I admit it: the title grabbed me, but the story kept me engaged. Although the title could indicate a time travel book, instead, it is a cleverly plotted whodunit.

Frances, Rose, and Emily are best friends. In 1965, they were at a fair in the English hamlet of Castle Knoll when Frances has her fortune told--one that predicts she will be murdered. She spends the rest of her life trying to find out what happened to Emily, who disappeared soon after the fair and trying to prevent her own murder. Unfortunately, she fails at both.

Flash forward to the present day. Annie Adams, Frances's great-niece, is summoned to Castle Knoll because Frances has changed her will and named Annie the prime beneficiary, which is odd because they have never met. Upon arrival, Annie and others designated in Frances's will find Frances murdered at her country estate. In a letter from beyond the grave, Frances pits the three most interested parties to her vast estate against each other: whoever solves her murder gets it all.

This book was a page-turner for me. It is an imaginative, well-written story with twists and interesting characters, especially Annie and Frances. The subplot of Emily's disappearance moved the story along, and the past, as recounted in Frances's journal, made me wonder how the disappearance and murder were connected. It is apparent that the author is not finished with Annie and company, and I look forward to the next book in this new series. 4/5 stars.

Thank you, NetGalley and Dutton, for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. The publication date is March 26, 2024.

This (I think) is an issue of "not the book, just not my vibe." I had a hard time getting into this and felt like a slog to get through. I agree with other reviewers saying that the Knives Out comparison was a little far fetched and it was difficult to keep track of everyone. I think the title is a bit misleading with what the book actually is.

Also, I had a difficult time PHYSICALLY reading this as my eARC had very small paragraph indentations, making it difficult to phrase out what was what (so maybe that'll be fixed before it's published?)

Thanks to the publisher/NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

This was my first book by this author and I really enjoyed it. It took a bit of time to understand all the characters in the two time periods, but once the book got going, it was hard to put down.

At 17, after hearing a fortune that she will be murdered Frances Adam’s life becomes intent on trying to prevent the fortune from coming true. After she is found murdered, her will gives a few people, including her great-niece Annie, a week to solve the murder and gain her fortune, or her land will be sold and all money donated to the crown.

Told in alternating time periods, this book was so good! Each time I thought I had an idea as to who might be responsible, another twist would pop up and throw me off. I was very satisfied with the ending and I didn’t see it coming! Definitely a must-read.

"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'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."

From fortune to fate, secrets will be uncovered - the good, the bad, and the ugly.

The jumps between reading Frances's diary from her late teens to Annie as a young woman trying to solve her great aunt's murder created the wonderful roadmap for story telling. With intriguing characters, just the right amount of twists, and the charming backdrop of Castle Knoll, the author crafts a mystery for us grown-up lovers of Nancy Drew.

Thank you to NetGalley, the Author and Penguin Group Dutton for an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of How to Solve Your Own Murder!

This is going to be a lot of peoples' cup of tea, it just wasn't mine. It's definitely an 'it's not you, it's me' issue - I think I picked up this book at the wrong time and my heart wasn't in it.

The premise is very captivating - the book opens with the ominous fortune that Frances received as a teenager, detailing her impending murder. Decades of unsolved mysteries accumulate into one catalyst event: the death of Frances.

The pacing of the story threw me off a bit. I'm tempted to say it was a slow paced murder mystery, but there were times when a lot was revealed all at once. I still think it has cozy mystery vibes, and this will be a really great autumn read.

Overall, I think a lot of people will like this one. I was a bit disconnected from it, but would still give a solid 3 stars!

How to Solve Your Own Murder was such a fun and entertaining whodunnit! I really enjoyed many aspects of this book!! The plot was unique and kept me really engaged! Thank you for allowing me access to this ARC!

Strong debut! Well written and interesting story line which kept me intrigued. The plot was well developed with a dual timeline structure. The characters were also complicated and well developed. This is not my typical genre, but I look forward to reading more works by this author.

4 stars!

This book is described as being for fans of Knives Out and if there's one Knives Out fan it's me, if there's no Knives Out fans I'm dead. I think a lot of books use Knives Out as a comp title because of its popularity, but in this case I feel like it was a pretty fair comparison. I thought this was so good and unlike some mystery/thriller books I've read recently, I was truly rooting for the main character Annie.

