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!!

In 1965, a fortune teller sets up the course of Frances' life. Taking the fortune seriously, Frances spends the remainder of her life trying to figure out who will murder her.
In current day, Annie has just received a letter inviting her to a meeting with her Great Aunt Frances. Alas, she never gets to meet her due to...murder.

This sets up a great plot!

I really enjoyed this book! I liked the "locked room" mystery aspect of the plot. I found the characters well rounded and engaging.

I am hopeful that this will become a series...I'd love to follow Annie and her adventures.

Thank you to Dutton and NetGalley for an Advanced Reading Copy of this book.

I thought the premise of the book sounded like a lot of fun, with two timelines of amateur sleuths trying to solve mysteries.

The chapters taking place in 1965 from Frances’s POV were much more intriguing and readable than the present day one. In the latter, the book’s main character Anna, to put it delicately, is BORING. She should be trying to crack the murder of her Great Aunt, but instead lopes around the lead detective like a lovesick puppy and talks about her vintage finds at the Oxfam.

The dialogue between characters is stilted, and jarring in a way, since I have never heard anyone speak like it. The rest of the supporting cast are a bit flat and one-note, with no real depth or substance.

I feel as though this book had so much potential, but it wasn’t fleshed out properly. If the entire book was written with the grit and suspense of the 1965 timeline - I’m sure I would have enjoyed it much more.

The ending was a bit of a miss for me as well; it kind of came out of left field in terms of 'whodunnit' and why. Overall, it was fine to read, but a tad forgettable.

This murder mystery book was a great read that kept you guessing and wondering the entire way thru. The dual-timeline helps piece this story together (present day and mid 1960's), and at the end you are certainly rooting for Annie, the main character, to solve this case before she herself gets into danger. Digging up scandals of both the present and past along the way, it's hard not to want more follow up on where the characters end up after the events of this novel conclude. I feel that this book would make an excellent movie, lots of drama, fashion notes, and historical home details. I highly recommend this read for anyone loving a good puzzle.

I loved this murder mystery! I am always a fan of dual timelines and Annie was such an enjoyable character! I was routing for her to solve everything. This is the perfect book to cozy up with this season! I will definitely be recommending this book to everyone!

Two murders, one fortune, and a sprawling estate full of mysteries. Perrin has written a fun murder mystery with all the right elements and characters without feeling formulaic. This is a great title to add to your collection if you prefer a good mystery without the rated R material. I look forward to reading Perrin's future books.

Super fun concept! I loved the English countryside setting and the cover artwork really attracted me to this book! I do think that there could’ve been more build-up in certain scenes, it just didn’t completely draw me in. But overall I really liked it, would recommend!

"I love murder mysteries. But standing here in this room, facing my great aunt's obsession with her own murder after only just finding her dead body... I feel with full force that this isn't just a story, and murder isn't just a puzzle. It's a selfish, final, complex act."

Annie Adams is a young woman living the dream in London when she loses a job she didn't care that much about anyway and decides to move in with her eccentric painter mother to save some cash. She longs to become a mystery writer but, you know, making money that way isn't exactly the easiest. So it really feels like fate or life imitating art when Annie gets wrapped up in - you guessed it - a murder mystery! You see, Annie's great aunt Frances has been telling anyone who will listen that she WILL be murdered. She doesn't know when or how, but she's certain it'll happen. So when Annie heads to the countryside to visit her dear auntie (who she's never met) per a letter summoning her to review mysterious changes Frances wants to make to her will, it comes as a surprise to no mystery novel reader that Frances dies under mysterious circumstances before the will can be read. What follows is a cozy mystery where Annie gets to play a younger, hipper Hercule Poirot or Miss Marple.

How to Solve your Own Murder was really cute! I definitely got Agatha Christie vibes throughout. Annie is a sweet and likable character and I found myself rooting for her to figure out who dunnit and why who dunnit had dunnit. There were a plethora of characters who had a motive and the opportunity to knock off Frances, and while The Big Reveal made complete sense, I didn't see the ending coming.

While I thoroughly enjoyed HtSYOM, it wasn't particularly memorable. It feels like the cozy mystery genre is getting flooded with new authors these days, and I don't know that Perrin's book is one that'll stand out. I mean, it's no contest which cozy mystery I read in 2023 will stick with me longer between this book and Legends & Lattes. The answer is Legends and Lattes. When you've got a retired thug orc vs. a regular old Londoner as your protagonist, there's just no way the Londoner will come out on top.

