When Annie is summoned to a meeting with her great Aunt Frances after a change in her will includes Annie as a beneficiary, she's not sure what to expect. She's heard stories about her aunt's paranoia, but she's never known her. What she definitely doesn't expect is to find herself wrapped up in a game to solve not one, but two murders. Can she put the pieces together before things become too dangerous?


This is a who-dun-it (x2!), can't trust anyone, what-is-even-happening-in-this-town murder mystery! It's a fun, clever mystery with a unique plot. The dual timeline was done well, with some back and forth, and some insight into the past through journals as well.

I felt like there were a lot of players in this - and between the two timelines the amount of characters kept me from really feeling any depth from them. At times I felt I was reading a report of what had happened.... for some reason I wasn't emotionally invested.

I thought the wrap-up was a little bit rushed, with the reveal coming Agatha Christy style (the character had everything figured out before we do), albeit a little less smoothly. However, I was kept guessing until the twist and reveal!

Overall this was well written, but didn't "hook" me!

"But above all, I want to solve this puzzle. And I’ve been called on to do just that, the one thing I can’t help doing already. I’m needed. Me. Annie Adams, aspiring murder mystery writer. And I get the sense that something happened here. Not just with Great Aunt Frances yesterday, but a story spanning decades."

Annie Adams is an aspiring writer who is in between jobs. She gets a letter summoning her to her wealthy and reclusive Great Aunt Frances's home, Gravesdown Estate, in the English countryside of Castle Knoll. What was supposed to be a meeting regarding Frances's will turns out to be (quite literally) deadly,

Francis Adams received a cryptic and deadly prophecy in the summer of 1965 and spent decades trying to find out who would supposedly murder her. It was the same year that her childhood friend Emily disappears into thin air. When Frances ends up being murdered it is up to her niece, who never met Frances, to solve her murder.

Castle Knoll isn't so much the sleepy and quaint country town as it appears--there are many secrets and betrayals being kept, and Annie might not only solve her great aunt's murder--but finally find out what happened to Emily after all this time.

I devoured this book! There were so many twists in this book that had me up until the middle of the night because I just had to know what happened next. The author does a great job of giving a picturesque detail of what Castle Knoll and Gravesdown Estate look like.

What made the book even more intriguing is how far Frances went into investigating everyone she had connections with to try to solve her prophesied murder. There were many people who would have something to gain from her death, but who was utterly responsible and did it have any correlation to Emily's disappearance?

"Because I knew, deeper than I’ve ever known anything, that our fates were intertwined—Emily’s and mine. I couldn’t shake the belief that underneath everything, I was really just Emily in disguise."

This book is worth putting on your TBR and I have a feeling we are not done with Castle Knoll and Annie quite yet!

Thank you to NetGalley and Dutton Books for an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review. You can purchase How to Solve Your Own Murder on March, 24, 2024!

How to Solve Your Own Murder takes place in two timelines. We start with 17 year old Frances who receives a terrifying reading from a fortune teller predicting that she will be murdered in the future. As Frances moves forward in her life parts of the prediction come true causing her to become closed off from most of the world and suspicious of those around her. One of the events that really causes Frances to dig in is the disappearance of one of her closest friends, Emily. Frances spends her life investigating Emily's disappearance and and trying to prevent her own murder. In the current timeline her great niece Annie has moved home to live with her mother in London. Annie and her mother live in a home that is owned by Frances. Annie is summoned to a mysterious meeting in Castle Knoll by Frances. Upon arriving it is discovered that the fortune has come true and Frances has been murdered. During the will reading Annie and the other potential inheritors of the estate are given the mission of attempting to solve the murder.

This is hands down the best mystery I have read this year! I loved the dual timelines. Annie and Frances are both dynamic and complex characters. The other cast of characters involved are very entertaining. This book is funny and incredibly touching in some points. I won't give anything away but there is one particular meeting between characters that was so incredibly sweet.

A little bit Agatha Christie but with a modern feel, I loved this cozy murder mystery so much! The author did a great job with all the characters and threw in plenty of red herrings. I didn’t know who the murderers were until the big reveal! The flashbacks to young Frances diary and the present day sleuths were very well done and really fleshed out the characters for me. The setting was done with such great descriptions that I could imagine myself there in the fragrant gardens or in front of the crackling fireplace. Such an enjoyable read! I do wish detective crane had gotten together with Annie but maybe there will be a sequel! Thank you NetGalley for the digital copy.

I wasn’t expecting anything that happened in this book. It kept me wondering and kept my attention. I will definitely read this author again!

Unfortunately I could not get past the writing style to complete this book. I was a bit interested in the storyline but the blunt writing that felt like something I wrote in high school made me need to stop.

Oddly enough I liked the journal entries. Maybe because we weren’t trying to dump a bunch of clues in the conversations? This book kinda made me tired and I have so many books to read that I chose to end this one early.

Thank you Net Galley for an advanced copy of this book. Absolutely loved this mystery! It reminded me so much of Agatha Christie novels. Could not put this one down!

