this book was such a delight. it was the perfect amount of cozy and solid mystery. I know it only comes out in March but it's a great spooky season read. I didn't figure out the murdered on my own and the twists and turns were so solid. I actually enjoyed both timelines which made this tough to put down. I would definitely read more from this author, especially in this world.

All I wanted to do was read this book and solve this mystery! It had everything I’d want in a story this time of year - a quaint English setting, an eccentric great aunt, a fortune teller’s prophecy, a murder, an elaborate competition to solve said murder, and a cast of very suspect suspects.

Thanks for letting me read and love this novel, NetGalley/Penguin Group Dutton/Kristen Perrin

How to Solve Your Own Murder takes the classic construct of a British murder mystery and freshens it up with dynamic female protagonists. Perrin has created complex, three-dimensional characters who bring the small town of Castle Knoll to life. They're realistic people with interesting relationships, and you can easily form an emotional connection with them, especially Annie and Frances, through her writing. Perrin also keeps you on your toes - I couldn't figure out the mystery until the very end! Would definitely recommend to fans of the genre.

Annie, an aspiring mystery writer, receives an invitation to a meeting with her great aunt Frances to discuss her estate, but she and the lawyer arrive to find her aunt dead. In fact, Frances was murdered, a fate foretold by a fairground medium almost sixty years prior, and a mystery that Frances has been trying to solve ever since. The new will has stipulations and Annie is pitted against some of her less likable relations to solve the mystery of Frances’ long-awaited murder in order to inherit the fortune she left behind. This story is everything a reader could want in a cozy murder mystery complete with a light, slow-burning romance and just a touch of obliquely referenced violence.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! Annie comes the Castle Knoll to meet with her Great Aunt Frances & her attorney. She’s quickly swept up into solving 2 mysteries. One in the past and one in the present.

This book kept me engaged & I finished it quickly. There are quite a few characters to keep straight but you get into the rhythm of the story after a bit. I look forward to reading more from this author

This book was a cute, quick, and fun read!

Annie Adams is trying to solve the murder of her Aunt Frances, who has been thinking about her eventual murder ever since a fortune-teller told her about it in her youth. Now up against others with Frances' fortune on the line, it is a race to figure out whodunit!

4 star read for me.

3.5 stars rounded up. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I enjoyed this cozy mystery. Annie Adams arrives at the country estate of her wealthy and enigmatic great-aunt Frances only to find her dead. Frances, who has been convinced of her eventual murder due to a fortune she received as a teenager, posthumously pits Annie and other family members and friends against one another to solve her murder. Annie reads Frances' diary and attempts to uncover old and new mysteries in the quaint village of Castle Knoll.

I found the ending a but too rushed but overall found this book entertaining,

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy. I love a good mystery/ thriller book. And this didn’t disappoint. Grab my attention when it mentioned that it was for fans of knives out and I would say that’s pretty accurate.

This story was delightful and well-paced. I really enjoyed the dual POV and the now-and-then storytelling. The author made a smart decision by having the story unfold as our heroine/detective Annie sets out to find her great-aunt Frances killer by reviewing her old journal and files. I thought the town characters were colorful and was glad we were not overwhelmed with characters. I did find it odd that there was a hint of a romantic relationship for the heroine with the local police detective, for me it was a bit stressed and unfulfilled towards the end. However, based on the last chapter it seems the hope is this will have at least a sequel. I think a sequel may work but it would require just as much “suspend your disbelief” as in the first book. Overall this was an enjoyable book and the premise was very well laid out. 4/5

I’ve always been a huge mystery reader & this standalone thriller was a pleasure to read! It had just enough suspense without being overly convoluted. It’s a pet peeve of mine when the reader has to jump through hoops to make sense of how everything wrapped up. This story had lots of interesting family dynamics and a town with lots of secrets. I definitely recommend this book coming out in March 2024.

Thank you NetGalley for this advanced reader copy!

I have received this ARC from NetGalley and the publisher. So thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this opportunity!

