I really enjoyed this book. Definitely a fun whodunit with a few twists I did not expect. I agree with the Knives Out meets Thursday Night Murder Club description as I am a big fan of both! There were a few times I was a little lost as to who people were, which is why its more of a 4.5 star book, but still very enjoyable and entertaining.

Plotting a mystery with two timelines can be tough, but Perrin makes it seem easy. The many little details hiding in each eventually converge into one layered and great story. Watching the characters interact with each other in the past contrasted with the present is intriguing. There's so much history and hurt between them. Following city dweller Annie as she navigates village life is a lot of fun. The romance is subtle, but still a teensy bit spellbinding in a slow burn and organic way. Picking up How To Solve Your Own Murder would be a great way to spend a weekend afternoon this winter.

I enjoyed the storyline; however, there were times throughout that I felt the story dragged out. My favorite part of the book was the interlocking stories from the diary and present time.

One of my favorite reads this year! How to Solve Your Own Murder was set it a little village called Castle Knoll, and is told in a dual timeline. Annie is trying to solve the murder of her Great Aunt Frances, while also trying to figure out what happened to Frances' childhood friend, Emily. In 1965, Frances and her friends Emily and Rose go to a fortune teller at a fair, where Frances is given a fortune that she will be murdered. That fortune shapes the rest of her life. When Emily disappears not too long after that, Frances goes on a life long mission trying to solve her own murder before it happens, while also looking for Emily.
This was such a great book. I loved the characters, their stories and how they all connected in the past and in the present day. The dual timeline was done really well and really helped me connect with Frances. I found Annie very relatable and loved her ability to figure things out. This was wonderfully written and kept me turning pages late into the night! As the book went on, I thought I had it figured out, but I was wrong and the ending was so great. I love a good murder mystery and this did not disappoint!
Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy!

Thank you to Penguin Group Dutton and NetGalley for giving me an ARC in exchange for a review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

In this novel, teen Frances receives a fortune portending her own death. Frances spends the rest of her life believing in the truth of this fortune and trying to prevent her own murder. When family are called for the reading of her will, her relatives arrive and find her dead.

Due to a clause in the will, her great niece Annie and the other relatives are on the clock to solve the murder and receive the inheritance, or all will be lost!

The novel switches between the points of view of Annie and Frances, sharing snippets of Frances life story and the ways she felt her fortune was coming true, but mostly with Annie in the present investigating her aunt's murder. There are multiple characters with motives for the crime, so this is a true "whodunit."

I am rating this novel 4 stars. It was fast paced and there were many twists and turns throughout the story of Frances' past and Annie's investigation in the present.

Thank you to Penguin Group Dutton and NetGalley for giving me an ARC in exchange for a review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.


Summary according to GJ: In 1965, a teenage Frances goes with her friends to a fortune teller. Shaken by the words of her future murder, young Frances works on preventing (Or maybe even solving) her death.



In the present day, Frances' great niece Annie is invited to her estranged aunt's country manor. Arriving there along with Frances' in-laws and lawyer, Annie finds the woman dead. Unfortunately, due to her aunt's eccentricities (??), it's up to Annie to solve her aunt's murder and put this whole thing to rest. The narrative switches between Annie's journey and Frances' journal entries.


Review! It seems like this hasn't been my year for mysteries, I'm bummed to say I DNF'd at around 16 percent. While the book's concept immediately drew me in, I just couldn't get into the book.


Despite her having 70% of the book time, I felt no attachment to Annie. I don't feel like I know who she is, her motivation, or her feelings about her situation. We spend more of the book's time in her head and she just feels flat. The few times I did get a glimpse of Annie herself, she just rubbed me the wrong way.


No, I'm not knocking this book for having an unlikable or prickly FMC. I love many an unlikable FMC but there's a difference between not liking someone because they're abrasive and not liking someone because they're bland and a little annoying. Annie didn't feel like the type of character I'd like to investigate a murder with, you know?


