this was an interesting mystery, but it was a slow burn for me. The overall vibe was disappointing. There were a few decent plot twists, but I did expect more.

Such a fun read! The first in a series, How to Solve Your Own Murder, takes place in a small English village called Castle Knoll. Annie Adams has received a summons from her Great Aunt Frances to visit the village, but upon arrival, ends up involved in a murder to gain her inheritance. We hear from Frances about a long ago disappearance of her friend when she was a teenager, via her journal and the fortune that has enveloped her life. The author did a great job of setting up this series with the characters and charm of Castle Knoll. The mystery had lots of twists and turns that I did not see coming. I'm very much looking forward to the next in the series!

I so enjoyed this book and I’ve heard that it’s the start of a series. I so hope this true. If it is I’ll definitely read the next one.
This was a cleverly written story. Two time lines 1965 and present day. An estate in England and lots of unreliable characters.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the advanced copy in exchange for a honest review.
4⭐️

"For fans of Knives Out and The Thursday Murder Club, an enormously fun mystery about a woman who spends her entire life trying to prevent her foretold murder only to be proven right sixty years later, when she is found dead in her sprawling country estate.... Now it's up to her great-niece to catch the killer.

It's 1965 and teenage Frances Adams is at an English country fair with her two best friends. But Frances's night takes a hairpin turn when a fortune-teller makes a bone-chilling prediction: One day, Frances will be murdered. Frances spends a lifetime trying to solve a crime that hasn't happened yet, compiling dirt on every person who crosses her path in an effort to prevent her own demise. 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 by the time Annie arrives in the quaint English village of Castle Knoll, Frances is already dead. 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 the danger, she starts to fear she might inherit her aunt's fate instead of her fortune."

Just putting it out there, but perhaps in trying to prevent her murder she caused it to happen...

I found this book almost impossible to put down. I was so invested in both mysteries that I didn’t want to stop reading. Frances and Annie are quite the sleuthing team - even if Frances is dead! This appears to be the first in a series. I’ll eagerly await the next installment.

Thank you to Dutton Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

There is nothing I love more than a serial mystery that opens with a young, female protagonist (a la Flavia de Luce). Kristen Perrin's first installment in the Castle Knoll Files series does one better by introducing us to a mystery beginning with a young girl but carrying us through to Frances' eventual demise, 60 years after a fortune teller told her she'd be murdered.

Frances' entire life has been wrapped up in trying to solve mystery of her eventual murder, only for her great-niece Annie to have to take up the mantel once France meets her maker.

Perrin's characters a gorgeously fleshed out, as loveable as they are quirky. This was a delightful, clever mystery full of twists and turns. I only reluctantly put it down when life forced me to and eagerly took it back up as soon as I could. One of the most fun mysteries I've read in some time.

In How to Solve Your Own Murder, the reader is skillfully navigated between two time periods and characters. Following Annie Adams, aspiring mystery writer, as she is tasked with finding her great-aunt's killer and her great-aunt Frances Adams, through Frances's diary, allows readers to make their own predictions about who is guilty. Other characters in the book are given interesting stories and we learn just enough to keep us invested in seeing what will happen next. I look forward to reading more books in this series.

3/5

The comparison to Knives Out had me thinking this would be a fast paced read. It was much slower than I prefer for a mystery/thriller book. It is a cozy mystery and enjoyable but not a favorite of mine.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book!

Based on a fortune teller reading at 16, Frances Adams is convinced she is going to be murdered. She spends the rest of her life cataloging her life in an attempt to thwart her murderer to no avail. It is up to her great niece, Annie, to solve her murder.

“How to Solve Your Own Murder” by Kristin Perrin is a fun, easy to read, cozy mystery. The story is written with dual timeline that moves along at a quick pace. It is character packed, with lots of suspects with generational relationships and marriages that were sometimes hard to track, but provided a lot of twists and turns that kept me guessing. This is a perfect breather book in between heavier books, which I desperately needed. I have decided that cozy mysteries will need to become a larger part of my reading.

4.5! I really enjoyed this one. It’s a classic styled mystery (think Agatha Christie) and overall felt like a well rounded story. I often think mysteries have uneven pacing, but I feel like this book unraveled in time to give me the answers I needed without leaving me confused or annoyed at the plot. Definitely recommend this one as a nice, fun read 😊

this was insanely good- felt akin to old agatha christie mysteries, set in the english countryside with a cast of characters who i learned to love (and hate)! the murder kept me hooked throughout and i’m SO glad to see that this might be the first in a series, because the little sparkle of tension between annie and detective crane has me so excited to hopefully see more of them both!

This was such a fun read. I loved all the characters and how morally gray most of them were. The plot/mystery was very well devised and came together perfectly at the end. The back and forth between present day and the past worked really well, in both technical and thematic ways. I was engaged the whole time, and I really hope there will be more books about Annie.

