If you love a good mystery, do NOT hesitate to pick up this book. I was a little skeptical after the first chapter, but the second chapter sucked me in. It's one of those books that you want to sail through the pages to find out what happens next, but at the same time you want to stop and savor all the intricacies of the story. Perrin has done an excellent job of marrying the present with the past in a tantalizing mix.

I stayed up too late to finish this - always a good sign! An enjoyable mystery that kept me guessing (I was wrong) until the end. Uses the not-uncommon structure of an old journal to weave past and present mysteries into one good story. I had a little trouble keeping track of which of the young characters in the diary were the much older characters in the present day - and there are quite a few, not easily distinguishable characters to keep track of. There were also two character transformations - one from bad to good, and one from good to bad - that never rang entirely true. But overall a good read. I’d recommend this book to readers that prefer their mysteries be thoughtful; and less violent (but not as trite or tweet as so many ‘cozies.’) And would definitely read more in this series.

Thanks to NetGalley for the arc!
Wow- what a great little mystery! This was so good! Not much of a thriller, just a plain mystery novel. It was a quick read but had such a string of clues to try to work out the “who”. Very easy to get caught up in! Anyone looking for a quick, easy mystery read - this is it!

This book gave me such Knives Out/Agatha Christie vibes and I absolutely ate it up.

How To Solve Your Own Murder follows two timelines: teenaged Frances in 1965 after receiving an ominous fortune about her eventual murder and present day when Frances great niece Annie finds Frances murdered after being summoned to her mansion.

I absolutely loved the setting of the story in the mansion in the quiet cozy town. There were so many characters I had to keep a notes app going to keep them all straight. I had so many theories throughout and not one of them was what it ended up being. The twist and ending were perfect and made sense with the rest of the story. There were a couple loose ends I feel like weren’t wrapped up in the end. I absolutely LOVED Frances POV.

Thank you to Penguin Group Dutton and NetGalley for my ARC in exchange for my honest review!

How to Solve Your Own Murder

4.25 ⭐️

It’s been a while since I’ve read a straight up mystery and this was such a good one to get back into it!

How to Solve Your Own Murder takes place in a small town in England. Annie Adams has just been summoned by her wealthy Great Aunt Frances, but when she arrives, Frances is died. In order to inherit the estate, she must compete to solve the murder with others.

I wouldn’t say this is a cozy mystery in that it didn’t have the humor those books normally have, but it was just a solid whodunnit. There were dual timelines as you read some of the passages from Frances’ dairy from her teenage years. I honestly didn’t guess the murderer until it was revealed and it made me enjoy it all the more!

This was cozy murder mystery tucked in somewhere in between Knives Out and an Agatha Christie. The setting was picturesque, creating the perfect landscape for the story to unfold in. The author masterfully jumps back and forth between journal entries from the 1960s and the sleuthing taking place in present day. The clues are sprinkled and the story is set up nicely. With a large cast of characters, I found it a little confusing at times and definitely difficult to keep suspects straight. This is amplified by the fact that the time jumps involves members of the same families, and therefore same surnames. While an ample number of players makes for a more intriguing mystery, when they are left at surface level it can feel more dizzying than purposefully misleading. This fact alone played into the ending feeling a little rushed despite the author creating a neat and tidy ending.

Relating this book to knives out was perfectly spot on. I enjoyed the movie and very much enjoyed the book! I also love the time setting and intricacies woven through the plot. I was kept on my toes throughout.

everyone has those days; the days where you just have a feeling. that feeling that you're going to ace that exam tomorrow, finally finish folding your clothes, or squeeze in an extra shift at starbucks so you'll finally have enough money to pay this month's rent. well, yesterday i had that feeling. so obviously i used that boost of productive energy to read this entire book in one caffeine-filled night.

this is an arc review, however there are light spoilers

how to solve your own murder starts with young frances in 1965, a bright young girl at a fair with her two best friends. but frances receives a bone-chilling prediction that one day, she will be murdered. and she is.

then we are whisked away to the present tense, where annie adams is asked to visit frances' sprawling house in the countryside. but by the time annie arrives, her great-aunt is already dead.

