Love this. Not sure it’ll stick with me, but it was a very solid and engrossing murder mystery, with dual timelines and a great protagonist.

Rating: (3/5)

Kristen Perrin’s How to Solve Your Own Murder was an okay cozy mystery, but it never fully pulled me in. I often found myself struggling to keep the characters straight and to understand their motives, which made it hard to stay engaged with the story. Instead of feeling hooked, I was more just waiting for the resolution so I could find out who did it and move on.

While the concept is fun and the writing has charm, the pacing and character development didn’t quite work for me. It’s a decent read for fans of cozy mysteries, but it didn’t leave a lasting impression.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I’m not typically a murder mystery reader because the twists aren’t interesting enough. This book changed my mind and I look forward to continuing the series. While I was able to guess the ending, the way there was cozy and enjoyable. The entire cast made reading a breeze.

I enjoyed this so much! I loved the way the main character and the detective interacted with each other.

In the roadmap of Agatha Christie's writing, this book was a page turner. When you just think you found the killer, another blindsides you. The red herrings sprinkled in are just the right touch. Thank you NetGalley and Dutton books for giving me the opportunity to read it!

I ended up listening to this one as an audiobook and I enjoyed it. I liked Annie and her ...brashness? Not sure if that's the right word. There were a few times I did want to shake her though, I don't always enjoy when the MC ignores common sense reason - especially if they're a master of mysteries - but I kind of understood some of her reasoning within the "game".
I stopped and started this twice but then once I got going really liked it. I enjoyed Frances personality a lot. A little frustrated by her mom. I was hoping for more with the Detective but maybe that's to come!

I love the premise of this book, and as someone who doesn’t often read cozy mysteries, or really mysteries at all, I don’t feel like I can judge this book. I was in it at the beginning when things were being set up and the race to solve the mystery was fun. If I look too closely this is super unbelievable and people wouldn’t do the things that our MC did, but I’m pretty sure that’s the bread and butter of cozies, right?
Mostly this book was fun and I did want to read to the end to find out what happened.

I got the ARC for this book and never read it, and when I saw that a second one was coming out, I figured now was as good a time as any to finally crack it open 😂

I wasn't really sure what to expect coming into this, a creepy estate in a rural community feels like it gives off mild horror/thriller, but the cover was too *light* for that. Plus, trying to solve your own murder before it even happens is an interesting enough premise--something I hadn't seen before.

This book was enjoyable, but not my favorite. I felt a little bored sometimes, and felt like there were just a few too many characters to keep up with. I'm hoping that in book 2 there aren't so many... and maybe some of the ways the fortune tied into the story made sense to others, but I still don't know if all the fortune stuff adds up in my head? Sure, the fortune maybe wasn't completely right, but if that's what we're going to base this story on, it felt like maybe it should have lined up a little better? I dunno. Why was Annie the right daughter instead of Laura?

Thanks to NetGalley and Dutton for the eARC of this book. If you enjoy cozy mysteries, this will probably be up your alley more than it was mine.

How to Solve Your Own Murder has so many twists and turns that I gave up trying to solve Emily and Frances's murder and decided instead to enjoy reading it and uncover all the red herrings I could.
A book with a very, very interesting plot, narrated from the point of view of a teenage Frances in the 1960s and today by her great-granddaughter Annie Adams, who is named one of the candidates to inherit Frances's fortune and properties, provided she manages to be the person who solves the murder of Frances. This woman has lived her entire life haunted by the words of a carnival "psychic," who predicted that Frances would be murdered after a series of events occurred.
In conclusion, a very enjoyable, well-written novel that captivates the reader, so much so that it has even been given its own TV series.
I thank the author and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.
The opinion I have expressed above is based solely on what I think and feel about this book

This gives Agatha Christie vibes which I really enjoyed! A classic whodunnit murder mystery. My only major complaint is there were SO many characters I was getting them mixed up and when the murderer was revealed, I honestly forgot who they were. I enjoyed the clean wrap up ending though!

3.5 stars rounded up

I really enjoyed it this fun solve your own murder mystery! The twists and turns kept me guessing and I thought I knew who it was but of course I was wrong again, lol.
If you love mysteries that involve the characters needing to figure out some puzzles to get the inheritance and there is murder along the way...you will like this one. There is two timelines and there is a mystery and murder in both.

I do recommend but will say there is bad language used periodically and there is mention of same-sex relationship.

I dnf'd this book. My first problem is that I do not like mysteries anymore. I have stopped requesting them but unfortunately I have a little bit of a back log of them from when I did like them. My second issue is that I do not like how this is written.

