Wow…what a terrific murder mystery! 1965 in rural Great Britain, a group of teenaged friends visit a “fortune teller” at a local carnival and one, Frances, receives an ominous message…”all signs point toward your murder.” This fortune directs the trajectory of the rest of Frances’ life, her friends’ lives and the small village where they live. Present day, Frances’ grandniece, Annie, receives a letter from a solicitor telling her to travel from her home in London to her Great Aunt’s estate because Annie is now her heir. But, when she arrives, her Great Aunt has been murdered and Annie and another potential heir are given a week to solve her murder so one of them will inherit all the wealth but if neither of them solves the murders the estate will become a golf course and shopping mall and they get nothing. Thus begins Annie’s journey into Frances’ past, the events of 1965-66 and the disappearance of one of the girls in their group of friends. Can Annie solve both mysteries or will she get herself killed when she may be getting close to identifying the killer(s)? Will she act on a spark of connection with a local detective? I hope there’s a sequel….

In 1965, Frances Adams goes with her friends to the English country fair expecting to have a normal night. While there a fortune teller tells Frances a fortune that one day she will be murdered. That night changes her until that fortune is her sole focus in life. Decades go by and no one ever believes her, until nearly sixty years later when Frances is murdered.

Annie Adams, Frances’s great niece, is summoned to her estate for a meeting the same weekend of the murder. Once she gets there Frances is dead and Annie is determined to solve her murder. Is Annie able to catch the killer? Or will she meet a similar fate as she gets closer to the answer of Frances’s murder?

This book has it all! Mystery, a cozy small town, eccentric characters, and it’s all set in the English countryside! I’m not normally a big fan of a cozy mystery but this one was perfect. The author made it easy to keep track of each character and the development they each undergo is amazing. As you read you get glimpses of the summer of 1965 alongside current day. The duel timelines were the perfect way to tell this story and added to the mystery of everything!

This book isn’t scary at all which made it so easy to read, and it had the perfect cozy vibes! If you like a good whodunnit this is definitely the book for you.

A charming mystery with lovely characters. I'm hoping that there will be another to follow.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC.

This was such a fun read. I’m going to recommend this book to quite a few people. I thought the plot and characters were pretty solid. I would read more from this author.

This book was fantastic! It was a double murder mystery from two different timeframes which I loved!
I enjoyed the story told through the diaries of Great Aunt Frances.
I enjoyed that there was some humor, especially in the relationship between Annie and Jenny.
I’m excited to recommend this book.

I was super into this book at first but it got slow after a while because there wasn’t really any true solving of the murder, it was just endless guessing of what could have happened.

How to Solve Your Own Murder has been on my tbr for months and I was so excited to get an Advanced Copy from Netgalley. I was not at all disappointed. It is nearly a perfect cozy mystery with several of my favorite story elements including dual timeline, alternating POV, and creepy old family mansions in the English countryside. As try as I might, I simply cannot inherit one – something to do with no relatives owning creepy old family mansions in the English countryside probably… no fair.
In the present day, Annie Adams, an aspiring writer, has been called to her great aunt Frances’ house on a matter of inheritance, but when she arrives she finds that Frances is dead of an apparent heart attack. But, as anyone who knew Frances knows, she has been obsessed with the idea that she will be murdered since a childhood fortune teller predicted this. Of course it is determined that in fact she has been murdered, and that the first person (Annie or a very suspicious distant cousin) to solve the murder will inherit everything.
This book was so much fun, I read it in less than two days and it had me fully engrossed. There are two central murder mysteries with such interesting back stories, and the extended cast of characters were wonderful. There were so many side stories and secret motives I got completely involved. I love mysteries that take place in small villages with old resentments and long buried secrets and this one is really great.
Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for the ARC of How to Solve Your Own Murder. I will definitely recommend this for any murder mystery lover, coming next spring.
4.5 STARS

I really enjoyed this book. Definitely a fun whodunit with a few twists I did not expect. I agree with the Knives Out meets Thursday Night Murder Club description as I am a big fan of both! There were a few times I was a little lost as to who people were, which is why its more of a 4.5 star book, but still very enjoyable and entertaining.

Plotting a mystery with two timelines can be tough, but Perrin makes it seem easy. The many little details hiding in each eventually converge into one layered and great story. Watching the characters interact with each other in the past contrasted with the present is intriguing. There's so much history and hurt between them. Following city dweller Annie as she navigates village life is a lot of fun. The romance is subtle, but still a teensy bit spellbinding in a slow burn and organic way. Picking up How To Solve Your Own Murder would be a great way to spend a weekend afternoon this winter.

I enjoyed the storyline; however, there were times throughout that I felt the story dragged out. My favorite part of the book was the interlocking stories from the diary and present time.

One of my favorite reads this year! How to Solve Your Own Murder was set it a little village called Castle Knoll, and is told in a dual timeline. Annie is trying to solve the murder of her Great Aunt Frances, while also trying to figure out what happened to Frances' childhood friend, Emily. In 1965, Frances and her friends Emily and Rose go to a fortune teller at a fair, where Frances is given a fortune that she will be murdered. That fortune shapes the rest of her life. When Emily disappears not too long after that, Frances goes on a life long mission trying to solve her own murder before it happens, while also looking for Emily.
This was such a great book. I loved the characters, their stories and how they all connected in the past and in the present day. The dual timeline was done really well and really helped me connect with Frances. I found Annie very relatable and loved her ability to figure things out. This was wonderfully written and kept me turning pages late into the night! As the book went on, I thought I had it figured out, but I was wrong and the ending was so great. I love a good murder mystery and this did not disappoint!
Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy!