As for the writing style, it was fine? As I was reading, it was fast-paced but I still didn't feel like I knew anyone or had a good idea of the tone the book was going for. Is this the tragic story of a woman looking for a killer or a light cozy read with a routine of interesting and curious characters? Don't know because the writing was just there. No atmospheric prose, no delightful insights, nothing.


Overall, there wasn't enough to keep me going. Don't get me wrong, I do want to know the answer to Whodunnit but at this point, I'd be forcing myself to. I wouldn't be reading the book to go on this journey with the character, only to figure out who did it and that's not a good way to spend an afternoon.


"How to Solve Your Own Murder" comes out March 26, 2024

TW: Blood, death,

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC!

How to Solve Your Own Murder earns its four stars with a well crafted plot that kept me hooked from start to finish. The clever use of two separate timelines adds an engaging layer while advancing the narrative in ways that drop subtle hints as to the end of the mystery. I will say it fell into the trap I feel most dual timeline books do, which is that I often felt like I was rushing through one timeline to make it to the next chapter of the other time line. It was an easy and quick read, though at times it was difficult to remember all the characters and how they were all related.

For fans of Knives Out and The Thursday Murder Club , 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... Now it's up to her great-niece to catch the killer.

I loved the strong writing in How To Solve Your Own Murder in this murder mystery. The character development was great, too. This is the type of book that has something for everyone. This had a clue-like vibe to it. I would describe this as a cozy murder mystery. (Almost - it does have a scene with sexual content and some curse words).

It had lots of twists and turns and with the perfect pacing and timeline, it kept me hooked the entire time. So many red-herrings will definitely lend to a fun re-read later on!

This book was everything you'd ask for in a classic, who-dun-it, murder mystery! The broad cast of characters (and their past selves) was a little overwhelming at first, but once I figured out who everyone was and how they were related to each other, I could not put this story down. I had many theories throughout and yet the plot kept surprising me. Even though the story contained various sinful activities (I mean, it has "murder" in the title...), the author steered away from gratuitous or gruesome descriptions - which I appreciated. Pull this one off the shelf if you want to be sucked in to a detective game that will keep you guessing!

Thank you to Penguin Random House for an ARC of this book!

A fun small town mystery that immediately grab your attention. I enjoyed the premise of this book immensely.

3.5 stars

I thought this was a solid cozy mystery debut. In Kristen Perrin's HOW TO SOLVE YOUR OWN MURDER, there are two timelines: 1) 1966 - Frances, who has received a warning about her own death from a fortune teller and 2) present day - Annie (who is Frances's great niece) and is summoned to her great aunt's house to go over a change in her will. Upon Annie's arrival, Frances is already dead. And there are some stipulations in the will that entice Annie to solve her great aunt Frances's murder and a disappearance from 1966.

I thought the first person perspectives were a nice touch, but I did get confused about whose perspective the reader was in because the voice between Frances and Annie seemed similar. I know they are relatives, so perhaps that was intentional.

The mystery and set-up is rather unique (at least from what I've read), so I enjoyed the unique take quite a bit.

There is a diary, and for the most part, that was kept off the page, and I felt holding that diary back made things feel convoluted. So we have two timelines, and we also have a large cast of characters for each timeline with some characters in both. I had to take notes and draw connections among them all, and even closely reading I couldn't keep up as well as I wanted and play along.

If you enjoy multigenerational family murder mysteries, I think this could be a good one if you don't mind a lot of characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dutton for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

As a reader who is constantly looking for different types of mysteries for a library book club, this one will be fantastic when I can tell others about it!

Love this book! It is reminiscent of Agatha Christie or Agatha Raisin. The setting is vibrantly drawn out and I love the characters. I would read this again, and I do not say that often!

Thank you NetGalley and Publisher for this ARC!

This was such a fun murder mystery! I enjoyed every bit of this book. I loved it! I love the dual timelines and multiple POVs. I recommend this book!

