I could not wait for this book to finish. It didn’t get interesting until about 25% into it, and even then it just felt like a cozy mystery to me. The characters weren’t that interesting and didn’t give me a reason to care for them at all. The idea behind this story was good, I just don’t think it was executed very well. I did like how chapters flipped between the present and the great aunts diary about what happened in the past and about her “fortune” but other than that it felt like clue and trying to figure out who in the house did it and eliminating each character. This was not for me, I need way more drama, suspense and more of a psychological thriller than a cozy mystery.

If a cozy mystery is more your thing then I think you would definitely like this book!!

I am so glad that this book is the first in a series, because I want to read and learn more about these characters. That's not to say that the book felt unfinished, everything wrapped up nicely at the end. I thoroughly enjoyed the puzzle of trying to figure out not just the current murder, but the one from the past as well. Overall a great first book in the series!

Annabelle (or Annie to her friends) has been summoned to see her Great Aunt Frances to talk about a change in the will. One where apparently her mother was taken out and she was placed in it. Only, she had never actually met the woman. And she was murdered just before they were to meet. Oh, and Great Aunt Frances was obsessed with a fortune she received when she was a teenager about her future murder, and whoever can solve the mystery gets to inherit everything. Just a couple of small details there.

I really wanted to enjoy this because the premise seems right up my alley but this just couldn't keep me engaged. Maybe i'll revisit this down the line but sadly I wasn't enjoying this as much as i thought.

Who doesn't love a good murder mystery? This story involves Annie, who is trying to solve the murder of her gran-aunt. I loved that the story takes you through the clues, so it's almost as if you're trying to solve the murder along with Annie. The story does involve a lot of characters and it does switch between two timeliness, so it can become a little confusing for the reader. I was able to guess the murder before the ending, but overall I enjoyed this book.

📖 Book Review 📖

📱🎧” How to Solve Your Own Murder” by Kristen Perrin

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Frances Adams believes she will be murdered and spends her life and her fortune trying to prevent it. Her great-niece luckily enjoys a puzzle as to gain her inheritance she must solve the death, and determine if it really was a murder.

Jumping from present day to 1965, when Frances was a teenage, readers learn about a fortune-teller who predicts the demise of Frances in a very coded poem, causing Frances to spend her life trying to solve a crime that has not even occurred. Paranoid of the future she digs up gossip and dirt on everyone just to have something in case they are her killer. This odd behavior caused no one to take her serious until she is found murdered in her late 70s. Annie Adams is a mystery writer. She knows of her odd, wealthy, reclusive great-aunt, but until she is required to attend a meeting at Frances’
English country estate she doesn’t really know her. Frances is sadly found dead before Annie arrives but now Annie has a puzzle and Frances left lots of secrets/lies/motives behind for Annie to follow.
 
As Annie gets closer to the truth, via an old diary of Frances’, which shows Rose and Emily, her best friends in not the best light, Annie is putting the pieces together.

Fast paced and kept me guessing at every turn, plus filled with such unique characters- from the police, to a nephew, a old lawyer, and a married couple who manage the estate means there was a lot of people who could have wanted to kill great aunt Frances.


#somanybooks #readsomemore #audiobooks #bookstagram #bookrecommendations #readersofinstagram #readmorebooks #booklover #bookishlove #readersgonnaread #bookishaf

Touted as perfect "For fans of Knives Out and The Thursday Murder Club", How to Solve Your Own Murder is a dual timeline story that follows Annie Adams in present-day trying to solve a possible murder and her Great Aunt Frances as a teenager in 1965 when her lifelong obsession with a fortune given to her at a local fair begins.

This book might as well be in the dictionary next to the definition of a cozy mystery. I’ve seen some critical feedback suggesting that it reads like a middle-grade book (as if that were a bad thing!). I, however, loved the straightforward mystery without gore or extreme tension. I think Annie would get along well with the members of The Thursday Murder Club.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dutton for the opportunity to read. All opinions are my own.

4 out of 5 stars.

How to Solve Your Own Murder was a who done it lovers dream. This book gripped me from the very beginning. I loved following the main characters journey trying to solve the murder. The flash back journal entries were my favorite part. Getting a personal glimpse in the past did wonders for this book. I will say a lot of stuff felt very convenient for our main character. But overall I really enjoyed this one. I can’t wait to read the next book in the series.
4/5 Stars

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for sending me an arc copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

SPOILERS AHEAD. This was a fun mystery with interesting characters that kept me engaging and guessing. My only criticism is *SPOILER ALERT* that I didn't even remember who the murderer was when it was revealed. That character in particular needed to be more developed to make the mystery more satisfying.

A young aspiring writer, an eccentric murdered great-aunt, a quaint village and luxurious estate, and an extensive cast of characters with skeletons in their closets make up this page-turning mystery.

In 1965 a teenage Francis Adams attends an English country fair with her friends, where a fortune teller offers an eerie prediction of her murder. This sets Francis on a life-long paranoid investigation of who might be plotting her demise.

In the present day, Annie Adams is summoned to a meeting at the estate of her great-aunt Frances, only to discover that her aunt's fear of being murdered has unfortunately come true. Annie is given days to unravel the mystery in order to inherit the estate, and quickly finds herself in the depths of danger from various characters with much to hide.