I was also very compelled by the journal entries from Frances, and every chapter I was like why are the journals ending on cliffhangers?? I need to go back!

Overall, I felt like this was a fun read. I did put it together a little bit before the main character and so I wanted her to figure it out a bit quicker, but I was very impressed by this debut and I will definitely be reading more from this author (and continuing this series? since goodreads has now told me it is a series?). Additionally by the cover and comparison to Thursday Murder Club, I thought we were going to spend more time in Frances' head as an elderly person and this was going to be more of a cozy mystery but I was most definitely wrong.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Three teenagers visit a fortune teller in a small English town in 1965. The fortune that Frances gets seems to predict her murder. She spends the rest of her life trying to understand and stop it from happening.

Decades pass, and Frances summons her great niece Annie, whom she has never met, to a meeting concerning recent changes made to her will. But when everyone arrives at Frances's estate, they discover her dead body.

The story alternates between passages of Frances's diary written in the 1960s and Annie trying to figure out what happened in modern times. Dual timelines don't always work for me but since these are diary entries, it was very easy to stay focused and keep things straight. The story moves quickly and there are characters both likeable and unlikeable. I enjoyed the fact that Annie was not a perfect heroine, and it wasn't easy to figure out exactly what had happened. I look forward to reading more from Kristen Perrin.

I received an eARC in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group for the opportunity.

A quaint murder mystery with dual timelines that manage, in a rare feat, to be equally entertaining.
Kristen Perrin's How to Solve Your Own Murder feels like a modern take on an Agatha Christie novel, set in a small town, with busybody characters who all seem to know each other and have potential motives for murdering the busybody-est of all, Frances. The American-Londoner does a solid job painting a thoroughly British milieu, from the drafty Gravesdown to the overall coziness of the tone. It's a bit more complex than your average closed-door mystery, but it really feels like the kind of book you curl up with, alongside a fireplace and a hot tea (or cocoa). Drawing a comparison to Knives Out doesn't do this book any favors, as it sets expectations for punchy pacing and humor that this doesn't meet-- and not so much out of a disparity in quality as a drastically different tone and aim altogether. This book is understated, with a more classic feel, rather than flashy and thrilling. While I'm not an avid reader of the genre, I would say it more closely resembles The Maid by Nita Prose (which is a high compliment, as I loved that book).
Although this doesn't necessarily have you on the edge of your seat, it does a good job keeping the mystery afoot until the very end-- and I really liked that there were two mysteries going on at once. The device of solving one murder to solve another is Perrin's most clever, and is what kept me sailing right along through the narrative. Not only did the author do a good job interweaving the stories, but she also handily navigated the issue that plagues so many of these dual-timelines-by-way-of-a-diary stories, which is that the material must somehow be drawn out for the present-day character, despite the fact that anyone in their right mind would likely consume it in a single sitting. Overall, I found this to be a charming read and would recommend it to lovers of the genre.

Thank you Netgalley and Penguin Group for this ARC! This book is fabulous! The characters are intriguing and mysterious. The storyline is new. And plot twist had me guessing! Great book! Shared on my Goodreads and Social Media Accounts including X

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 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.

Remember this because if you're Frances Adams you're going to spend your whole adult life trying to figure out this riddle you received from a fortune teller at 17 years old in 1965. Fast forward 60 years and we meet Frances' great niece, Annie, who has been summoned to meet her estranged great aunt after she has deceided that Annie is the "chosen daughter." Only upon her arrival at the grandiose Gravesdown estate, the 60 year old fortune has come true- Aunt Frances was murdered in her own home. Now Annie must solve the mystery of Great Aunt Frances' murder Frances spent 60 years trying to prevent as well as an unsolved missing persons case from almost must as long ago that has deep roots in the Adams-Gravesdown Family

Overall, I found the book enjoyable but it did take some time for it to find its footing, hence why it took me about a month and half to finish reading it, but once it did, very enjoyable to read while still being relaxed and not too serious. I did feel that there was a lot of unnecessary characters that weren't super important in the end and could've been combined character just to make it easier for the reader to keep everyone straight. The final reveal was unexpected while still staying in the vein of "cozy-mystery." I am interested to see what else Kristen Perrin writes but I'm a bit worried that this type of "cozy-mystery" is becoming very saturated and frequently written so I hope this series doesn't get lost in the shuffle.