This grabbed my interest as it says that the fans of Knives Out would love this. And i love that movie so i was really interested in it.
This did not disappoint!
It is pretty much a classic whodunit, because the first to solve the murder will inherit frances' estate. And that is the plot.
I enjoyed this one very much!
4/5

Annie has been summoned to the small town of her great aunt Frances, where Frances supposedly has changed her will, but when she arrives, Frances has been murdered. An Agatha Christie-esque, Clue-like mystery follows where the first to solve her murder will inherit Frances' estate.

This is a murder mystery that had all of the elements for a fun and engaging read but it fell short for me.

In the present Annie Adams is summoned to the small English village of Castle Knoll by her great aunt Frances - whom she has never met. There were some things in her mother’s past which she never liked to talk about - she never visited her aunt and had no communications with her.

When Annie arrives she is soon thrust into solving a murder as the crime is committed before she is even introduced to Frances!!

The past POV is that of Frances which is told through diary entrances and other notes which Annie finds.

There is so much going on and a plethora of characters to keep straight!!

Rather than rehashing the blurb I’m going to go with a PROS and CONS on this one and you can decide if this one is right for you!!

PROS:
*An interesting premise with a very promising beginning that engaged me from the start
*The setting of a large country manor in a small town
*A shocking beginning

CONS:
*Too many characters in both the past and the present, hard to keep them all straight and who is “connected” in some way to each other
*This should have been atmospheric because of the setting but I never got that vibe
*The characters weren’t very well described. We only get descriptions of how they interacted with each other but not really about anything else in their lives, more was revealed at the end but by then I really wasn’t interested
*Conflicted about the ending and some unresolved questions.

A 3* doesn’t mean this is a bad book, just not the experience I was hoping for.

I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher through NetGalley. It was my pleasure to read and review this title.

What a fun read! This book took so many twists and turns, you're constantly changing your thinking on who committed the crimes and it definitely keeps your attention!

This story is told in two perspectives; great-aunt Frances as a teenager, and her great-niece Annie in present time. There are two separate mysteries to solve throughout the book and it really does a great job of keeping your interest and makes you want to finish it as soon as you can.

I love the 'clue' vibes in this book and all the information from the past that creeps into the present to get you closer and closer to solving the case with each diary entry.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves mystery novels and fast-paced stories about murder, inheritance, greed and revenge.

Thank you to NetGalley for the arc of this book. It was truly SO fun and exciting to read!!

Fun, original story. It read to me like a classic mystery, but had plenty of twists and surprises to keep me guessing. I enjoy it when I don’t have the case figured out by the end, and this story kept me waiting to see what would come to light next. Would definitely read a sequel. Annie continuing to solve mysteries :)

I enjoyed How to Solve Your Own Murder and am so grateful to have gotten a copy of this in the fall. I thought it was a refreshing, cozy murder-mystery. As I was reading, it reminded me of the game Clue in the best way. I loved the suspenseful elements near the end of the story as Annie was uncovering important information. I am usually able to guess the plot twist pretty confidently when reading suspenseful stories, but I did not see this one coming!

The story is a dual-POV, small town murder mystery and competition! A generational story that brings the reader on a journey - uncovering complex character entanglements, making connections to solve a double murder, and unraveling the story alongside a relatable FMC, Annie.

I rated this a strong 3.75; it kept me interested and reading from the first page. It’s more of a cozy murder mystery - a “who done it,” not knowing who to trust, without being creepy or overly suspenseful.

I would highly recommend How to Solve Your Own Murder to anyone who liked the Inheritance Games series, especially if you like multi-generational or flashback POV.

I received an ARC of How to Solve Your Own Murder from NetGalley - huge thank you for the opportunity to read & review early! 😊

The story starts in the present where Annie Adams finds out she's set to inherit everything from her rich Great Aunt Frances. She goes to the little village where Frances lives but before she can meet her, Frances turns up murdered. Now, Annie needs to solve who murdered her before her relative (second cousin once removed? Something like that) or the police detective solve it. If she or the relative, Saxon, can't solve it within a week, then the land is sold and a property development company is going to build condos - gasp!