annie adams is our protagonist, although, honestly, all i wanted were more pages from frances' perspective. she was just such an intriguing character, and had so much potential. annie, i could say otherwise. while i loved her determined spirit, often times i felt myself lacking in motivation to continue the book; and it wasn't because the plot-line wasn't interesting. annie's pov just didn't bring anything to the story, and i wish that her thought processes could've had more vigor. she doesn't have that "iconic detective" feel about her.

plot: while annie rapidly tries to uncover frances' secrets, and the underlying motivation of her murder, she starts to fear that the killer may not only be interested in frances, but her as well.
as a murder mystery should be, perrin's book is extremely fast-paced. like, put the book down because it's giving you a headache fast-paced. put simply, it was overwhelming at times, and the large set of suspicious characters didn't make some chapters any less of a migraine.
and now for the murder itself; the reveal was..underwhelming. throughout the book, i just kept thinking that annie's confusion and the high stakes of the murder would lead to a more evil? killer(s). while i obviously didn't sympathize with the "bad guys", i didn't hate them. and as a result, felt cheated by the otherwise truly wonderful rising action and climax of this mystery.
this is a side-note completely irrelevant to everything else i was talking about, but the sexual/definitely-not-romantic parts of this book were not enjoyable for me. they honestly felt like the worm in this very crisp apple of a book. the broccoli that you pick out of your teeth once you walk out the door of a seemingly great job interview. or the pregnancy trope in every god-awful claire kingsley book.

this book has so much charm. the maze of clues, village setting, and suspense were just a few of the reasons why it could've had re-read potential. but is it weird to say that i would love it if it were a movie? i rarely say this, and typing it out kind of feels like a betrayal of the wonder that is books, but as soon as perrin stated that fans of knives-out would love this book, the "is she writing this with the beautiful face of ana de armas in mind and not the wit of hercule poirot?" question arose. and sadly, it was answered how i thought it would be. some of the characters didn't have enough depth, and i (disappointedly might i add) feel like they could be better portrayed if chris evans took part.

read this book if you're looking for a cozy murder-mystery, christie-like twists & turns, and generally likable but not deep characters.
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pre-review: i feel like this book was made just for me. knives out? i once contemplated having one of those paper cut-outs of ana de armas in my room. the thursday murder club? richard osman literally dedicated the book to me. so thank you, kristen perrin.

I loved this book! I will definitely recommend it. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I only got a few chapters into this, finding it too contrived and overly whimsical. There was also a distracting word misuse early on, confusing "benefactor" and "beneficiary." That might have been corrected in the final version, but it caused me to mistrust the author's understanding of the very kinds of issues she was trying to write about.

Arrrgh I really wanted to score this book higher but I just couldn’t. I loved the premise of a double murder mystery set in the past and current time. Like others have said though, I just couldn’t seem to connect with any of the characters. Nobody seemed to jump out of the page at me and make me care. I always seem to struggle with those type of stories. I really need to love or hate at least one character.
I do feel that if you don’t have that requirement you could love this story. For that reason I’m giving it a 3/5 as I know some people will enjoy it!

I received this digital ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

I was so excited to read this book because the premise sounded amazing. Unfortunately, it didn't quite live up to my expectations. This was billed as being "enormously fun" and was compared to Knives Out, but I found those descriptions to be inaccurate. I enjoyed the diary entries, but I was not very impressed with Annie's detective skills. She did not so smart things like steal clues and put them in her pocket, but then she'd forget and not remember until days later. I also expected her to interview the people that were alive when Emily was killed but she didn't really do that either. Mostly she just read the diary and thought about what might have happened, but she couldn't even be bothered to read it all in one sitting. Seems like that's the first thing you would do. It wasn't the most impressive investigation. Also, two minor things really annoyed me. Almost every time she referred to Frances she'd say "Great Aunt Frances" which seemed so unnecessary. Yes, she is your great aunt, but do you really have to say/think it every time? Just say Frances! Also, over 40 times someone said something "slowly." She said slowly, he added slowly, etc. It's probably just me, but I found that incredibly grating. It started to be like nails on chalkboard after a while. That being said, I did enjoy the plot overall and I was surprised by the reveals at the end. 3.5 stars.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for the ARC.