It’s a fun murder-mystery that takes place across two narrators and two different timelines:

First we have current day Annie Adams, who finds out she’s unexpectedly come into a great inheritance courtesy of her eccentric and previously unknown Great Aunt Frances. But there’s a twist: for decades, Frances knew she would be murdered, and now it’s come true; in order for Annie to take possession of the money left her by Frances she must solve the elderly woman’s murder!

The second plot line is from the view of Frances herself, as the events that unfolded back in the 1960s when she was a teenager that ultimately would spark the events leading up to her eventual murder.

Incredibly strong writing that draws the most delicious images, which creates an amazing canvas upon which this book unfolds. If you enjoy Agatha Christie and the board game CLUE, but you also want tinges of what is almost a classic “cosy”, you’ll be quite happy with the outcome found here!

Okay, guys, listen up! If you're into mystery novels like "Knives Out" and "The Thursday Murder Club," you're in for a real treat with this one.

So, picture this: It's 1965, and we've got teenage Frances Adams hanging out with her pals at an English country fair. Sounds like a fun time, right? Wrong! A fortune-teller drops a bombshell on Frances, predicting her murder. And here's the kicker – Frances spends her whole life trying to solve a murder that hasn't even happened yet! She's like a detective in her own life, collecting dirt on everyone she meets just to avoid becoming a murder victim.

Fast forward nearly sixty years later, and Frances ends up dead, just like she always said she would be. Now, it's up to her great-niece, Annie Adams, to play detective and catch the killer. But with Frances digging up everyone's secrets and lies, it feels like the entire village of Castle Knoll might have a motive for murder.

This book? It's like Agatha Christie on steroids. It's super smart, super gripping, and it grabs you from the very beginning. Annie Adams is our relatable main character, and she's easy to root for. You'll be itching to dive into this mystery, and the pacing is so intense that you'll be breathless until the very end. I'm telling you, this book deserves a solid 5-star rating!

Annie is a mystery author herself, and when she gets an invite from her eccentric great-aunt Frances, she can't resist the urge to unravel the family's secrets. Frances has been expecting her own murder for ages, and now Annie's caught up in this prophecy that says "but the daughters are the key to justice." Talk about a family reunion with a twist!

As Annie arrives at Castle Knoll, she meets a cast of characters – Frances' lawyer, Walter Gordon, and his no-nonsense son, Oliver, plus the drama queen Elva, who's married to Saxon, Frances' late husband's niece. It's clear that some messed-up relationships are tangled up with Frances.

But here's where things get real juicy – Frances ends up dead on the floor. The big question: Was it natural causes, or did someone finally make her murder prediction come true?

As Annie digs deeper into her great-aunt's life, she finds an old diary that reveals a complicated friendship with Rose and Emily, along with Emily's mysterious disappearance. And that diary becomes Annie's ticket into the world of amateur detective work.

But it's not all fun and games. Annie faces death threats, a race against time, and the pressure to crack the case and claim Frances' estate as the rightful heir. She's up against Saxon, Detective Crane, and more twists and turns than you can shake a stick at.

This book? It's a real page-turner, folks. It's got clever twists, a top-notch mystery, and a cast of characters you won't forget. And I don't know about you, but I'm crossing my fingers for sequels. I want more diaries, more adventures, and more of Annie Adams as the detective extraordinaire. This is a 5-star whodunit that's earned its stripes, no doubt about it.

I was interested in this book from the very beginning. There was always an air of mystery even when the story was being set up and I loved the whodunit feel of it. I read this in one sitting because I just had to know the outcome!

Annie Adams has just been summoned to the country estate of the grandmother she’s never met to meet with her solicitors about being named the sole beneficiary of her grandmothers will. Upon arriving in Castle Knoll, Annie finds that her grandmother, Frances, has been murdered, and her inheritance hinges on figuring out who the perpetrator was. Ever since 1965, Frances had been obsessed with a prophecy about her own demise she received from a fortune teller at the local county fair. Annie must solve the mysteries of the past in order to solve the one of the present.


This gives me Ruth Ware vibes. So twisted and convoluted that you can’t see it until the very end. I love love loved it and the dual timeline was so interesting too. The spooky small town setting where everyone knows everyone made it even better.

It’s 1965 and teenage Frances Adams is at an English country fair - the night that a fortune-teller makes a bone-chilling prediction: One day, Frances will be murdered. Frances spends a lifetime trying to solve a murder that’s supposed to happen to her. For decades, no one takes Frances seriously, until nearly sixty years later, when Frances is found murdered, like she always said she would be.

In the present day, Annie Adams has been summoned to a meeting at the sprawling country estate of her wealthy and reclusive great-aunt Frances. But the meeting is derailed when Frances is found dead. Annie is determined to catch the elusive killer, but thanks to Frances’s lifelong habit of digging up everyone’s secrets and lies, it seems every benign villager might just have a motive for her murder.

WOW. It’s as if The Birdcage and Clue: The Board Game was mashed up into a wonderfully captivating murder-mystery.

The best part was that I truly could not predict how the plot would twist and turn so frequently and kept me on my toes! I find that my least favorite part about murder-mysteries is that they get predictable after reaching a certain section in almost every novel and you’re already so invested in it that you just finish it anyways, even though it’s not very satisfying.

