This book is the perfect blend of extraordinary writing and intriguing mystery. How does one know they are going to be murdered? If a fortune-teller gives you that little tidbit, would you obsess over it for a lifetime? Would that obsession cause you to act and interact with everyone in your life in a way that invites an unfortunate demise? Or do you die of natural causes?

Annie Adams goes to visit her great-aunt Frances, who was told nearly 60 years ago that she'd be murdered, and who's been actively trying to solve her murder before it happens for nearly as long. This is a fascinating mystery, with the extra disappearance of France's friend Emily building the suspense. Fun and engaging page-turner from the beginning. I loved this! ❤️

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced digital reader's copy (ARC) in exchange for an honest review!

This was a fun, fast murder mystery with two murders to solve in two different times - 2023 and 1965. I really enjoyed that it felt like a modern day Agatha Christie, set in a small British town where you got to see the intermingling and family ties across 60 years. The idea of Great Aunt Frances keeping files of everyone’s secrets in alphabetical order by type of secret - i.e. a is for arson, I is for infidelity, made me laugh out loud. I also felt like the author really understood the types of obsessive, toxic friendships that teenagers can develop, and honestly, it really made me feel like they all should have moved away and moved on with their lives (and grateful that I did just that - what adult really wants to still be dealing with high school drama every day?). I would have loved a little more exploration as to what made Saxon tick - I just did not get him and did not really get how he and Elva were a couple- as well as to see a little more flirtation between Annie and the detective once the cases were solved, and to learn what Annie’s plans were as regards her future and the estate, but overall I really liked the book and read it in one day.

Thanks to NetGalley and Kristen Perrin for the chance to review this wonderful ARC of How to Solve Your Own Murder. This is such a fantastic book and I love that it is based on the premise of being given a fortune at a fair and then spending your life trying to keep it from coming true. Set in a small English village where everyone knows everyone else’s business it is amazing that Annie’s Great Aunt Frances has managed to live all these years even though she has been given a foretold future that she would be murdered and be betrayed by a close friend. This is a wonderful book to curl up with on a rainy weekend with a cup of tea.

In 1965, when Frances Adams was seventeen, she attended the small town fair with her best friend’s Rose and Emily, but it gravely turned into a day she’ll never forget when a fortune teller described her great demise. She constantly lives in a state of fear because one day, she’ll be murdered.

Annie Adam’s has never known her Aunt Frances, but she’s called upon for a meeting with her to go over the newest revisions to her will. When Annie, and other family members, congregate inside Frances’ huge estate hoping to gain a piece of her inheritance, they find Frances laying on the floor of her library…dead.

Her will states that Annie and a man named Saxon, France’s nephew, have one week to solve her murder; the winner will receive her inheritance and her estate, but in order to catch a killer, you’ll need to put your own life in danger.

This book was told through dual timelines; when Annie arrived at the estate, and diary entries written by Frances in 1966. Not only was Aunt Frances murdered, but her best friend Emily disappeared around the time of the journal entries. Can Annie solve both mysteries, even though she’s never met her Aunt?

I was first drawn to this book by the beautiful cover. This was a fun, perplexing murder mystery that I thoroughly enjoyed, but I’m kicking myself for not waiting until next year to read it because it was one of the best books I’ve read this year. 🥲 This was the perfect debut thriller for fans of Agatha Christie and Knives Out.

4.5 stars!!!! I REALLY enjoyed reading this and it’s honestly the perfect book for me. It has murder, writing, and England. What more could I want? Actually there is something I wanted and that was a Detective Crane and Annie kiss!! I get why it didn’t happen though but man would that have been just the cutest.

It would have been so easy to make Frances an unlikeable character who was only thinking about herself, but the way the author makes her seem empathetic and compassionate through Annie was amazing. So happy it got to read this ARC and can’t wait to buy a copy when it comes out

FRANCES ALWAYS SAID SHE'D BE MURDERED...
SHE WAS RIGHT.

This was absolutely delightful. I loved the characters and the plot was highly entertaining.

Wow, what an engaging and entertaining mystery.

This author was new to me, and I am glad I took the chance on this one. It was easy to read, and connect with the storyline. While this story revolves around Annie and her pursuit of answers to "who killed Great Aunt Frances", there are many different sub-dramas intertwined that I found myself confused, then sure, then confused again (much like Annie).

I enjoyed the ups and downs of this one, and watching Annie take a mess of information and misdirection, and form it into a linear thought. I was mostly pleased with the conclusion to the mystery, but I found myself wanting more or different for a few of the subplots... but that's just me.
Overall, I recommend this author and this book, as my read was most enjoyable.

I was fortunate to receive my free ARC from Netgalley and I voluntarily leave my review.

This was a great cozy mystery. It instantly hooked me and I couldn't wait to see what happened. It was well written and I really enjoyed the two different time frames. I enjoyed the characters and how well everything came today.

A truly intriguing book that starts with Frances' fortune being read. She is told she will be murdered so she lives her life trying to find out who will be the one to do it.