In 1965, Frances attended a fair where she decided to try out a fortune tellers booth. She learnt that night that she would be murdered. Frances has told everyone over the years what would happen to her, but no one took her seriously, until Frances was found murdered one day. This book has a bit of a clue vibe to it. Whoever is able to solve Frances murder will inherit her estate!
This was such a fun read! I feel like anyone could enjoy this who dunnit book, it was also really cozy.
Perfect book to cozy up and drink hot cocoa with.

I loved the premise of this book: an amateur sleuth trying to solve a crime. It was such a cute cozy mystery! The book reads really fast, and captured me straight from the beginning. I loved the English village setting, and the cast of characters. My favorite part of the story though was reading the diary entries left behind by Frances, which helped aid Annie to try and solve her death. I really thought I had figured everything out, but I definitely didn't, which is rare for me, because I read A Lot of thrillers and mysteries.

In 1965, the remainder of Frances’ life was predicted by a fortune teller. She spent the remainder of her 60 years trying to solve who would eventually be her murderer. In present day, Annie has just received an invitation to a meeting at her Great Aunt’s home only to find that she has indeed, been murdered.

Set in a small English village, this book is a cozy mystery that reminds us the many layers of the people we surround ourselves with. Kristen Perrin created an incredible cast of characters who are engaging and leave you scratching your head. I felt as if I were unwrapping a gift as I learned more and more about each character and continuously changed my prediction of “who-dun-it”.

Thank you to @NetGalley and @Dutton for the ARC of this book! It was a thrilling and cozy read that I hope you will all check out in March when it is released!

It's not paranoia if you're right at least once.

Frances Adams has spent decades living in fear of a fortune she received when she was 16. When her great niece Annie is summoned to the small town of Castle Knoll to meet her, Frances is already dead. With the help of Frances's old diaries, Annie has one week to solve her murder or risk losing everything. Annie must race against the clock to solve the murder, win the inheritance, and make it out alive. But the idyllic town is full of secrets, some of which are worth killing for.

How to Solve Your Own Murder had a very unique premise of solving a murder before it has been committed. I found Frances' diary entries to be captivating, and it was particularly interesting to compare the modern day characters to their teenage selves. While the modern day storyline was less compelling, I liked how it connected to the past. This was a very well-crafted mystery. I was able to solve part of the murder which I enjoyed because the author included actual evidence along the way, something that many mystery books neglect in favor of shocking and implausible twists.

This was an engaging read that I would recommend to mystery lovers, especially those who like to solve the case themselves. Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

4/5 queens
♛♛♛♛

Loved this book. From beginning to end it was an absolute classic mystery with such a cool twist as the entire plot. The characters were interesting and I loved the POV we got from Frances’s journal.
Annie has to solve the murder of her Great Aunt to secure her right to her family’s estate and fortune. What happens next is a charming yet thrilling game if cat and mouse.
This read is 4.5 stars. Absolutely loved it and will be reading more from this author in the future.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC

This was such a refreshing, positively surprising and fun read! I spent my whole weekend obsessing over this murder case, just as Great Aunt Frances did over the course of her own life. Appealing, exciting, and a quick read that was so accessible for this reader, who is not a huge fan of the murder mystery genre. This book proved my preconceived notions about the genre all wrong!

An ametuer murder mystery writer meets a potential inheritance and not one, but two unsolved mysteries. With a strong cast of mysterious characters and a puzzling fortune that is begging to be deciphered - you will be trying to solve the case and creating murder boards of your own before you know it! Prepare to get genuinely wrapped up in the quaint English village known as Castle Knoll and a story you will not want to put down.

As a teenager Frances Adams took to heart a fortune-teller prodicting circumstances about her future death. From the rest of her life, Frances trusted nobody but finally she's murdered in her home. Annie Adams is summonded to her great-aunt's home and becomes involved in solving the murder. The village is small and quaint with everyone having some connection to Frances. The story becomes cluttered with many red herrings making the large cast difficult to track. Plus, extended flashbacks to Frances' teenage years reveal more relationship drama, both romatically and destroyed friendships. The story is worth a read with some exciting twists along with characteristics of a British village mystery, but readers may give up on the various jumbled storylines.

I really enjoyed this book, the plot was super interesting, and the differences in perspective and timeline made it much more interesting. I did find some names a bit difficult to remember and/or follow throughout the book. The writing style kept the book flowing and I found myself not wanting to stop reading with all of the twists and turns. I’d love to read more from this author