𝙃𝙤𝙬 𝙏𝙤 𝙎𝙤𝙡𝙫𝙚 𝙔𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙊𝙬𝙣 𝙈𝙪𝙧𝙙𝙚𝙧 is a dual-timeline cozy mystery. It is similar to the movie Knives Out! The chapters jump back and forth between Frances circa 1965-1966, and her great-niece Annie in present day.

In 1965, Frances' fortune was read at a fair that predicted her murder. She becomes fixated on this fortune, especially after one her best friends goes missing that year. Frances spends her whole life trying to solve her own future-murder by keeping files, clue-boards and her green journal.

In present day, Annie is summoned to Frances' sprawling Castle Knoll estate to go over her great-aunt's will, but when everyone arrives for the reading, she has been murdered. It is up to Annie to solve this mystery in order to inherit the estate.

I enjoyed this book! It wasn't overly creepy or violent. It was entertaining and I was kept guessing through the whole story. At times it was hard to keep track of every person and who was related to whom, especially because several people are in both the past (1965) and present.

The premise of the story was better than the execution, I didn't feel connected to any of the characters. I would still recommend this one, though!

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘗𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘯 𝘎𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱 𝘋𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘺 𝘈𝘙𝘊 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘶𝘯 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸.

dnf @ 20%

unfortunately, this was a no-go for me. I was so uninterested in the characters that the extremely slow pace was soooo painful for me. it also took the entire 20% for anything to happen. it was so repetitive and boring and I just couldn't anymore.

Despite the topic, this was such a fun and engaging cozy murder mystery! I loved learning about Frances throughout the years and how she began to piece together the disapperance of her friend / enemy Emily while also trying to solve her own murder before it happened. I didn't realize the two were connected but I did appreciate how they impacted each. I never saw the ending coming, which can sometimes happen with more cozy books like this. Annie was also a great character that I would love to read more about in the future. I hope this is the beginning of a series where she uses the knowledge her great aunt Frances had on the community of Castle Knoll to solve other mysteries. There is so much left unsaid that it is making me want more!

How to Solve Your Own Murder was a very well written mystery. I enjoyed the plot and the colorful cast of characters. I didn't find the ending very satisfying, though. I still had a lot of questions about the mystery...some loose ends were never tied. But overall I liked the story. It would make a fun series for BritBox.

I was given this book in exchange for my honest opinion. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

4.5⭐

This is the story about Annie who has been summoned her great aunt Frances for an important meeting along with few other people. But when they arrive, Frances is found dead.

60 yrs ago, Frances has been told a prophecy or something similar to it that she will be murdered. And ever since that she has been investigating towards this prophecy... Plus, one of her best friend, Emily, goes missing 60 yrs back and Frances is still searching for the truth behind her disappearance.

Frances's will tells that whoever can solve her murder in a week will inherit her property. Annie is actively investigating her great aunt's death.

This book was so entertaining to read. Set in a small town, I liked its ambiance. The story is told in dual timeline, one from Frances POV when she was 17 and the present timeline from the POV of Annie.

I was thoroughly invested in the story and the plot twist took me by surprise. Overall, a good mystery thriller. I'd definitely recommend this book.

Huge thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Dutton for allowing me to read this early!
This was a very cute and cozy mystery read! While I did enjoy it and thought it was well written and fun, I was ultimately disappointed in the overall vibes of the story. It is pitched to those who “love knives out” which has a very particular kitschy vibe, something that this book doesn’t have. It would be much better to pitch this book in the cozy mystery catalog better as it fits the book more. I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more knowing that as I am a fan of cozy mystery.

Thank you to NetGalley, the Publishers, and Kristen Perrin for an ARC of How to Solve Your Own Murder! I did not want this book to end and I see #1 next to the title and need the 2nd as soon as possible lol! I am loving this theme of letters left from the past for the future and a heiress/fortune. If you like Knives Out/Thursday Murder Club/The Heiress, this is right up your book alley! It was very difficult to put down after starting this - gripping, compelling, what happened to Frances Adams! It’s 1965 and Frances gets her fortune read and it completely takes hold of her life. Seems pretty crazy right? Fast forward to the future and Annie Adams has been summoned to finally meet her Great Aunt Frances for a meeting and she comes to find out that Frances is already dead. Annie is determined to find out what happened to Frances and what happened with that fortune and if it really came true. Frances has been digging up secrets on everyone in Castle Knoll so this will take some work from Annie that she doesn’t receive the same fate as it seems as Frances has a lot of suspects for her murder.

Long story short: Loved it.

Long story long:
- I really enjoyed the plot. I read only Annie's POV (am planning to go back and read the diary entries) and I enjoyed being as puzzled and confused as she was
- I found the tone shift from Annie to Frances quite jarring, hence why I've read it in two parts
- I didn't realise Annie's age until about halfway into the book. She read as more a university aged student to me and when the Detective started flirting with her I had a lil record scratch moment. More time with Annie at the start would have been nice but the focus was on the mystery and I respect that
- It was a fun read. No high tension or stakes, pure enjoyment.