The story is told in different timelines. When Frances is found dead on the day of a meeting about her will, a competition begins on who will be first to solve her murder. The one who does, inherits Frances' entire estate. There are plenty of twists and I truly enjoyed how this book unfolds. I always try to guess who did it before the book uncovers it for you. I did not succeed with this book.

A really enjoyable read!

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.
In 1965, Frances went to a fair where she went to the fortune tellers booth, who told her she'd be murdered. Frances talked about this all throughout the years and no one believed her when she would profess that it would happen. They finally realized she was correct when she was found murdered.
The book cuts to the present when Frances great niece, Annie arrives in London for the will reading. Whoever solves the murder inherits Frances estate and fortune.

Well written, complex plot with unexpected twists. Characters were well developed and interacted with one another in believable ways. The opening chapters were a little slow, hence 4 stars instead of 5.

This was incredibly strong writing! I especially loved the 1960s plotline, although the entire book was interesting. At times it felt like maybe there were a few too many characters, especially for a murder mystery, but other than that this was a total hit for me.

How to Solve Your Own Murder is a charming and captivating whodunnit. Mostly mystery, with a few splashes of family drama, this book grabbed my attention from the first few pages. How to Solve Your Own Murder follows the traditional twisty format of classic mysteries, including several red herrings that keep you guessing until the very end. Kristen Perrin combines top-notch writing, beautiful character development, and a unique, unpredictable plot in this masterful and fun novel.

In 1965, teenager Frances Adams received a dark and twisty fortune: she will be murdered. Frances spends her entire life investigating every relationship, situation, and chance meeting that crosses her path in an obsessive quest to find the killer. Unfortunately, Frances's fortune comes true, and in the wake of her death, her estranged great-grandniece, Annie, and greedy brother-in-law, Saxon, are forced into a hectic competition. Whoever solves Frances's murder inherits her massive fortune. There's just one problem: according to Frances's lifetime of research, everyone in her life has a motive.

The story alternates between Annie's point-of-view as an amateur sleuth and excerpts from Frances's diary written in 1965. Both perspectives weave together to develop a fascinating and enrapturing tale of small-town drama, jealousy, and, of course, murder.

You will love How to Solve Your Own Murder if you enjoyed reading:
Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson
Finlay Donovan is Killing It by Elle Cosimano
The Maid by Nita Prose

Thank you, NetGalley, for providing me with an ARC of this wonderful book!

This was a great debut and I will certainly be adding this author to my TBR. The cover is stunning and this was a unique read.
Our main character Frances Adams is haunted by a fortune teller's revelation that she is going to be murdered one day. She then spends the rest of her life trying to prevent a crime that hasn't happened yet and she doesn't know when or where it will happen, nor does she know who will murder her. Then one day she is found murdered. Her great-niece Annie comes to go over Frances estate and to solve her Great Aunt's murder. This book is told in past and present timelines and dual POVs. In the present we get Annie's POV as she tries to solve the murder. In the past, we get a glimpse into France's Diary as she collects info on the list of potential suspects.
This is definitely a unique read that I would recommend to cozy mystery lovers, especially fans of "The Thursday Murder Club" and "Findlay Donovan" series.

*4.5 stars

I've been trying to put myself on a NetGalley ban, but I'm so glad I caved and looked for new ARCs because this book was good!! I think the only thing I have to complain about this book is that it doesn't come out until March 2024 so y'all can't read it unless you get an ARC - it was that good!

I loved Annie's character and her ability to self-analyze but to also break out of her comfort zone when needed. She was one of the main kind characters throughout the whole book - especially in the present day - but also knew to follow her gut when it came to things. I also loved the dual timeline/dual POV we got. It was well thought out and really helped bring Great Aunt Frances to life for both Annie and the reader.

I was sucked into this book almost from the very beginning. I found myself skimming sections because I just had to know what happened - and then I would have to go back and make sure I didn't miss any important details! If you can get your hands on a copy of this now, I'd suggest doing it! If not, pre-order it so you can get it as soon as it's published - March 24th!

Many thanks to @kristenperrinwrites, @penguinusa, & NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

There is nothing better than a great whodunit. Even better when there are dual time lines. Top it off with Castle Knoll and you have my kind of mystery. I absolutely loved this book. Aunt Frances and her friends were fun and so was Annie. Thank you for the advanced copy and looking forward to many more.

A fun read and a great debut for Kristen Perrin! Perrin is definitely on my list to look for future works!

The story starts in the past setting up the premise of Great Aunt Frances's eccentricity based on a psychic's fortune of doom. Over the years, she compiles file cabinets full of research on everybody she is in contact with. In the present, she decides to change her will and calls together potential inheritors. Of course, this brings in our protagonist, her great niece, Annie. Predictably, she's murdered before the meeting. Her will, of course, is based on who solves her murder. Overlooking the premise that the law enforcement would simply shrug and not protest amateur sleuths running around investigating and withholding gleaned information/evidence (and also, not restrict access to the murder scene that they have not even processed), this begins a bit of a wild ride as everyone starts running around gathering clues and trying to distract, each other from their investigation!
As I said, the premise is a bit farfetched, but the journey is a fun one and made more complex by the disappearance of a Frances’s friend when they were young. Essentially, we end up with two crimes, decades apart and a lot of speculations as to how they may be connected.