The premise of this book was so promising, but then the execution wasn't quite there. The glamorous old estate setting was fun, as was the idea of having a short time frame to solve the murder and win the inheritance. The story was entertaining, but none of the characters were particularly likable or interesting, and the primary narrator writing mystery books while seeming to have no actual knowledge of investigative procedure was a little inexplicable. I did enjoy trying to predict the outcome amid a myriad of clues, and I think this story would be fun as a film with the visual impact of the setting.

Thank you so much to Dutton and Netgalley for this book!

This book was super fun, while i did get very confused because there was so many different characters and multiple things happening it was still fun! I love the multiple time frames and going between present & past times. I just wish I could follow what character is what more, since there’s the last character that are in the present and also present characters. Thank you NetGalley for the arc of this book!

A lot of times I really don't like it when the blurb on a book describes it as being reminiscent of popular books or movies because they almost never live up to the height. But I honestly think that comparing "How to Solve Your Own Murder" to the movie "Knives Out" is fairly accurate.

The book is a murder mystery that spans a couple of decades and includes not just one, but two, murders that need to be solved. I liked how the timelines were interwoven, with most of the past reveals being through journal entries. I also really liked the main cast of characters though some of the side characters did start to blur a bit for me by the time we reached the end of the series.

Overall I really did like this book and would likely want to read more if this really does become a series as was hinted in in the book.

This is more of a 4.5 than a 5, but the fact is the story lingers in one’s consciousness. Great twist, didn’t see it coming. Nice use of past/present juxtaposition. Definitely has the “Thursday Murder Club” vibes but with a younger sexier cast of characters and a meaty backstory that makes up old lore in quaint English towns. Many thanks to NetGalley for the ARC and independent review.

This was a really good, I really enjoyed it. Frances goes to this fair with her two friends and goes to see a fortune teller. The fortune teller predicts Frances murder so now Frances is spends all this time trying to solve a crime that hasn't yet happened. I thought this was really good and a really fun read.

They said this book was great for Knives Out fans and I would agree that if you liked that movie (one of my top five favorites of all time) then you will like this book. The plot was a little convoluted at times and had me wondering what was going to happen next, but overall I really enjoyed it though it could have been twistier

Very fun premise. I love a bit of British murder in a manor house in a little village. At times I had trouble keeping track of everyone, but it was a fun and often clever ride.

This was a cute and enjoyable mystery. It is told from two POV's. One being Frances, a young woman in 1965 who learns that she is going to be murdered at some point in her life. Frances becomes obsessed with solving her own murder to the point where everyone is a suspect, including her friends and family. The other POV is France's great neice, Annie Adams. Annie is a young aspiring writer who is just kind of floating through life. Annie is recruited to join Frances at her mansion. When she arrives she finds her great aunt dead and a whole host of possible suspects.

I enjoyed the alternating timelines and found Frances story to be interesting. I wanted ot know more about her middle years and the time she spent gathering ingo on her suspects.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Group Dutton for an ARC of this book.

Very cute and cozy murder mystery! This felt like a very lighthearted read, but I found the story a bit slow at times. I also much favored the "flashback" portions of the book to the present day parts of the story, so I found myself wishing for more of those pieces. All around, solid 3 star read!

It's 1965 and Frances just found out that one day she will be murdered, at least that is what the fortune teller says. Almost 60 years later, her fortune comes true and her great niece, Annie, is tasked with trying to solve the murder. This cozy mystery (not a thriller) was a fun read as Annie tries to unravel the case. This book has a dual timeline and I found it hard sometimes to keep it straight (along with the long list of characters). It looks like this might be the first in a series and I am looking forward to the next one to come.

Normally I would round up, but it took me over a month to get through this book, and it was not easy. This is the story of a young woman named Annie whose great aunt has just died. Annie never knew her aunt, but when she travels to her home in the English countryside, she discovers this aunt was haunted by the disappearance of a friend back when they were 17, as well as the cryptic message she received from a fortune teller just before that friend disappeared. Annie works to find not only who killed her aunt, but also what happened back when her aunt was a teenager.
The story is told in alternating points of view, one in the present day from Annie, and one from the diaries of Annie's great aunt Frances. The diaries were certainly the better portions of the book. I struggled to connect with Annie, and the way characters, events, and circumstances were relayed in the present felt two-dimensional at best, boring and confusing at worst. I could not keep track of who was who--past and present--how they were related, and why things were such a big deal. The characters and mysteries in the past storyline should have really drawn me into the story and created an air of tension and suspense, but it all fell a bit flat, making it just uninteresting.
I really wanted to DNF several times, but I wanted to see who did it. But when that was revealed, it was incredibly underwhelming. I just did not care. I would not recommend this book--it will not draw you into the story, and if you put it down, by the time you pick it back up you will forget who over half the characters are and what purpose they serve.

This book was fine. It didn’t hold my attention or make me want to continuously pick it up. I would describe it as charming but not compelling. There were a few too many characters that made the storylines hard to follow. A character map at the front or back of the book would be nice. Just a brief description of who they are and how they are connected to the main character. The theme of bonding with a family member you never met was touching and unique.