Thank you to Penguin Group Dutton and NetGalley for giving me an ARC in exchange for a review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

In this novel, teen Frances receives a fortune portending her own death. Frances spends the rest of her life believing in the truth of this fortune and trying to prevent her own murder. When family are called for the reading of her will, her relatives arrive and find her dead.

Due to a clause in the will, her great niece Annie and the other relatives are on the clock to solve the murder and receive the inheritance, or all will be lost!

The novel switches between the points of view of Annie and Frances, sharing snippets of Frances life story and the ways she felt her fortune was coming true, but mostly with Annie in the present investigating her aunt's murder. There are multiple characters with motives for the crime, so this is a true "whodunit."

I am rating this novel 4 stars. It was fast paced and there were many twists and turns throughout the story of Frances' past and Annie's investigation in the present.

Thank you to Penguin Group Dutton and NetGalley for giving me an ARC in exchange for a review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.


Summary according to GJ: In 1965, a teenage Frances goes with her friends to a fortune teller. Shaken by the words of her future murder, young Frances works on preventing (Or maybe even solving) her death.



In the present day, Frances' great niece Annie is invited to her estranged aunt's country manor. Arriving there along with Frances' in-laws and lawyer, Annie finds the woman dead. Unfortunately, due to her aunt's eccentricities (??), it's up to Annie to solve her aunt's murder and put this whole thing to rest. The narrative switches between Annie's journey and Frances' journal entries.


Review! It seems like this hasn't been my year for mysteries, I'm bummed to say I DNF'd at around 16 percent. While the book's concept immediately drew me in, I just couldn't get into the book.


Despite her having 70% of the book time, I felt no attachment to Annie. I don't feel like I know who she is, her motivation, or her feelings about her situation. We spend more of the book's time in her head and she just feels flat. The few times I did get a glimpse of Annie herself, she just rubbed me the wrong way.


No, I'm not knocking this book for having an unlikable or prickly FMC. I love many an unlikable FMC but there's a difference between not liking someone because they're abrasive and not liking someone because they're bland and a little annoying. Annie didn't feel like the type of character I'd like to investigate a murder with, you know?


As for the writing style, it was fine? As I was reading, it was fast-paced but I still didn't feel like I knew anyone or had a good idea of the tone the book was going for. Is this the tragic story of a woman looking for a killer or a light cozy read with a routine of interesting and curious characters? Don't know because the writing was just there. No atmospheric prose, no delightful insights, nothing.


Overall, there wasn't enough to keep me going. Don't get me wrong, I do want to know the answer to Whodunnit but at this point, I'd be forcing myself to. I wouldn't be reading the book to go on this journey with the character, only to figure out who did it and that's not a good way to spend an afternoon.


"How to Solve Your Own Murder" comes out March 26, 2024

TW: Blood, death,

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC!

How to Solve Your Own Murder earns its four stars with a well crafted plot that kept me hooked from start to finish. The clever use of two separate timelines adds an engaging layer while advancing the narrative in ways that drop subtle hints as to the end of the mystery. I will say it fell into the trap I feel most dual timeline books do, which is that I often felt like I was rushing through one timeline to make it to the next chapter of the other time line. It was an easy and quick read, though at times it was difficult to remember all the characters and how they were all related.

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.

I loved the strong writing in How To Solve Your Own Murder in this murder mystery. The character development was great, too. This is the type of book that has something for everyone. This had a clue-like vibe to it. I would describe this as a cozy murder mystery. (Almost - it does have a scene with sexual content and some curse words).

It had lots of twists and turns and with the perfect pacing and timeline, it kept me hooked the entire time. So many red-herrings will definitely lend to a fun re-read later on!

This book was everything you'd ask for in a classic, who-dun-it, murder mystery! The broad cast of characters (and their past selves) was a little overwhelming at first, but once I figured out who everyone was and how they were related to each other, I could not put this story down. I had many theories throughout and yet the plot kept surprising me. Even though the story contained various sinful activities (I mean, it has "murder" in the title...), the author steered away from gratuitous or gruesome descriptions - which I appreciated. Pull this one off the shelf if you want to be sucked in to a detective game that will keep you guessing!

Thank you to Penguin Random House for an ARC of this book!

A fun small town mystery that immediately grab your attention. I enjoyed the premise of this book immensely.

3.5 stars

I thought this was a solid cozy mystery debut. In Kristen Perrin's HOW TO SOLVE YOUR OWN MURDER, there are two timelines: 1) 1966 - Frances, who has received a warning about her own death from a fortune teller and 2) present day - Annie (who is Frances's great niece) and is summoned to her great aunt's house to go over a change in her will. Upon Annie's arrival, Frances is already dead. And there are some stipulations in the will that entice Annie to solve her great aunt Frances's murder and a disappearance from 1966.

I thought the first person perspectives were a nice touch, but I did get confused about whose perspective the reader was in because the voice between Frances and Annie seemed similar. I know they are relatives, so perhaps that was intentional.

The mystery and set-up is rather unique (at least from what I've read), so I enjoyed the unique take quite a bit.

There is a diary, and for the most part, that was kept off the page, and I felt holding that diary back made things feel convoluted. So we have two timelines, and we also have a large cast of characters for each timeline with some characters in both. I had to take notes and draw connections among them all, and even closely reading I couldn't keep up as well as I wanted and play along.

If you enjoy multigenerational family murder mysteries, I think this could be a good one if you don't mind a lot of characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dutton for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

As a reader who is constantly looking for different types of mysteries for a library book club, this one will be fantastic when I can tell others about it!

Love this book! It is reminiscent of Agatha Christie or Agatha Raisin. The setting is vibrantly drawn out and I love the characters. I would read this again, and I do not say that often!