The beginning really sucks you in, I couldn't put this book down! It got a bit slow in the middle but then picked back up in the end! SO many twists and turns and I loved going back and forth between Fances and Annie! There were too many characters to keep up with though and it got confusing trying to remember and keep up with who was who, but overall I really enjoyed this book!

This book had quite a bit of promise and started with a great hook. However, once into the story and at the scene of the crime, the characters, the storyline, the plotting all become a tasteless mess of porridge. The storyline jumps between [supposedly] a diary written by the deceased in 1965 and the current time frame. There are [seemingly] hundreds of characters wondering on and off stage, traipsing through the crime scene, taking various items which could be valuable clues.

The setting at an ancient castle in Scotland should be been atmospheric, but it was completely humdrum. Honestly, the “clues” simply didn’t make sense. There were too many holes in the plotting.

I appreciate receiving this ARC from NetGalley and the publisher, Dutton, in exchange for an honest review.

Rated 4/5
This ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I really enjoyed this book. I love a whodunnit! I love to guess who committed the crime, but I was totally wrong this time! I think the plot was great and really enjoyed the characters. However, there were times I did get a bit confused because there are a lot characters but it all came together at the end!

“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.”

And so, at age seventeen, Frances Adams, becomes obsessed with a fortune told at a County Fair that will haunt her for nearly 60 years, until she finally is truly murdered. Since then, like a true crime enthusiast or modern podcaster, Frances has continually created a murder board in an anteroom of the library of a great estate that she inherited from her late husband in rural England as she’s becomes *that* eccentric old rich lady that everyone in the small town gossips about.

Annie Adams, our intelligent, charming and delightful 25 year old protagonist, is Frances’s grand-niece. She gets summoned from Chelsea to the estate of the woman she’s never met just in time to discover Great Aunt Frances’s demise and a will that pits her against another surviving relative in a race to solve Frances’s murder — in order to become the sole beneficiary of the estate plus millions of pounds as well. If neither solves Frances’s murder, the estate will go to greedy land developers eager to make every resident in the village miserable. Annie has a week to familiarize herself with her late relative’s story and mindset, meet all the surviving oldsters from Frances’s teenage years (and their progeny who are still in close proximity), solve another mysterious decades old disappearance, and flirt with the local policeman. No problem!

Kristen Perrin’s book was an absolute delight — a cozy mystery a lot like “Knives Out” or “Everyone in My Family Has Murdered Someone.” It’s intelligent and engaging, packed with oddball characters and multiple motives that reach back to the other unsolved mystery as well. A quick and satisfying read! 5 stars!

Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): YES Saxon has green eyes and a square jaw.
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): NO But Frances is an amateur florist who may have been murdered by poisoned roses.

Thank you to Penguin Group/Dutton and NetGalley for a free advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

A fun little cozy mystery. I had a good time while reading it but it won’t stay in my mind for long. I wouldn’t be surprised if this becomes a series. Would I pick up a second book? Sure, but I won’t go out of my way for it.

How to Solve Your Own Murder was a different kind of murder mystery that I haven't read before. It took me a few chapters to get into the story to understand where it was going to take me, however once I got a handle on the story I had a hard time putting it down.
When Annie arrives to her great aunt France's estate to talk about a change to her will her great aunt was already dead. Now Annie is left to try and solve her great aunt's murder. Frances was very superstitious her whole life about a fortune she received as a young girl. This made Frances very paranoid her whole life and it makes solving her murder much more difficult.
I really enjoyed the dual timelines within the book. Being able to look back at Frances's time as a young girl and what she was thinking and how her life was really made it much more of an interesting read. The one problem I had with this book was the amount of characters the author wrote about. That always seemed to throw me when I would pick the book back up to figure out who was who and how they fit in. Overall this was a very smart mystery and I was not sure who the killer was until right at the end. I enjoyed it very much and will look into more books from this author. I am going to rate this 4.5 out of 5 stars.
Thank you to NetGalley and Dutton publishing for the advanced reader copy.

I really enjoyed this take on the English country house mystery genre. The story opens in 1965 when teenager Frances Adams goes to an English country fair with her best friends Emily and Rose and has her fortune told. The macabre prediction basically boils down to one main message: Frances will eventually be murdered. Frances becomes obsessed with that fortune, particularly after, a year later, her friend Emily goes missing and is presumed dead. Now it's almost 60 years later and Frances's great niece Annie Adams, a 20-something Londoner between jobs and trying to make it as a mystery novelist, gets a letter requesting her presence at a law office in Frances' home village of Castle Knoll. She's never met her great aunt Frances, but she and her artist mother live in one of Frances' properties in Chelsea and Frances and her fortune have loomed large over her life. Unfortunately, hours after Annie arrives in Castle Knoll, Frances is found dead in her massive home. The following day, Frances's will is read and there's a catch in it - her estate and all of her fortune will go to either her great-niece Annie or her nephew by marriage, Saxon, based on who solves her murder. I really liked this setup - not as closed as a locked-room mystery but contained to a small village with lots of possible suspects. My favorite parts were probably the entries from teenaged Frances's diaries, and I really liked that Annie was able to use those entries to make progress on solving Frances's murder but also Emily's 60-year old disappearance. I found the story compelling, the characters interesting, and the mystery satisfying. I hope there will be more books like this from Kristen Perrin!

Riddles and mayhem, oh my! Dear readers, settle in for a clever and quirky romp through the fortune teller's lair and the English countryside estate of eccentric great-aunt Frances.

