3.5 stars. This was SUCH a fun read! The pace was a little slow at the beginning, but as it continued it slowly sank its claws into me and I was HOOKED. The twists and turns especially towards the end were so much fun.

I wish there was a bit more depth to Annie and the characters in the “present day” time, I felt like the flashbacks were much more in depth than the present day parts, but I still enjoyed it! I turned my brain off and just enjoyed the ride, so the ending was so fun to get to and find out what happened!

I would recommend this for those that love a good mystery!

I loved the start and setup of this book, seventeen year old Frances receives a cryptic fortune that changes the course of her life. Knowing she will be murdered, she becomes superstitious and strange. Collecting secrets and clues on everyone in town. When instead her friend Emily goes missing, Frances dedicates her life to solving her murder. Now in her seventies, Frances invites her great niece Annie to the estate but she’s found murdered before they can meet. Now Annie is tasked with solving Frances’ murder on her behalf. Leaving a ton of clues, Annie discovers who killed Emily all those years ago and murdered Frances to keep the secret hidden.

This was a pretty solid murder mystery. I really liked the fortune prophecy plot and it kept me guessing throughout. There were a lot of characters to keep track of and Frances had dirt on everyone. I liked the dry British humor and line delivery, I could see this play out on screen like a TV show.

I enjoyed Frances’ diary entries, where we get recollections from her POV about certain events that lead up to Emily’s death. I liked Annie’s POV and I respected her drive to get to the bottom of the secrets and clues Frances left behind. There were moments of intrigue and a creepy being-watched-feeling that Annie kept sensing, it added to the atmosphere that I also enjoyed.

I wished the pacing overall was a little faster and we got more character development for Annie. I would recommend this to Agatha Christie and cozy mystery fans.

Thank you to Netgalley and Dutton for the review copy.

This book was extremely hard for me to get through. I DNF around the 40% mark because it was way too slow for me. I normally like books that grab you right away and not a slow burn. I'm giving it 2 stars because a ton of people are loving this book and comparing it to Agatha Christie which I do not get into her books but that could be why this was slow for me. I'm assuming that others will really enjoy this book because it seems to be an old style writing of a classic mystery story. I just kept trying and after a few weeks, I just couldn't do it anymore. I found myself picking up and finishing other books instead.

Thank you to Netgalley and the author/publisher for the ARC and opportunity to read the book!

If Nancy Drew had an eccentric great Aunt that was recently murdered and owned an estate in a charming English village and was written for adults you would have How To Solve Your Own Murder. I loved this cozy mystery and can’t wait to see how our characters develop in the next book. The story was fast paced and the mystery kept me guessing until the very end. As far as cozy mysteries go, I do like when our protagonist has a quirky personality and I think Annie could have been a bit quirkier.

I was intrigued by the title of "How to Solve Your Own Murder" and the book didn't disappoint. Annie Adams arrives in the small English town of Castle Knoll, summoned to meet her great-aunt Frances since Frances has recently made Annie her beneficiary. But before they are introduced, Frances is murdered and it's up to Annie to solve the murder if she wants to inherit.

What makes this book unique is that when Frances was 17, a fortuneteller predicted her eventual murder. A few years later, her friend Emily disappeared, and Frances spent the rest of her life trying to figure out what happened to Emily and if she was murdered in Frances's place, or if Frances was still at risk.

The story unfolds in two timelines -- Annie's current investigation, and what happened to Frances from the day her death is foretold, through Emily's disappearance. A story that Annie pieces together through Frances' diary and old photos.

The book starts a little slow, but stick with it because once Annie starts investigating it picks up speed and you'll be anxiously turning pages, trying to figure out which of the people from Frances' past could have played a part in Emily's disappearance and/or Frances' murder. I was excited to learn this will be the first in a series.

