything else i was talking about, but the sexual/definitely-not-romantic parts of this book were not enjoyable for me. they honestly felt like the worm in this very crisp apple of a book. the broccoli that you pick out of your teeth once you walk out the door of a seemingly great job interview. or the pregnancy trope in every god-awful claire kingsley book.

this book has so much charm. the maze of clues, village setting, and suspense were just a few of the reasons why it could've had re-read potential. but is it weird to say that i would love it if it were a movie? i rarely say this, and typing it out kind of feels like a betrayal of the wonder that is books, but as soon as perrin stated that fans of knives-out would love this book, the "is she writing this with the beautiful face of ana de armas in mind and not the wit of hercule poirot?" question arose. and sadly, it was answered how i thought it would be. some of the characters didn't have enough depth, and i (disappointedly might i add) feel like they could be better portrayed if chris evans took part.

read this book if you're looking for a cozy murder-mystery, christie-like twists & turns, and generally likable but not deep characters.
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pre-review: i feel like this book was made just for me. knives out? i once contemplated having one of those paper cut-outs of ana de armas in my room. the thursday murder club? richard osman literally dedicated the book to me. so thank you, kristen perrin.