Thank you Netgalley and Ms. Perrin for the opportunity to review the book "How to Solve Your Own Murder." This was such a refreshing book from other mysteries. I loved the premise of a person who is certain will be murdered and sets up the scene to have someone solve it. The story moved along quickly and having the story be told from the past and present made it even more intriguing. This one is going to be added to my favorites.

I was tempted to think of this as a cozy little murder mystery but it had greater gravitas than cozy or little or maybe not, but I really didn’t care. The opening sentence set the stage for the story. So either it is going to grab you at page one, line one, or not. Consider me grabbed and it only got better as I wound through the history of a group of lifelong friends. It had all the elements for a super “who did what to who” with twists, turns, backtracking, and murder. There is a fortune to be won if a mystery is solved among a large, mixed bag of characters. You can quickly suss out who to trust, who to be cautious around, who is just not easily defined with a few red herrings thrown into the mix. I think my favorite character was The Diary, which seemed to have it’s own life.

I was so glad to have the opportunity to read this book. Thanks to Dutton/Penguin Random House and NetGalley for a copy.

I enjoyed the book but felt as though the ending was slightly rushed considering how many different stories needed to be wrapped up. It was an enjoyable read, but it had so many important characters that by the time the killer was revealed I had to go back to figure out who they were and how they were related to the other characters. Overall it was a fast-paced mystery with an interesting premise.

I absolutely loved "How to Solve Your Own Murder!" I couldn't put it down even when I knew I had work in the morning. The picturesque town of Castle Knoll was filled with mystery, death, quirky characters and criminal activity. For those whole love a "Who dunnit?" novel like Agatha Christie would love this book. I loved trying to follow along with our main character, trying to solve the murder of Emily and Frances. For tv enthusiast this book had a great mix of "Knives Out" meets "The Gentlemen." The family matriarch dies and leave a stipulation in her will that the inheritance goes to the person that solves her murder. I loved the complicated relationships between so many characters and the depth of emotions Kristen Perrin put into each character to make them all suspicious of murder.

This was a really fun one! It became a clever Clue-like mix of characters and motives as Annie tried to solve both a very recent murder and a mystery from years ago. It made me want to visit the English countryside, though maybe not while having to defend myself from an unknown murderer on the loose. Huge fan!

I really liked this, and it has helped me out of a recent reading slump. Castle Knoll and its' people were a delight. The story moves between two timelines and for once, each was a riveting as the other. Both Frances' journal from 1966 and the present day with her great niece Annie were filled with red herrings, Of most interest was the way the dire fortune Frances learns as a young woman and the disappearance of her friend Emily shaped Frances' life right up until the end.

Love it! We purchased this title for our Adult Collection and a coworker and I read it. She likes it as well. We have had several patrons check this title out and have said the same thing.

Really fun! Great premise and I enjoyed the ride. The characters were engaging and it had wonderful twitsts and turns. I didn't feel like the ending was completly earned but I was still pleased with the ending.

I was excited to read a book from this author. A quick paced thriller. I overall enjoyed it but was not surprised. Predictable.

The premise and title of this book really hooked me. I loved the dual timelines and POV (but was hard to keep some of the ancillary characters straight). Every great Agatha Christie and Thursday Murder Club have very clever endings/unwinding of the truth. The end of this one left me a little confused and feeling a bit flat. I had hoped for a bit more bang for my time at the end.

Thanks NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book!

Really wanted to loved this one, but the pacing felt off and the plot was riddled with holes. Finished it, but only because I didn’t have anything else in the queue.

A fast-paced and fun whodunnit mystery that is perfect for fans of Knives Out. After a fortune teller forewarns that she will be murdered, Frances spends her entire life trying to prevent and solve it, much to the dismissal of her small town…until she’s proven right and is found dead. Her great niece Annie is called to the small English village for the will reading, only to discover there’s a catch: the person who ultimately gets her fortune is the one to successfully solve her murder. But doing so is more dangerous than Annie is prepared for.
Thank you to Dutton Books for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

How to solve your own Murder is an adventurous mystery told with dual timelines that both help to solve a murder. The country setting wasn't exactly what I expected for all the crazy twists, but it worked non the less with everyone acted with each other. A few plot lines seemed a little out there, but in the end it was a very satisfactory resolution. I could really see this turning into a cozy murder movie!

Fun story; slow to start but satisfyingly twisted with a good ending. I enjoyed the "classic" mystery feel to this one, and the characters were very well done!

What a ride this book was! A unique storyline, fleshing out Frances and Annie's story to solve a murder.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this book. I don't read too many cozy little mysteries, but I enjoyed this one. The premise was pretty unbelievable, and at times I got lost in all the characters, but overall it was a good read!

Thank you NetGalley, Penguin Group, and Kristen Perrin for the free ARC.
How to Solve Your Own Murder is a book that follows Annie Adams, who just inherited her Great Aunt Agnes' sprawling country estate in Castle Knoll on the premise that she solve her Aunt Agnes' murder. The book was very cleverly written and alternates between present day and teenage Agnes in 1965.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and finished it in one day. The characters were very enjoyable, the storyline was intriguing, and it kept me guessing throughout the entire story. It had elements of a thriller, cozy mystery, and friendship all rolled into one and it left me excited for book 2. I can't wait to see what Annie and Castle Knoll gets up to next!!

Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.


I really wanted to like this book more. It dragged for far too long. We follow Annie, who finds out at the reading of her Great Aunt Frances’ will that there will be a “Knives Out” like competition for the house and inheritance. Great Aunt Frances always thought she’d be murdered, so the family listed in her will must compete against each other and the town’s detective, solving the murder within one week of her death or the house goes to a local realtor who wants to sell the house and land. Should be fun and interesting.

We spent almost all of the novel reading Frances’ diaries from her teenage years in the 1960s and the murder of her childhood friend. While the idea of solving two murders, one historical and one recent, seems like a challenge, I felt like we didn’t really see any investigative work from anyone. None of the small things were big enough to mean much. The ending felt rushed and told to us versus us solving the mystery with Annie.

I really enjoyed this modern whodunnit. Annie is unexpectedly summoned by her rich great aunt Frances to discuss a potential future inheritance, and almost immediately she is tasked with solving a murder on a short time line. I’ve seen some reviews that say this is for fans of Knives Out or Agatha Christie, which is for sure accurate, but I also kept getting old school Clue vibes along with the Guy Ritchie Netflix series The Gentleman. The tight deadline to solve the murder means this book is fast-paced, and the complexity of blending the past and present doesn’t give much time for character development, but it leaves the door wide open for a sequel - one I would definitely read.

How to Solve Your Own Murder is a unique and inventive take on a murder mystery. When Annie is summoned to the town of Castle Knoll by a great-aunt she’s never met, she unexpectedly finds herself in the middle of not one, but two murder investigations. Her great-aunt Frances is killed before she has the chance to meet her, and Annie is propelled into a strange game set up by Frances in her will to find her murderer. Along the way, Frances’ diary leads Annie into the mystery of the disappearance of Frances’ teenage friend in 1966. I enjoyed the twists and turns of this dual timeline mystery. The story was well-plotted and the characters were engaging. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.