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!

Such a unique plot for a murder mystery! There were a lot of characters, but it wasn’t difficult to keep track of them. Overall very easy to read and follow - the only point that lost me a bit was when Annie made the connection to Joe. The logic was lost on me until explained later, but I feel like there could’ve been a better bridge to her discovery. Overall, Kristen Perrin did a great job of setting the scene in a small town where everyone has a secret.

This was pure fun and I loved every bit of the story. It was such a fun premise for a book. Will recommend.

This was a really fun English mystery brimming with history, a colorful cast of characters, and more plot twists than I could count.

Annie Adams" Great Aunt Frances is rich and remote, and more than a little eccentric. She's convinced that a fortune she was given as a teenager will eventually lead to her murder. Most of the townsfolk think she's overly dramatic and "cries wolf" too much. That is, until she's found dead in her home the very day Annie is on her way to meet her for the first time. It soon discovered that she's been murdered and Annie must figure out the killer...before she is murdered next.

Very enjoyable mystery! Great as a cozy weekend read. Will be looking for more books by Kristen Perrin to add to my library!

I don’t think when I started this book I realized what an enjoyable read this would be. The author makes you feel like you are inside an Agatha Christie type novel.
Don’t spend too much time trying to solve the mystery because you will miss out on the sweet storytelling of a niece with a keen eye for mysteries and how she connects with a woman she never knew.
The Aunts journal and going back in time was one of my favorite things in the story, it helps you understand who she was and how she acted or reacted throughout her life.
Definitely can’t wait to see what comes of this author’s writing in books to come.

At times very convoluted, I wished I had a copy of the infamous "murder board" to keep everyone straight. Good plot and story, but lots of characters to keep track of. I didn't guess the killer and still am not sure of the motive overall. Perhaps that's my own fault. I would like to hear this on audio and see if my attention span were better on it.

Before writing my review, I want to extend a huge thank you to NetGalley, Kristen Perrin, and PENGUIN GROUP Dutton, Dutton for gifting me the ARC of this book! I appreciate you trusting me with an honest review!! It was a privilege to be able to read HOW TO SOLVE YOUR OWN MURDER before publication next year!

I just finished reading HOW TO SOLVE YOUR OWN MURDER and I absolutely loved it!! It has definite Agatha Christie vibes, and in Christie style, we are presented with a murder mystery (actually two), a large cast of suspects, and a multitude of motives! All of this against the backdrop of a beautiful family estate in the quaint village of Castle Knoll on the English countryside. The only thing that’s missing is Miss Jane Marple!

This book was filled with mysteries within mysteries, both old and new. Past and present tie together perfectly as the two POVs alternate between our protagonists, Annie and her Great Aunt Frances, two compassionate, smart, and amazing women whom the reader cannot help but become captivated by. And alongside Annie and Frances is a supporting cast of characters with fantastic development—the characters truly jump off the pages as you become invested in their stories.

This book was wonderfully written and had me completely engrossed. I didn’t want to put it down! I just had to keep reading without interruption so I could discover who the murderers were and how two deaths decades apart were connected. There was seamless transition from past and present as we read Frances’s diary right along with Annie! You can almost see Annie’s thought processes on the written page as she begins to put the many puzzle pieces together. With a plethora of suspects, all with very good motives, no one is safe from her scrutiny.

I do love mysteries that take place in charming villages, but still waters indeed run deep. For behind the facade of their quaintness, many of these villages found in the pages of murder mysteries are rife with long buried secrets that people are willing to kill for. And Castle Knoll is no exception. Kristen Perrin does an amazing job of bringing life to the pages of her mystery with fantastic characters (whether incredibly likable or downright despicable), engaging dialogue, and a wonderfully written narrative spanning decades. As expressed by Miss Marple, “There is a great deal of wickedness in village life.” And we learn how true this is in HOW TO SOLVE YOUR OWN MURDER! A must read for mystery-lovers everywhere!!

In 1965, a fortune teller sets up the course of Frances' life. Taking the fortune seriously, Frances spends the remainder of her life trying to figure out who will murder her.
In current day, Annie has just received a letter inviting her to a meeting with her Great Aunt Frances. Alas, she never gets to meet her due to...murder.

This sets up a great plot!

I really enjoyed this book! I liked the "locked room" mystery aspect of the plot. I found the characters well rounded and engaging.

I am hopeful that this will become a series...I'd love to follow Annie and her adventures.

Thank you to Dutton and NetGalley for an Advanced Reading Copy of this book.

I thought the premise of the book sounded like a lot of fun, with two timelines of amateur sleuths trying to solve mysteries.

The chapters taking place in 1965 from Frances’s POV were much more intriguing and readable than the present day one. In the latter, the book’s main character Anna, to put it delicately, is BORING. She should be trying to crack the murder of her Great Aunt, but instead lopes around the lead detective like a lovesick puppy and talks about her vintage finds at the Oxfam.

The dialogue between characters is stilted, and jarring in a way, since I have never heard anyone speak like it. The rest of the supporting cast are a bit flat and one-note, with no real depth or substance.

I feel as though this book had so much potential, but it wasn’t fleshed out properly. If the entire book was written with the grit and suspense of the 1965 timeline - I’m sure I would have enjoyed it much more.

The ending was a bit of a miss for me as well; it kind of came out of left field in terms of 'whodunnit' and why. Overall, it was fine to read, but a tad forgettable.

This murder mystery book was a great read that kept you guessing and wondering the entire way thru. The dual-timeline helps piece this story together (present day and mid 1960's), and at the end you are certainly rooting for Annie, the main character, to solve this case before she herself gets into danger. Digging up scandals of both the present and past along the way, it's hard not to want more follow up on where the characters end up after the events of this novel conclude. I feel that this book would make an excellent movie, lots of drama, fashion notes, and historical home details. I highly recommend this read for anyone loving a good puzzle.

I loved this murder mystery! I am always a fan of dual timelines and Annie was such an enjoyable character! I was routing for her to solve everything. This is the perfect book to cozy up with this season! I will definitely be recommending this book to everyone!

Two murders, one fortune, and a sprawling estate full of mysteries. Perrin has written a fun murder mystery with all the right elements and characters without feeling formulaic. This is a great title to add to your collection if you prefer a good mystery without the rated R material. I look forward to reading Perrin's future books.

Super fun concept! I loved the English countryside setting and the cover artwork really attracted me to this book! I do think that there could’ve been more build-up in certain scenes, it just didn’t completely draw me in. But overall I really liked it, would recommend!