Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this early ARC! Let’s solve the mystery: was this book good?

Okay, that joke was lame, but this book was super fun! Could it have been better? Yeah. Totally. But I still enjoyed reading it, nonetheless. So, we will jump right in. Frances is dead, and great niece Annie is going to uncover who did it. Period. Well, it’s not exactly that simple, because Frances has made a little game out of it. Whoever of her named beneficiaries solves her murder first will inherit everything. Loser goes home empty handed. Seems reasonable, right? Oh, and Frances knew she was going to be murdered this whole time, and she spent 60 years obsessed with finding out who would do it. It was just a matter of time.

The Good: I liked the flip-flop timeline, from 1965 to present day, as this style of writing always makes me read faster out of greed to know what is coming next. I also liked both our main characters, Annie and Frances, and enjoyed watching them both uncover mysteries and secrets about those around them. Great plot. Fun twists. Good times.

The Bad: The details of who did what and why would often get a little confusing, and I really had to focus on what was happening to keep things straight. Some of the characters’ shady behaviors still did not quite add up, though. And how Annie apparently solved the mystery with (in my opinion) so few clues is flabbergasting. I felt I needed more information than what was given to really follow Annie’s train of thought. I also found it unreasonable that she was able to do this all in less than a week's time, having never even met her great aunt, nor the people around that knew Frances all their lives.

The Ugly: Could our lovely author have used different descriptions of Frances than Great Aunt Frances every other line? We know how Annie is related to her, why can’t we just say “my great aunt,” “my relative,” “my mum’s aunt,” etc. just to switch it up a little?! Personally, it was overkill.

Overall, really good read. I was sucked in completely.

In the summer of 1965, a fortune was told that changed the life of Frances Adams forever. Now, decades later, Great Aunt Frances is dead, and Annie Adams, who has never met her great aunt, is her heir. But, Great Aunt Frances can't just let Annie inherit her estate. No, Annie has to earn her inheritance by solving Great Aunt Frances's murder before the Castle Knoll police or Great Uncle Rutherford's nephew, Saxon, and to top it all off, Great Aunt Frances is only giving them one week to solve her murder.

With the help of Great Aunt Frances's journal from 1966, Annie begins to learn about teenage Frances, and her two best friends, Rose and Emily, who disappeared at the age of 17. Interspersed, Annie learns about the people of Castle Knoll, both then and now. The further Annie gets into the mystery of Great Aunt Frances's murder, the more Annie finds connection to her great aunt and her obsession with a sixty-year-old fortune. Will this connection lead Annie to an answer, or will it lead her to a Frances-esque obsession?

I greatly enjoyed How to Solve Your Own Murder. I read it in four days. I loved how Perrin intertwined Frances's story with Annie's story. The only thing I wanted more of was information about Annie's mother, Laura, but hopefully, that's coming since this is the first novel in the <i>Castle Knoll Files</i> series. I cannot wait for the next installment. Perrin's style quickly made me want to live in and get to know the citizens of Castle Knoll.

Oh my goodness did I love this book! Normally I am pretty good at figuring out a mystery before it finally unfolds for the reader, but this book kept me guessing until the very end! I loved the amount of backstory that went into Great Aunt Frances mixed in with the “who done it” murder mystery. Huge fan and so thankful I was able to read this as an arc! Highly recommend!

I would like to thank NetGalley and Dutton for providing me with an advance e-galley of this book in exchange for an honest review. Look for it in your local and online bookstores and libraries on March 26, 2024.

“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 to your murder.”
In 1965, at age 17, Frances Adams receives this prediction about her future from a psychic and it sticks with her throughout the rest of her life. She lives her life paranoid about everyone around her and trying to figure out who will eventually murder her. Cut to present day where we meet Annie Adams, an aspiring mystery author and the great niece of Frances. Annie receives a letter in the mail asking her to come meet her great-aunt Frances for the first time as she has been named in her will. When she arrives however, Frances has been murdered. At the reading of her will, it is revealed that there will be a competition between Annie and others close to Frances to solve the murder. Whoever solves the murder will become the sole benefactor of the will. Annie sets off on a thrilling venture to solve Frances’ murder and gets lost in her great-aunt’s old diary that will lead her to the killer.
This book was wonderful. I truly enjoyed every minute of reading it and I would love to read more by this author. The pacing was great, the characters were lovable, and the story was fascinating. I have not read a book like this in such a long time. It was fun in a way that did not diminish the fact that a murder had taken place. It deals with the loss of someone that Annie truly didn’t know and wished she had gotten the chance to. I also really loved the way that the diary chapters were included in the book as a bit of an alternating timeline. Annie was a compelling character that I really loved and the rest of the cast of characters were intriguing and I loved getting to know their stories. I truly do not have a bad thing to say about this book. 4.5/5
Thank you to Penguin Group, Dutton and NetGalley for providing access to this ARC in return for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinions.