This delightful book is an Agatha Christie-esque whodunit that's perfect for fans of the Thursday Murder Club and Clue. It positively oozes charm and wit and grabbed me from the first chapter. The mystery is cleverly written and expertly paced and the characters are charming and well-developed. I went into this book expecting a standard cozy mystery, but Kristen Perrin delivered so much more! I did not expect the twists and turns and sheer cleverness of this story. It was truly unpredictable and unputdownable!

I'm so glad that Dutton Books and NetGalley gave me the opportunity to read this novel prior to its publication in exchange for my honest review. This is my first Kristen Perrin novel and now I'm so excited to catch up on her backlist titles!

A quick whodunit mystery, that was predictable but fun. Annie only meets her great Aunt Francis after she passes, and discovers a kindred spirit whose murder she must solve. Lots of various events and characters that have just enough fleshing out to bring them to life on the page. Coming March 26th!

Loved this murder mystery! Read this if you want a twist on the classic murder mystery. This is a dual timeline murder mystery where Frances has her death predicted in her teens and then lives her life trying to figure out who will be the one to do it. Definitely a page turner and I did not see the ending coming. Would absolutely recommend this book!

This wasn't quite a page turner, but an enjoyable read nonetheless. I enjoyed the mystery and, like the main character, would've liked a fuller picture of the grown-up Frances.

This book good could have been a solid 4 with a couple of changes. There were just a few too many characters:; a few too many names to remember. Also, I believe Annie’s character, since she’s the character in the present, the main character really, needs a bigger personality.

Thanks to NetGalley for this selection.

There is nothing I love more than a mystery, especially one that includes the reading of a will. In this multi-generational story told in two timelines, Annie is left to solve the mystery of her great aunt’s death in order to secure her inheritance. I flew through the story as I was dying to know who-done-it, but there are many unexpected twists and turns along the way. A great mystery, especially for people who prefer something on the lighter side.

If you enjoy Agatha Christie, The Thursday Murder Club series, or really any murder mystery set in a small English town with a cast of characters who all have a motive to kill, How to Solve Your Own Murder is for you. This witty, fast-paced who dunnit with two different timelines is a smart, quick read.

When Annie Adams, finds out she is her eccentric great aunt Frances' next of kin, Annie travels to Frances' estate at Castle Knoll at Frances' request only to find her dead. Frances has been preparing for her death since 1965 when a fortune teller made a terrifying prediction regarding Frances' future and death. Following Frances' death, Annie is pit against her cousin, a real estate developer, and the police to solve Frances' death before anyone else to save Castle Knoll and inherit 40 million pounds. During her investigation, Annie learns more about her own familial history and unravels other secrets that have been hidden for decades.

This was a really fun read with lots of twists and surprises - highly recommend!

Thank you for NetGalley and Peguin Group Dutton for this ACR in exchange for an honest review.

This was a really fun murder mystery. The story goes back and forth in time between the present day with Annie who is trying to solve her great aunt's (Frances) murder, and the 1960s with Frances trying to figure out who is going to murder her in the future based on the words of a fortune teller who reads her fortune and tells her she is going to be murdered.

This book kept me up reading way too late to figure out how Frances's murder, the fortune, and the disappearance of Frances's friend Emily in the 1960s all tied together.

Seeing this listed in various places as Castle Knoll Files #1, I hope that means we will see more of Annie, and perhaps the good-looking detective....

I really enjoyed this mystery that takes us from the 1960s town of Castle Knoll to current day Chelsea. Annie is put in a unique position trying to solve 2 murders and learns a lot along the way. Loved the all characters and town settings. Wonderful who done it!

How to Solve Your Own Murder has a great premise and I felt the mysteries were strong. I enjoyed how it felt like Frances' murder just kept getting more and more sprawling as the book went on. Annie obviously really came to care about Frances and the life she lived. I liked a lot of the characters and understood the motivations of even the people who weren't the murderer, but still were not great people.

I had two issues with the book. One was that it was a little slow to get going. Once it hit the premise though, it felt much better paced. The other is an issue that happens a lot with mysteries that have significant events that happen in the past. Annie is able to get ahold of Frances' diary written about an event that's important to the mystery and Annie doesn't immediately read the entire thing without stopping. It's just kind of weird when Annie only has seven days to solve the mystery and she's racing with other people who might be able to solve it before her.

But overall, I had fun reading and thought the ending was really interesting.

No notes, loved reading this book. I had 70 pages left this morning and debated faking sick from work so I could finish it. Nothing read as too obvious or alternatively too outlandish. I loved getting the glimpses into the diary pages along with Annie and never felt like she was too far ahead of the reader. Would love to see Annie in a future book.

Releases: 3/26/2024

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Thank you to Penguin Group Dutton for the ARC!

Gave me similar feelings to The Maid by Nita Prose with more of a snark comedy to it but the same cozy mystery with low stakes for the anxious girlies out there. I figured there would be a romantic subplot brewing but was surprised it was with the detective. I was anticipating a rivals-to-lovers play with Oliver instead.

I liked Annies tone and quips throughout the story but it drove me CRAZY that she wasn't updating her mom, especially when a literal dead body was found from a box that came from her and her mother's house !!!!!

Anyways... I wasn't expecting the reveal to pan out how it did and the murderer being who they were but maybe on a second read it would make more sense. The ending funeral scene was very heartwarming and cute and nice! I do wish Elva and Saxon had gotten their comeuppance for being annoying and rude... but we can't all get what we want.

RATING: 4 out of 5 stars.

The mystery of all mysteries. This book pulled me in. The journal entries from the murder victim. The timeline.

Within the first few chapters, I was pulled in due to the family drama and history. The characters and the vibe of the game "Clue" was VERY interesting to me. In my head, I felt like I knew who did it but then a new clue would arise and I was second guessing again. Great read. Great characters.