The narrative unfolds in the contemporary setting, where Annie Adams discovers her imminent inheritance from her affluent Great Aunt Frances. However, her arrival in Frances's quaint village is marred by the shocking discovery of Frances's murder. With the clock ticking, Annie embarks on a race against time to unravel the mystery behind her aunt's untimely demise, facing off against her distant relative, Saxon, and the diligent police detective.

In her quest for answers, Annie stumbles upon Frances's teenage journal, chronicling events leading up to a friend's disappearance. The narrative seamlessly transitions between past and present, as Annie delves into the journal's contents, ostensibly conducting her investigations. However, her investigative methods often lean towards passive engagement, relying heavily on journal entries rather than proactive inquiry—a narrative detail that occasionally strains believability.

While the premise held promise, particularly with the intriguing concept of a competitive "game" to solve the crime, the execution falls short. Annie's passivity and occasional lapses in judgment detract from her character's credibility, making it challenging for readers to fully invest in her journey. Similarly, secondary characters lack depth, characterized by a handful of discernible traits.

Although Frances's past offers some respite from the narrative monotony, the predictability of Annie's reliance on the journal diminishes the suspense. The cozy mystery genre's tropes are evident in the story's resolution, leaving little room for surprise or intrigue.

In essence, while "The Inheritance" holds the potential for an engaging mystery, its execution falters due to predictable plot developments and underdeveloped characters. Despite its shortcomings, readers may find solace in its cozy ambiance and nostalgic charm.

This is a cozy mystery set in a small English village. Aspiring author Annie Adams is in line to inherit the vast estate of a great-aunt she never met, but first she has to solve the old woman's murder. As a teenager, Frances Adams received a mysterious fortune at a country fair that stated she would be betrayed and murdered. She became obsessed with the fortune, gathering dirt on everyone in her village, but it wasn't enough to stop her eventual murder. The story alternates between Annie's efforts to learn what has happened, and Frances's old diary entries. Secrets, lies, betrayals, etc. This is a good premise, but I never really clicked with either Annie or Frances, so I struggled to stay invested. It may have just been a right book, wrong time situation, so if you enjoy this type of mystery, do give it a try. Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for a digital review copy.

This was a good book for a cozy mystery. Thank you Netgalley for the Arc This follows 2 timeliness from Frances who has her fortune told that convinces her of her own murder. When she is murdered before her living will is read, it is up to Annie her great niece to solve it even though she has never met Frances.I really liked this book.

How To Solve Your Own Murder was such a clever whodunnit story. This book features dual timelines of Annie trying to solve her great aunt, Frances’ murder, while Frances is trying to solve a fortune teller’s prediction of her own murder. While Annie explores multiple theories throughout the book, and brilliantly discusses them with her best friend, I was crossing off and adding to my own theories. I adore mysteries where I can’t guess the ending and this one satisfied that.

Kristen Perrin’s writing is hands down wonderful. She truly left no stone unturned in this story. The characters were interesting and memorable. There are quite a few characters so I believe drawing out a character map may help during the reading experience. The choice of utilizing journal entries for Frances’ POV was fun! 

Overall, this was a wonderful book. I look forward to seeing where this cozy mystery series goes next. A huge thank you to Dutton and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced readers copy of this mystery novel!

First, I’d like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book.

I added this book to my TBR the second I saw it on Goodreads and I was thrilled to be given an ARC to review.

I really enjoyed this book. Annie was a delightful main character and I felt like she really came into herself as the plot developed.

Annie is called to meet with a wealthy great aunt she has never met just when her career has taken a nose dive. Just as she gets to the manor in Castle Knoll for a meeting about an inheritance, she finds her aunt dead in a suspicious situation.

Frances, her great aunt had been trying to solve her own murder ever since a fortune teller told her when she was 17, she’d be murdered.

Annie is tasked with trying to solve the murder and secure an inheritance. Not knowing who is friend or foe becomes challenging as she works to piece together not only a murder, but the truth about her own family.

I’m rating it a 4 out of 5 stars only because I figured out the murderer and some of the twists a bit earlier than expected. Overall, I think the blurb was right and if you enjoyed Knives Out or Agatha Christie, you’ll really enjoy this novel.