How to Solve Your Own Murder is such a quirky mystery with eccentric characters in a charming English village. I flew through the pages of this gripping novel enjoying all of the twists and turns. This is the first of a three book series and I can't wait to see what author, Kristen Perrin comes up with next.

Synopsis:
In 1965, Frances Adams is at an English country fair where a fortune-teller makes a bone-chilling prediction: One day, Frances will be murdered. It is a prediction that sparks her life’s work—trying to solve a crime that hasn’t happened yet.

Nearly sixty years later, Annie Adams is summoned to a meeting at the sprawling country estate of her wealthy and reclusive great-aunt Frances. But by the time Annie arrives in the quaint English village of Castle Knoll, Frances is found murdered, just like she always said she would be. Annie is determined to catch the killer, but thanks to Frances’s lifelong habit of digging up secrets and lies, it seems every endearing and eccentric villager might just have a motive for her murder.

Can Annie safely unravel the dark mystery at the heart of Castle Knoll, or will dredging up the past throw her into the path of a killer? As Annie gets closer to the truth, and closer to danger, she starts to fear she might inherit her aunt’s fate instead of her fortune.

Thanks to NetGalley and Dutton for the advanced digital copy of the book.

I really enjoyed this one. The concept is basically a woman receives a prediction as a teen that she'll be murdered and then spends the rest of her life preparing for it. At first I wasn't sure how it would be pulled off, as I don't always love dual timeline stories, but it really worked for me in this one. The story flips between past and present, and the pacing was steady and kept me interested to the point where I didn't want to put the book down.

The mystery in the book is layered but not overwhelming, and I liked that the tone wasn’t too dark or too silly but rather had a good balance. The writing is clean, and the characters feel distinct, even with the time jumps. Sometimes I feel like authors struggle to separate the two, but these felt really fleshed out. Some reveals I saw coming, others caught me off guard, which is exactly what I want from a mystery.

Overall, this was smart, original, and satisfying. A solid pick for anyone who likes twisty mysteries with a bit of heart.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

A layered, clever mystery with a vivid setting, twisty plot, and an unforgettable setup—this debut delivers everything I want in a cozy, character-driven whodunnit.

I loved this book. It’s layered, clever, and packed with more twists and detail than I expected—yet it never feels rushed or confusing. Every thread is well thought out and executed so smoothly.

The setup is irresistible: a woman spends her whole life preparing for her foretold murder, only to be proven right decades later. From there, the mystery unfolds in such a satisfying way. I especially enjoyed following the main character, Annie, as she uncovered each piece of the puzzle alongside the reader. It made everything feel natural and immersive, without ever overwhelming you with backstory or info dumps.

The atmosphere is vivid and transportive—both in the present and in the flashbacks. I was completely pulled into Castle Knoll and the secrets it holds.

I’m genuinely impressed this was a debut. I’ll absolutely be reading the rest of the series.

How to Solve Your Own Murder s a clever, dual-timeline mystery that hooked me right from the start! Shifting between the present day and the 1960s, the unraveling mystery kept me engaged. While I felt some characters deserved more time in the sun, I thought it was a perfect read for fans of cozy mysteries with a twist!

Thank you NetGalley!

Attempted both the ebook and audio version of this book a few times and just could not get into the story. It did not hold my attention or pull me in from the start. This may be one I go back to in the future but for now it is going on my DNF shelf.

The twist got me in the end!

Thanks, Netgalley, for the ARC! I'm looking forward to reading the sequel.

This book was slow in the beginning but it picked up and overall was enjoyable to read! I would definitely read stuff from this author going forward.

Thank you to Penguin Group-Dutton and NetGalley for a free ebook copy in exchange for an honest review.

This cozy mystery was an okay read for me. It’s about a woman who is an aspiring mystery author who is invited to the estate of her distant Great Aunt Frances in reference to a future inheritance. While there, her aunt is murdered and set in her will is the conditions of her inheritance in the chance that she does not die by natural circumstances. This puts relative against relative in a dangerous game of who will solve the mystery first and inherit Aunt France’s millions.

The characters are all a bit underdeveloped so it is hard to feel any connection to them. Annie seems to always be one step ahead of the reader, and information is revealed in a diary that belonged to Aunt Frances in the 1960s as a teenager. I actually enjoyed the diary entries in between chapters, because Aunt Frances felt like the most real person in the story. The present day plot was less believable, so harder to connect with the events, as well. The ending was fine, I had figured out the mystery so I was curious how everything would tie up. Overall, this was an ok read for me. I’d recommend this to readers who enjoy cozy mysteries, who like stories with diary entries, and like the style of Agatha Christie novels.