This is a highly enjoyable modern cosy with a lot of classical elements.

Many thanks to Penguin Group and Netgallery for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

How to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin is a dual-timeline book following Frances Adams, who has been preoccupied with a fortune predicting her death for decades until it finally happened, and her great niece Annie who has been tasked to solve the mystery of her death to inherit her estate. There’s a whole cast of characters involved in this task, all with their own secrets and motivations for doing so.

I LOVED this book! It was such a fun read! The characters were interesting and complex and the storyline kept me guessing. I did not figure out the ending ahead of time. I would recommend this to anyone who likes mysteries, especially if you are looking for a mystery that isn’t super graphic/gory.

Thank you to NetGalley (@netgalley), the publisher (@duttonbooks) and the author (@kristenperrinwrites) for granting me a free copy of this book in return for an honest review. This book is expected to come out in March 2024.

Thank you to Penguin Group Dutton and NetGalley for the ARC.

I love a good cozy mystery, and was excited for Kristen Perrin's How to Solve Your Own Murder - in some ways it reminded me a little of "Everyone in my Family Has Killed Someone" by Benjamin Stevenson, in that we have a main character mystery writer who is at the center of a suspicious death that must be solved quickly and where everyone you meet may have a motive going back decades.

Generally, I liked the plotline of the book - a woman haunted by a fortune teller's words creating a self-fulfilling prophecy that must be solved by her family nearly 60 years later. I also really enjoyed Perrin's descriptions and vivid usage of simile and metaphor which caught me from the first page of the girls arms "wrapped together like a daisy chain."

Given that it's a cozy mystery in a small town, I feel like readers are meant to dislike many of the characters - Oliver, Saxon, and Elva are easy to root against in the present, and the young versions of Walt, Emily, John, and Rutherford are easy to suspect, and appear unlikeable in the past.

That all being said, I kept feeling like I was missing parts of the mystery, and while the answer to the whodunit worked, I feel like there were holes. For instance, when John thought Emily was trying to take Laura back from Peter and Tansy, Emily actually went back to get her typewriter. But why would that matter? Peter had just paid her off because Emily DID try to take Laura back - so did that occur? Where? And if Peter had just given her thousands of dollars, who cares about the typewriter? Emily has the means to do whatever she wants at that point.

And what was the whole deal with the group secretly going onto the Rutherford estate? And it seeming like a game to bring Frances to Rutherford? Saxon mentions how much Rutherford loved games, and there are so many references that make him seem like a puppet master - and Emily has so much knowledge of what Rutherford and Frances talk about - but then that meant absolutely nothing, he's a nice guy, and he won Frances over and they had a happy marriage? From the way they're described in the 60s I expected Saxon to be a sociopath and Rutherford to be manipulating and abusive - not for all of this to fall to Emily being jealous of Frances. Saxon and Rutherford were just red herrings, but knowing any part of their life after the disappearance of Emily would have made this seem more joined. Being 17 and being 77 are the only points we see Frances, and it's difficult to see the wide view of her at such distant stages and to not understand the middle. Did her murder room start after Rutherford passed? How does the obsession truly start when it looks like she is happily married and traveling to Afghanistan? When she mentions at 18 how much she doesn't care about the fortune? When she's young and determined to show Emily she does not care about her and chooses family instead? I just couldn't rectify that in my head.

Or, Annie questions Oliver about the threatening notes and if he destroyed her room - and he denies the destruction - but WHO did that? Annie seems a bit sheltered, but also really cavalier about her own personal safety and her lack of care about her belongings - but her willingness to keep sleeping in a house where someone continuously destroyed rooms seemed off. She also seems to immediately decide to move to the town and show all the great things her Great Aunt did - but again, we only see Frances as a teenager and as an elderly woman - what did she do besides call the police and make flower arrangements?

Also, the fact that after the whodunit is resolved and Annie is like "Two weeks later X is in prison and X is etc." -- in what world does the justice system move so swiftly?

Overall, I think the story worked, and Perrin has great description and detail in her writing. I think I just couldn't get past the smaller things in order to truly appreciate the big picture.

I think I am in the minority here but I struggled to finish this book. I enjoyed the story from Frances’s past way more than the modern day mystery. Annabelle was very annoying and difficult to read. The writing for the modern tale was much clunkier. It just did not flow. Almost like two different people wrote them. The ending was not very good either. I am going with 1.5 stars rounded up because I enjoyed reading some of the story about Emily, Rose, and Frances.

Well, this was a disappointment considering it was a good premise for a story. I almost DNFed it but decided to just skip to the ending. Unfortunately not for me. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC for my honest opinions.