An enjoyable cozy mystery full of drama and suspense. A plot centered story around the murder of Great Aunt Frances who has been obsessed with her own predicted murder by a fortune teller when she was seventeen years old. This book had an abundance of characters which made it a bit hard to follow and never felt the characters were fully developed. I enjoyed the puzzle of the creepy fortune and the whole "who done it" mystery surrounding the murders. I just wanted more from the key characters such as the friendship between the girls back in the 1960's to better understand the motivations of certain characters. The story has an alternating time line between present day told through the POV of the main character, Annie, the great niece, an old diary of Great Aunt Frances. I just didn't feel like the alternating time lines worked and there was not enough crumbs spread out to figure out the murderer as well as too many red herrings to throw you off track with so many characters. Enjoyable read just not my favorite cozy mystery ever.

Frances was at the fair in 1965 when she’s given her fortune that she is going to be murdered. From that point on, she spends her life trying to figure out who is going to murder her. Frances’ great niece Annie is summoned to Gravesdown Hall by Frances’ attorney, Walt Gordon, for a discussion on Frances’ will. When she arrives, they find great aunt Frances has been murdered, her fortune has actually come true! Now, Annie is working against the clock to try and solve her murder so she can inherit Frances’ fortune which includes the house she and her mother live in.
I became so obsessed myself with figuring out who killed Frances, I just could not put this book down! I fell in love with Frances from reading her diary entries and just kept hoping Annie would figure it all out. I enjoyed going back and forth between the past and present, and seeing how the characters portrayed in the present evolved over time. Most of the characters were well developed, even though some of them weren’t very likable. And Gravesdown Hall was so well described, I felt like I was staying there for a bit, and I loved it!

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

Thank you NetGalley and Dutton for this ARC!

This story was a lot of fun - lovers of the cozy mystery genre will definitely eat it up.

Did not really enjoy . I did enjoy knives out as well as glass onion and its not the plot that is throwing me off its 100% the execution. and I did not enjoy over all

Read this book if you like Knives Out or The Inheritance Games. This was quite a messy and entertaining who done it. Adding in Frances’s diaries as a second point of view was a great literary device. I found myself being really annoyed with Annie’s lack of urgency though. I felt at times like she wasn’t even trying to solve the murder. She was just in her room reading diaries being terrorized by multiple murder suspects.

One glaring issue for me was that full names of characters were used far too many times. There were a lot of characters but not too many that I ever got so confused about who was who that I needed their full names repeated to me ad nauseam. If I had to read “great aunt Frances” one more time, I was going to throw my kindle across the house. That being said, I really enjoyed this book!

One of my favorite crime novels of the year. With the colorful warmth of Knives Out and The Glass Onion, this novel brings the chronology approach of a Cold Case episode. This book is well-written and intriguing from the first page. Despite my many guesses, I was wrong as to the conclusion and plot twists, which rarely happens.

As a teenager, Frances Adams had her life changed forever when a fortune teller predicted that she would be murdered. She then spent her entire life trying to figure out who was going to murder her. In the present, Annie Adams, her great-niece gets called to her great-aunt's country home to discuss the recently updated will which now includes Amy. But before the meeting can take place, Great Aunt Frances is found murdered.

What follows is an entertaining mystery. Annie is our main character, and she is delightful. Needing to solve her aunt's murder to inherit gives her a lot of incentive to figure out who would have wanted Frances dead. There is an abundance of suspects as Frances has spent her life as a bit of a busybody, which has not ingratiated her with the town. This town has more than its fair share of secrets too. The story moves along quickly, and I enjoyed the feeling of urgency. The past is revealed through Frances's journal, which Amy uses throughout, as this plays an important part in the story. The story is written in a way that immersed me in the narrative from the very start.

I enjoyed How to Solve Your Own Murder and with so many interesting characters, this small-town mystery series is off to a great start.

Thank you, NetGalley, Dutton Books, and Penguin Random House Audio for the opportunity to enjoy this book in advance in exchange for my honest review.

This book was so crazy good! I didn't really know what to expect going in but I was hooked so quickly. Everything about it was everything I love in a thriller and the ending was so fantastic