As part of that, Annie found a journal that Frances kept when she was a teenager that talks about the year leading up to her friend going missing. The story alternates between the past and present, with the journal telling us about the past and Annie "investigating" in the present. I put the quotation marks around "investigate" because most of her investigations was reading the journal. It didn't even occur to her to talk to the person who owned the business where the murder weapon came from until 2 days after the murder. Frances ensured that everyone in the village would want to talk to Annie and Saxon, but then Annie talks to almost no one. But hey, at least she had time to learn how to drive a Rolls Royce!

The story had a lot of potential - I was so excited about the "game" where she has to race against others to solve the crime. However, it was a letdown where she did so little except read the journal and make dumb decisions. Most of the characters felt very flat with only a few personality traits to define them. I really wanted to root for Annie, but I couldn't.

Frances-in-the-past was a little better. The story got monotonous after awhile and I felt bored. Since it was clear that this was Annie's main source of information, it was obvious that eventually it was going to provide the missing piece to solve it (and meanwhile, Annie doesn't read the whole thing at once - she keeps starting again or just reading passages, while being convinced this is the key - maybe read the whole thing once??)

The story was a cozy mystery, so it was a bit obvious how things were going to wrap up. Will the plucky heroine prevent the village from being spoiled by the condo development? Will she and the hot detective find each other? I can enjoy books where it's clear what's going to happen, but this didn't feel like it had enough surprises. I will say that I didn't guess who the murderer was, which was a pleasant surprise. But that was about it.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for this advance review copy.

Who Done It? This book reminded me of days playing Clue with my family, but in a book version.
I loved trying to solve who killed Aunt Frances. This book was mysterious, kept my interest and was also funny at times. Definitely some interesting characters! Loved it!
#HowtoSolveYourOwnMurder #NetGalley

Pub date: 3/26/24
Genre: mystery
Quick summary: Sixty years ago, teenage Frances was given a fortune predicting her death, and she became obsessed with preventing it. In the present day, her great-niece Annie will try to uncover the truth.

This was such a fun take on the murder mystery genre! There are plenty of books where a death is predicted, but I hadn't seen one where the prediction came true sixty years later. The plot alternates between Frances' very eventful friendship with Emily and Rose and Annie's investigation. I liked how the past timeline unraveled the events slowly; I did sometimes get a little confused with all the characters, but the ending in the present timeline made everything clear. I think Christie fans will enjoy this one - the style reminded me of her work.

Thank you to Dutton Books for providing an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

When Annabelle "Annie" Adams is summoned by her great aunt Frances Adams to visit her at Castle Knoll, she's perplexed by the actions of her relative but arrives at the estate with a group of distant relatives to find that her great aunt is dead - a death that appears to be a natural passing at first glance, but is revealed to be a carefully planned murder. With the reading of Frances's will, Annie learns she and Saxon, her uncle-in-law have been pitted against each other to uncover the murderer and motive - and at risk are great aunt's estate and the lives of many of the community members.

The story alternates between the present and flashbacks to 1965, when young Frances is given a cryptic message by a fortune teller, that she and her friends Emily and Rose can't understand. While her friends shrug it off, the prediction continues to haunt Frances in the years to come, especially as her path crosses with Rutherford Gravesdown, the mysterious and wealthy widower, and his younger brother Saxon. The complex relationship between these individuals slowly is revealed, and leads to Emily's eventual disappearance - an event that will have implications in the decades to follow, and serve as a key puzzle piece in the present as Annie tries to piece together the events leading up to her great aunt's death.

The premise of "How to Solve Your Own Murder" drew me in, as it's a unique take on the murder mystery genre, and I appreciated how the alternating storylines between the past and present led to the eventual climax and conclusion of the novel - one that I didn't foresee (although I'm a novice in this respect). There were a number of red herrings placed throughout that kept the plot moving along, and I overall enjoyed the ride. However, I struggled with the sheer number of characters that were involved, in both the past and present, and keeping track of who was who, and their potential motivations. The writing style was also a weak point for me; Annie's character felt underdeveloped and one-dimensional, despite the fact that most of the novel is told from her first person perspective, and I enjoyed the "past" storyline far more, as Frances seemed to be a more complex and intriguing character. The pacing as well felt sluggish as moments; while I appreciated the passages dedicated to Annie's thought process, it felt unnecessary at times.

Overall a fun read but not one of my personal favorites in this genre!