I’m definitely hoping to read a sequel!

Annie has a high stakes mystery to solve set in small town Castle Knoll. The cast of characters were really fun to follow and to see how they intertwined in the past and the present.

This is one mystery I’m not afraid to admit I didn’t solve. But the ending was satisfying and left me feeling like everything wrapped up nicely.

This book was a solid 3.5 rounded up to 4 ⭐️. I really enjoyed it but the beginning almost lost me. There are a lot of characters and I struggled at first to follow along. However, about 40% of the way into this book it all clicked and I was really invested I couldn’t put it down.

I do think the letters from the past were my favorite part and I just wanted to sit and read Frances’ diary all the way through.

I am definitely interested to see how this series progresses. Thank you Dutton and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

How to Solve Your Own Murder is perfect for fans of the Thursday Night Murder Club, cozy mysteries, and detective fiction..

When our main character is summoned to see her great aunt and hear about changes to her will, she doesn't know what to expect. When her great aunt turns up dead, things get really messy. The will creates a race to solve the murder and could put everyone in danger, because not everyone wants the murder solved.

This book is a murder mystery told from a dual timeline. I had such a hard time switching back and forth because the author really builds up the tension and makes you want to know more and then BAM! She switches to the other point of view. I mean, I guess that's a good sign because it made me keep reading!!

I couldn't figure out who the murderer was and I kept trying to guess as more information was revealed. I appreciated a well thought out twist/ending and enjoyed the book overall.

Thanks to netgalley for an ARC to read and review..

How To Solve Your Own Murder - Kristen Perrin
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is fun and full of amateur sleuthing, twists, and mystery!
I found it so entertaining. I didn't want to put it down and take care of my responsibilities. 🤭 I wanted to travel to Castle Knoll and help Annie solve the mystery of what happened to Frances.

BLURB:
Back in 1965 Frances is at a fair with her two friends Emily and Rose. A fortune teller makes an ominous prediction: Frances will be murder one day. From then on, Frances spends her life trying to solve who is going to murder who before they can. She pieces together every bit of incriminating evidence on her friends, family, and neighbors doings and harbors it. It doesn't make her many friends and she is believed to be a bit off her rocker. Until one day, sixty years later.. Frances is found murdered.

Fast forward to now, Annie is told she is to go meet with her great aunt Frances at her estate to speak about her will. But when she arrives, Frances is already murdered. Annie who is quite into mysteries herself is determined to solve Frances murder, with the help of all the information Frances has kept on everyone she has encounter in her life. But in trying to solve her murder, will it put Annie in danger, too?

From the publisher: 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.

How to Solve Your Own Murder has been called the biggest debut of 2024. It’s the first book in the Castle Knoll Files. In a familiar pattern, the book moves between passages from a diary set in the 1960s and narration by Annie, the main character set in the present.

It’s 1965. Frances is 17 and at the Castle Knoll Country Fair with Rose and Emily, her two best friends. She receives a fortune that will change her life. Like most fortunes received from fortune-tellers at a country fair, it is filled with nonsense that can be interpreted in many ways. But Frances can’t shake it. It also includes the dire warning that “All signs point toward your murder.” In what seems to me to be something of a self-fulfilling prophecy, she becomes obsessed with her fortune. And sixty years later, she is murdered.

The obsession with a fortune that later comes true is a nice twist. Otherwise, the book is familiar in a comforting way. If you like cozy mysteries, it will probably remind you of books, TV shows, and movies. There are a lot of characters and I could have used a list of them and how they are related. I had an especially hard time keeping the men of the past straight. There are hints at a future romance for Annie. Annie also devises a too-stupid-to-live plan to catch the murderer, which works, but I hope that does not become a pattern. The author does her best to sell her red herrings and misdirection, perhaps to excess.