This book was a fast-paced, un-put-down-able page-turner. I enjoyed every minute of reading it! I may even go so far as to say it’s a new favorite…

'How to Solve Your Own Murder' is hands down one of my very favorite murder mystery books of all time. It was so well written, and the twists were so unexpected and unpredictable. I usually am really good at predicting the plot, but in this book I didn't even see it coming! It was such a captivating read, and even though the stakes were high, it wasn't too scary or unrealistic. I definetly recomment this for a book club, an easy read, or just if you're looking for a captivating book to get you out of a reading slump.

Thanks to Penguin Books and Netgalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest reveiw!

Ideal Fancast!:
Frances: Jane Widdop
Old Francis: Meryl Streep
Laura: Sarah Chalke
Annie: Lilly James
Emily: Roan Curtis
Rose: Ruby Stokes
Jenny: Simone Kessell
Walt: Ewan Mitchell
John: François Arnaud
Ford: Regé-Jean Page
Detective Crane; Brett Goldstein

Following the overlapping stories of Annie and her Great Aunt Frances several decades in the past, Annie is tasked with solving her great aunt’s murder. Frances has been obsessed with solving her own murder since she was a teenager after receiving a bad fortune at a county fair. As she gets older, Frances’s entire life revolves around the fortune and trying to figure out what it means. The concept of this book alone had me hooked and it definitely lived up to expectations. It has been a while since I have been sucked into a mystery like this. The cast of characters had distinct Clue vibes and seeing how many of the characters interacted as teenagers and later on in life gave the story some extra depth.

I was instantly hooked on this book- I mean how could you not be from the title alone? It was not the most earthshattering murder mystery I’ve ever read, bit it was so easy to get sucked in. And I didn’t see the end coming, but to be fair I never really do. This has me in the mood to snuggle up with another cozy mystery.

"How To Solve Your Own Murder" was a fast-paced engaging read. From start to finish the storyline pulled me in, it was definitely a page-turner.

I think that the entire premise of this story was a really intriguing and thought provoking concept. The storyline was complex, told through dual timelines and had plenty of twisty points. The characters were well-developed and felt very authentic.

If you love a good whodunnit or reading in the Mystery Thriller genre I think this book should be on your radar!

Thank you Kristen Perrin, Net Galley and Penguin Group Dutton for providing me with an ARC of this book!

Received early and I am so happy that I requested this ARC. Five stars all the way, perfect balance of Agatha Christie or Dorothy Sayers meets Alan Bradley (Flavia DeLuce series). What a fantastic ride. No Spoilers.

Murder/mystery is not my preferred genre. I was drawn by the title and cover.

Great aunt Francis had a fortune teller predict her demise when she was 17 (in 1966). She has been gathering intelligence about EVERYTHING and EVERYONE for decades. Fast forward to present day and she decides to include her niece Annie Adams into her will (and removing Annie's mother). Great aunt Francis calls a meeting to inform those in her will of the changes (coincidentally ... or not so ... where there is a conflict with Annie's mother).

Upon arriving to the meeting ... well ... thats probably enough info without getting into spoilers. And nobody wants that when it comes to a murder mystery.

I found the book enjoyable. Somewhere between 4 and 5 stars.

Thank you (once again) to NetGalley for introducing me to a "new to me author". Thank you to NetGalley and Dutton/Penguin Random House for approving my request to read the advance read copy of How To Solve Your Own Murder in exchange for an honest review. Kristen Perrin ... keep on writing. Publication date is 26 Mar 2024.

A Whodunit page turner!

I really enjoyed the book. With little clues sprinkled throughout, it kept me guessing until the end.
Using duel timelines, the story is told from Frances's and Annie's POV that come together to solve two different murders. The book really pulled me in, and I liked the small village setting where everyone knew each other.

The book unfolds with Frances's fortune, and she spends the rest of her life trying to figure out what this means and who is going to murder her. And then, uh oh.... Great Aunt Frances is murdered and Annie must put her amateur sleuth skills to the test.

Because this book was well-written and fast-paced without a lot of useless descriptions, I'd definitely read another book by this author.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

A fast paced, entertaining mystery with a cast of characters that you suspect throughout the tale of committing a murder. Not only is there a current murder but the question is there another from long ago. As I read the book I kept thinking this would work well as a series or movie and sure enough the author divulges that the screen rights have been picked up. Kind of cozy yet interesting and complicated enough to hold your attention.

This book is the perfect blend of extraordinary writing and intriguing mystery. How does one know they are going to be murdered? If a fortune-teller gives you that little tidbit, would you obsess over it for a lifetime? Would that obsession cause you to act and interact with everyone in your life in a way that invites an unfortunate demise? Or do you die of natural causes?

Annie Adams goes to visit her great-aunt Frances, who was told nearly 60 years ago that she'd be murdered, and who's been actively trying to solve her murder before it happens for nearly as long. This is a fascinating mystery, with the extra disappearance of France's friend Emily building the suspense. Fun and engaging page-turner from the beginning. I loved this! ❤️

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced digital reader's copy (ARC) in exchange for an honest review!