Such a unique plot for a murder mystery! There were a lot of characters, but it wasn’t difficult to keep track of them. Overall very easy to read and follow - the only point that lost me a bit was when Annie made the connection to Joe. The logic was lost on me until explained later, but I feel like there could’ve been a better bridge to her discovery. Overall, Kristen Perrin did a great job of setting the scene in a small town where everyone has a secret.

This was pure fun and I loved every bit of the story. It was such a fun premise for a book. Will recommend.

This was a really fun English mystery brimming with history, a colorful cast of characters, and more plot twists than I could count.

Annie Adams" Great Aunt Frances is rich and remote, and more than a little eccentric. She's convinced that a fortune she was given as a teenager will eventually lead to her murder. Most of the townsfolk think she's overly dramatic and "cries wolf" too much. That is, until she's found dead in her home the very day Annie is on her way to meet her for the first time. It soon discovered that she's been murdered and Annie must figure out the killer...before she is murdered next.

Very enjoyable mystery! Great as a cozy weekend read. Will be looking for more books by Kristen Perrin to add to my library!

I don’t think when I started this book I realized what an enjoyable read this would be. The author makes you feel like you are inside an Agatha Christie type novel.
Don’t spend too much time trying to solve the mystery because you will miss out on the sweet storytelling of a niece with a keen eye for mysteries and how she connects with a woman she never knew.
The Aunts journal and going back in time was one of my favorite things in the story, it helps you understand who she was and how she acted or reacted throughout her life.
Definitely can’t wait to see what comes of this author’s writing in books to come.

At times very convoluted, I wished I had a copy of the infamous "murder board" to keep everyone straight. Good plot and story, but lots of characters to keep track of. I didn't guess the killer and still am not sure of the motive overall. Perhaps that's my own fault. I would like to hear this on audio and see if my attention span were better on it.

Before writing my review, I want to extend a huge thank you to NetGalley, Kristen Perrin, and PENGUIN GROUP Dutton, Dutton for gifting me the ARC of this book! I appreciate you trusting me with an honest review!! It was a privilege to be able to read HOW TO SOLVE YOUR OWN MURDER before publication next year!

I just finished reading HOW TO SOLVE YOUR OWN MURDER and I absolutely loved it!! It has definite Agatha Christie vibes, and in Christie style, we are presented with a murder mystery (actually two), a large cast of suspects, and a multitude of motives! All of this against the backdrop of a beautiful family estate in the quaint village of Castle Knoll on the English countryside. The only thing that’s missing is Miss Jane Marple!

This book was filled with mysteries within mysteries, both old and new. Past and present tie together perfectly as the two POVs alternate between our protagonists, Annie and her Great Aunt Frances, two compassionate, smart, and amazing women whom the reader cannot help but become captivated by. And alongside Annie and Frances is a supporting cast of characters with fantastic development—the characters truly jump off the pages as you become invested in their stories.

This book was wonderfully written and had me completely engrossed. I didn’t want to put it down! I just had to keep reading without interruption so I could discover who the murderers were and how two deaths decades apart were connected. There was seamless transition from past and present as we read Frances’s diary right along with Annie! You can almost see Annie’s thought processes on the written page as she begins to put the many puzzle pieces together. With a plethora of suspects, all with very good motives, no one is safe from her scrutiny.

I do love mysteries that take place in charming villages, but still waters indeed run deep. For behind the facade of their quaintness, many of these villages found in the pages of murder mysteries are rife with long buried secrets that people are willing to kill for. And Castle Knoll is no exception. Kristen Perrin does an amazing job of bringing life to the pages of her mystery with fantastic characters (whether incredibly likable or downright despicable), engaging dialogue, and a wonderfully written narrative spanning decades. As expressed by Miss Marple, “There is a great deal of wickedness in village life.” And we learn how true this is in HOW TO SOLVE YOUR OWN MURDER! A must read for mystery-lovers everywhere!!