A witty and fun cozy double murder mystery that will have you continuing to flip the pages. I loved the double timeline and trying to solve the present-day murder while reconciling it with what happened in the past. I loved the whole cast of characters and would love to see Annie take on another mystery. This is a must-read for those who are fans of The Thursday Murder Club and the Marlow Murder Club. Love!

Thanks to NetGalley and Dutton for my e-ARC!

I haven't read Kristen Perrin before, but I love a murder mystery! I found myself enjoying both Annie and Frances' perspectives and seeing how it all plays out. It was a fun cozy mystery and I will recommend to all when it comes out in March!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an early copy of this book! Here is my honest review:

As a big fan of Knives Out and Agatha Christie-esque novels, the premise of this book was right up my alley. It was a bit of a slow build-up but once the will was read, I was in it. Despite there being a plethora of characters in the past and present town of Castle Knoll, I found myself so invested in the crossovers of all their relationships that I even drew out a little map to keep track of everyone and their connections! I loved the excerpts where we would read Frances' diary from her teenage years along with Annie and seeing how moments from her writings would connect with questions that needed answers in order to solve the two murders in the story. As much as I wish I had solved the case myself, I was definitely wrong - I found the ending pretty shocking as it tied up the loose ends.

This was a chill read for me. I would definitely recommend this to people who already enjoy thrillers, mysteries, and murder mysteries.

Thank you to Netgalley, and Dutton Publishers for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Truly, I was expecting to enjoy myself but opted to stay completely in the dark when it came to anything beyond a brief glance at the title and cover, both of which are fantastic. The character work was fun, and more classic whodunnit mystery was a great change of pace among most of the murder mysteries currently at the forefront of publishing.

Rounded up from 3.75

When Annie's Great Aunt Frances, whom she hasn't seen in years, dies, Annie is surprised to learn that she's been invited to the reading of the will instead of her mother. Francis led a strange life, believing a fortune she received from a fortune teller when she was in her teens that predicted her murder. Shortly after that time, one of her three closest friends, Emily, disappeared. Was her disappearance so long ago connected to Frances' death that turns out to be the murder she believed would end her life? Annie, a relative, and a detective take on this case after Frances' will challenges them to solve her murder using clues Frances herself discovered.

With interesting characters and several twists, this was an enjoyable read.

Okay, woooooooow.

I did not expect to love this, but I really did! It started a little slow for me but before too long, I was hooked. Stick with it if it starts slow for you, too.

What complex characters! What a great plot. It kept me guessing the whole time, and I did not figure out the whodunnit (and I read a lot of detective stories so I’m decent at guessing the endings).

I would love if this was the start of a series (though it doesn’t seem like it is). Just wish I could keep up with Annie and Rowan and Jenny and Laura and all the quirky folks in Castle Knoll.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy. Opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

Thanks to netgalley and dutton publishers for this arc in exchange for an honest review! I immediately was drawn into this plot. I thought the concept was awesome and exciting. However I slowly lost interest with the long list of characters that were very one dimensional. Annie and frances’ pov seemed very similar to me, their voices were too similar. It wasn’t a super long book but at times it felt extra long. It was slow at times for me as well, not enough surprises. There also wasn’t enough cliffhangers from one chapter or pov to the next like a good thriller does. I don't think this one should be under the thriller genre- it was just a cozy mystery kind of book like Agtha Christie's books.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for this advanced reader copy!

If you learned of how you were to die in the future, would you do everything in your power trying to prevent that from happening? That's the premise of How to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin. Frances visits a fortune teller, who reports to her that she is going to be murdered. Then, we follow Frances' niece, Annie, as she tries to solve her aunt's murder. This is a fun little murder mystery and it will keep you guessing.

I cannot say enough good things about this book, holy wow.

It was the perfect cat and mouse mystery, tied in with a present situation and the past. I loved the authors way of telling this story and connecting the reader to the current day and the past. It was addicting, quick paced and thoroughly entertaining. No gore, no smut, just brilliant writing.

Obsessed doesn’t even cut it.

Thank you to the author for this read.

Do yourselves a favor dear readers and add this to your TBR asap. You won’t be disappointed, I promise.