I loved this book! It started off a bit slow for me and took a while for me to be super invested but once it did I couldn’t put it down.

I’m usually not a big fan of mysteries/thrillers because I always figure out who did it too soon…I absolutely did not figure this one out until I was reading who did it!

This is about a woman named Annie who’s been named in her great aunts will. The stipulation is she has to solve her great aunts murder within a week to be able to get her inheritance.

This story goes back and forth between the 1960’s and present day. We follow Frances and her friends in the past and Annie is in the present day trying to solve the murder.

4/5 stars and I would highly recommend!

What a fast paced, unique who dunit. It is interesting thinking through the components of solving one's own murder. The multiple viewpoints also add depth to the story and give the reader the opportunity to contemplate multiple ending directions. It was a true thriller with classic story structures, loving the vibe and overall structure.

Rounded up from 3.75. This murder mystery was nice and easy going. A little Agatha Christie vibes.

This story all starts with Frances’ fortune at 16 years old that is read that details her ultimate death.

Frances spends her life avoiding certain things and trying to solve her own murder. She’s collecting all the dirt and details of those around her.

Present day, Annie Adams is requested to meet with her Great Aunt Frances to discuss her new terms of her will. However when she arrives, her great aunt is found dead.

It’s up to Annie to solve her great aunts murder or she will lose so much more. Every path Annie goes down she finds more mysteries starting to unravel.

Quick read! I really did enjoy it.

This book releases March 26th.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Dutton and Penguin Random House for the opportunity to review this ebook early!

This was a fun romp!

I loved the main character, and I love how it worked as a standalone while providing hints that we might revisit Annie and the gang.

The book was maybe a touch too long, but it was a really fast and engaging read overall.

Will definitely pick up Kristen Perrin's next mysteries!

3-3.5 stars

Starting off with the positives I loved the small town, dual timelines, and premise of trying to solve your own murder.

Ultimately this book just wasn't for me, personally I thought the cast was a little too large (especially when you have to keep up with 2-3 generations) and that Knives out isn't the comparison to market the book with.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for sending me this ARC!

In 1965, teenager Francis Adams learned how she would die by a fair-ground fortune teller. Her friends laughed it off as a joke, but Francis became obsessed with the dire prophecy. Her obsession will end up spanning most of her life, causing her to distrust those around her, desperate to solve her murder before it happens. Decades go by with no one believing her until her body is found.

Annie Adams isn't sure why she has been summoned to the estate of her estranged great-aunt, but she's eager to meet Francis for the first time. When Annie arrives in the small village of Castle Knoll, she's shocked to discover her aunt has been murdered. As an aspiring mystery author, Annie is determined to uncover what happened, even more so when she finds out her family's inheritance is tied to whoever solves Francis's murder first. Thanks to Francis's years of snooping, Annie has tons of evidence that could point to many people in town, but will she narrow down the suspects before she becomes the next victim?

I had zero expectations going into this, but I loved it. The premise of a young mystery writer having to solve a murder case gave off such Murder, She Wrote-vibes, and I was here for it. Annie had the tenacity and cleverness of Jessica Fletcher, so I loved following her. I liked how she had moments of panic throughout the investigation because it made her feel more real. I also enjoyed how this was told in alternating timelines, so we got glimpses of Francis's life as a teen. It set the groundwork for the present-day storyline, and they blended so well together. I had no idea how the story would play out, so I was pleasantly surprised by how everything wrapped up. I'm happy to know that this is the start of a series because I can't wait to see what comes next.

I was absolutely captivated by this book from beginning to end! Frances’s prophecy consumed her life and me as well. I didn’t want to put it down.