Still, it’s a fun book, and I’ll probably read the sequel. The cover is very eye-catching. I read an advance reader copy of How to Solve Your Own Murder from Netgalley. It is scheduled to be released on March 26 and will be available at the Galesburg Public Library.

How to Solve Your Own Murder starts off with Frances Adams receiving her fortune as a teenager seeing a fortune teller at a country fair - "Your future contains dry bones. Your slow demise begins right when you hold the queen in the palm of one hand. Beware the bird, for it will betray you. And from that, there's no coming back. But daughters are the key to justice, find the right one and keep her close. All signs point toward your murder." Then, the POV switches to her great niece, Annie, in present day. By this point, Frances is wealthy and eccentric - Annie's never met her although her mother, Laura is set to inherit everything. Then, a letter comes from Frances' lawyer that requests Annie to be at a meeting. When she arrives, Frances is already dead. At the will reading, Annie learns that Frances has determined that whoever solves her murder first will win her inheritance. As the only person who has never met Frances, Annie aims to get into her head by reading her diary from the time period when she was first told her fortune.

There are so many moving pieces in this book that it's hard to keep up with everyone's relationship to Frances and the murderer is even harder to suss out. Which made the story something I wanted to continue reading because, just when you had convinced yourself someone was the killer, some information would pop up to clear them. I loved that the story went from the POV of Frances' diary and the real-time of Annie trying to solve what happened. It made it so that we were working to solve the murder along with Annie.

“Your future contains dry bones. Your slow demise begins right when you hold the Queen in the palm of your hand. Beware the bird, for it will betray you. And, from that, there is no coming back. But daughters are the key to justice, find the right one and keep her close. All signs point toward your murder.”

I don't normally read "Cozy Mysteries" opting to pick up psychological thrillers or horror instead but I found the premise intriguing. This book did not disappoint and have now taken me on a ride down cozy English mysteries. I've found a genre I love (thank you Kristen Perrin!). I throughly enjoyed the cast of characters present day and past especially young Frances. I also loved the small town feel with secrets that gave enough interest to the story. I also enjoyed the dual timeline of past and present, though found myself drawn to the past more. I was that eager to solve the murder!

If there is one flaw to this book it was that at times I forgot it took place in the UK and assumed it took placed in the States. But perhaps we can just say that unfortunately, murder is universal. Overall, it was entertaining and all the stars for getting me to read cozy mysteries.

My thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Group Dutton for an advance copy of this book!

I loved the Agatha Christie vibes of this book! I don't read a lot of cozy mysteries but this one hit the spot. The past diary entries vs the present storyline meshed really well. I really enjoyed the characters and felt like it was interesting enough to keep me involved and guessing.
Thank you for the opportunity to read this ARC.

I really loved this book! It was a cozy mystery but so much more and I loved getting to the know characters both in the present and the past. From the way it ended, it looks like it's set up to be a series and I really hope we have more of Annie solving murders/mysteries with the help of her late great Aunt Frances! And perhaps a little more romance too...

Thanks to the publisher for inviting me to read this title early!

This was really fun! I like mysteries but I tend to lean towards the thriller end of the spectrum rather than the cozy end, but I definitely enjoyed reading this. I liked Annie as a narrator and I found the murder itself to be pretty unique--it reminded me almost of the Inheritance Games series, but if it was a cozy adult mystery instead of a young adult thriller.

I honestly don't feel like I have a ton to say about this one, but that's not a bad thing. It's a perfectly enjoyable mystery that more aggressive mystery readers might be able to solve before the big reveal, but that is not me so I was just along for the ride. I enjoyed the diary entries, as well as the character nuances that were slowly unveiled over the course of Annie's investigation.

Giving this one a healthy 3.5 that I'll round up to a 4!

Perrin did a good job of keeping me guessing, though I do feel like the third act was a little messier. I liked Annie and enjoyed seeing her unravel secrets from both the past and present. Frances’ diary was a cool way to slowly learn more about the past and Emily’s disappearance. A whiff of romance without being unbelievable (because solving murders comes first!).