The characters here were amazing: it’s easy with large casts to loose track or have them all blur together in the background but not here. Everyone is interesting. Annie is an interesting main character in that she is confident in herself while also meeting everyone for the first time.

I enjoyed the glimpses back into Frances’ past, and I really enjoyed the whodunnit. I only guessed part of it but still loved it.

Thank you to NetGalley, Kristin Perrin, and Dutton Books for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book! I usually do not read murder mysteries but the way this one was written really reeled me in. I liked the past and present tense, I was actually more excited to go back in time and read those passages. Overall a great murder mystery with characters you latch onto.

Agatha Christie with a stopwatch and a deadline. This twisty mystery kept me on my toes. Two murders, decades apart and a week to solve it. The fate of an English Estate is on the line.

Annie has been invited to meet with her great Aunt Frances in regards to her will. She has never met her eccentric aunt before and is curious about the meeting. You see, Great Aunt Frances has been obsessed with a prediction made about her back in high school. A prediction about her death. Her whole life has revolved around figuring out who might kill her. Until now. Now it's Annie's job to solve the crime. This story is told in alternating chapters from the past when Aunt Frances was a young lady and present day events when Annie, a mystery writer herself, is trying to figure out who murdered Aunt Frances. Annie has to race against the clock to beat her competition from solving the murder first. Saxon, her great aunt's step nephew and the police themselves. In order to save the village of Castle Knoll, and her families inheritance, she has to use her knowledge as a mystery writer to figure out just what happened in the past and today.

I was initially really excited about the premise of this book, and if you like The Thursday Murder Club, you might also enjoy this twisty-turny-suspect everyone at some point-English small village mystery.

Annie is enormously likeable as a detective, and I would absolutely read a second book where she investigates another mystery in the village. I only wish she could investigate with Great Aunt Frances, whose death kicks off the novel but who would have made an interesting character in her old age as well as she does in her diary entries.

I quite enjoyed the back-and-forth between the past and the present, and the pace at which things were revealed. The ending was one I didn't see coming, and the investigation getting there was well-paced and fun.

Overall, it was a quick read that moved along and revealed some surprises along the way!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

How to Solve Your Own Murder is one of the best murder mysteries I’ve ever read.
It’s compulsively readable with twists and turns that keep you guessing until the very end.
Perrin’s writing flows effortlessly. She grabs your full attention from page one and sweeps you into the small town of Castle Knoll, where everyone has their own secrets.
At the center of this story are the words a fortune teller told to Frances when she was 17 years old at the local county fair. “All signs point to your murder”
Told in dual timelines we follow 17 year old Frances in the 1960s and 25 year old Annie, Frances great niece, in current time.
When Annie is summoned to Castle Knoll by Great Aunt Frances, the eccentric aunt she’s never met, she is suddenly thrust into a murder mystery where everyone is a suspect and old secrets will be brought to light.
Frances has lived her life obsessing over the prediction that she will be murdered. She spends her life digging up dirt on all the members of Castle Knoll in hopes that she will one day solve her own future murder.
As Annie and Frances set to meet, Annie instead finds that Frances’ fortune was true. She has been murdered and Annie needs to find out who killed her and why, because, as Annie will find out there’s another mystery entangled in this one. What happened the summer that Frances’ best friend went missing? And what does a cold case from the 1960s have to do with this murder?
I adored Annie and Frances and how they both stopped at nothing to find answers and get justice.
This book is a must read!

Thank you so much to NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review

Thank you to the publisher for a free Netgalley.

Well this was fun. The premise was right up my alley and any mystery that takes place in a small town in England works for me. I enjoyed our main character and the side characters were well written.

Perrin includes Aunt Frances' diary throughout the book that allow Annie, and the reader, piece together the mystery. It was really well done.

Definitely recommend for mystery lovers.

This was a fun mystery.it kept you guessing to the end and didn't go with the obvious answers. it was page turning

And I wanted to know the answers at of the end every chapter! The actual answer to the mystery kind of threw me and I felt a little confused.it felt a little forced just to throw us readers off, overall I enjoyed myself and I enjoyed trying the to solve puzzle along with everyone in the story!

This was a cool little mystery! I had been hearing how good this book was and I’m so glad I got to read it. It took me a minute to get into it, but overall I enjoyed the plot and the characters a lot.