My thanks to Netgalley for the ARC of this fun murder mystery.
The writing isn't fantastic, rather colloquial in language, and you won't find a deep exploration of character or setting (the 1960s parts are particularly lacking in veracity) here, let alone lyrical prose. However, the story quickly pulls you in, and before you know it, you're in "just one more chapter" territory. Top that off with plenty of red herrings, potential suspects and a satisfying denouement, and Perrin has delivered a decently addictive read. Perfect for a rainy winter's afternoon.

I knew this was going to be good, based solely on the title. I was not disappointed! As far as murder mysteries go, this one was fast paced and full of details, and was easy to follow. Not predictable like some others in this genre, but every event in the story was connected to the resolution. All loose ends are tied up, and it ends with a positive vibe. Definitely preorder this one if mysteries are your jam!

Okay I have thoughts.

I was really intrigued by Frances' journal entries and thought this really carried everything. But can we stop pretending in novels that it would take multiple days for one person to read a journal to squeeze out feelings of suspense? Or have our heroine put the journal down simply because they are *yawn* too tired to read more than five pages at once!!! Or having a police officer take it but then say okay you can read it? What was that?!

If I were Annie, I'd have read that thing in ONE HOUR. Oh a journal written by the very person who is now deceased and was obsessed with documenting her own murder investigation (AND BEST FRIEND'S). Put that baby on my number one priority list of To Do's in my own personal challenge to solve someone's murder. And also! I would not be traipsing along in a giant house wandering around to see if I happened upon any clues!!!!!! With no agenda or idea of my surroundings! With possible murder suspects at every turn!!! Get out of here.

Maybe my most important note because it aggrieved me deeply- the use of Great Aunt Frances referring to Frances at every turn. Honestly it boiled my blood. Who doesn't shorten this in ones own thoughts to something shorter? Particularly in the case where you have never even met the person, certainly a "Frances" or "Aunt" would do! I found one reference to just Frances at chapter 42 and think it works just fine! please! For the love of god! Change it and shorten this novel by at least 5 pages.

Anyway. I did actually enjoy this a lot, as I said particularly the parts set in the first time frame and Annie was overall not horrible, except for her fainting, and she had some depth, even though I thought Jenny and Laura deserved more page time.

Thanks to Netgalley for the eARC.

I feel so lucky to have been able to get my hands on this book, so thank you to NetGalley and the publisher! I thoroughly enjoyed reading this. It only took me so long because I’ve been so busy and I’ve really only been able to make time for audiobooks.

I thought the plot of this book was so well laid out and it kept me guessing until the very last second. I feel like that’s a luxury for so mystery readers because the plot is so often way too predictable. Like, painfully predictable.

Additionally, I loved all of the characters and how they were written. I felt like they all had really unique personalities and compelling stories. They felt like real people, flaws and all, and I think that’s a big reason as to why I enjoyed it as much as I did.

Not to mention, you really get two stories for the price of one because of the intertwined plots of Annie and Frances. I thought the intermingling of the two plot lines was masterfully done, always revealing enough to keep you hooked without either ever outpacing the other or revealing too much. It’s not often I read a book from multiple perspectives and equally enjoy both of them.

I really hope this book sees a lot of success because it’s a really fresh and well played take on a mystery that will keep you invested from start to finish.

This was a really fun read! Definitely gave me Knives Out and Clue vibes, which I really enjoyed.

This book jumps between the words of Frances (through her diary) and Annie (her grand niece), and was done very well and didn't feel gimmicky.

The characters were all well developed and the premise of the book was concise. It was very well-paced and well-written. Definitely a fun mystery!

Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for the ARC of this book!

This was not what I was expecting - and not in a good way. This book is about this girl, Annie, who receives a letter from her Great Aunt Frances to come see her about her will. Thing is, Frances received a fortune years and years ago telling her she would be murdered, and low and behold, when Annie gets there, she really was murdered - now, she has to race against other people to try and solve the murder first to get her inheritance and bring her justice.

The plot for this book sounds AMAZING, it's a dual pov format - Annie in the present and Frances in the past through her diaries. Although I loved the synopsis when I first stumbled upon it, reading was a very different feeling. There were too many characters and not a single one I connected/cared about. This didn't bring me any excitement, it didn't make me want to pick it up and find out who did it immediately.

The writing was good, but sometimes the pacing was so slow and some explanations and details felt unnecessary to add. Just felt like it the characters could’ve used more development, Annie basically spends the whole book just reading Frances’ diary and when she finally finishes it, she sees the connection and figures it out (which annoyed me, c’mon girlie you're trying to solve a murder faster than the competition, why wouldn't you read the DIARY OF THE VICTIM all in one go????? stop spacing it out!!!).

I think I expected more from this. It was an okay read, slow paced cozy murder mystery, but it could've been way better. At some point after the 30% mark, it just falls flat and it never recovers from it. Frances’ storyline felt more interesting in the beginning too.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read a digital ARC in advance of publication in exchange for an honest review.

First off, thank you to NetGalley and Dutton for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. This mystery didn’t captivate me the way I hoped it would. Many are calling this one “Agatha Christie inspired,” but it simply couldn’t keep my attention. The novel flashes back from present day to the mid 1960s. I found the flashbacks somewhat interesting and I found Francis to be a unique character, but sadly, I still found my mind drifting away from the story.

Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for the ARC of this book!

As with any murder mystery, a reviewer needs to be careful to not give too much away so I’ll try to stick to general information available in the first few pages.

I really enjoyed almost every character and the premise. It was very well-paced and well-written. Additionally, the jumping between the words of Frances (through her diary) and Annie (her grand niece) was done very well and didn’t feel gimmicky.

The only thing I do wish is that the diary read more like a diary (but that’s a common complaint I have for books using a dairy as a plot device).

Personally, I wish I could forget the book and read it again because I did find it quick, enjoyable, suspenseful, and a bit surprising. All the best components of a mystery. Would read this author again.

This was so fun- I was hooked from the first chapter and loved all the characters so much. Plus, great name!

The premise of Kristen Perrin’s HOW TO SOLVE YOUR OWN MURDER is enough to make a devoted mystery reader swoon. Annie Adams, an aspiring mystery writer herself, is summoned to her enigmatic great aunt’s estate. Great Aunt Frances is a superstitious, reclusive woman who has spent her entire life in constant paranoia because of a fortune teller’s ominous words when she was just a teenager. The fortune? That she would herself be murdered.

Of course, that’s precisely what happens - and we follow our amateur sleuth Annie as she rolls up her sleeves to solve her mysterious aunt’s murder.

There are parts of this book that absolutely delight. The nods to the detective-era genre, the red herrings, the descriptions of the small town. Again, swoon-worthy.

And yet, parts of it fall flat for me. The only character I felt a connection with was Frances, and Annie herself seemed almost like a filler. A tenet of detective fiction is that the reader should have access to all the facts that the sleuth does, and I don’t think that held true here. I don’t often say so but I actually think that this book could have been longer. It seemed like it was probably written with a movie in mind.

All that being said, it was a thoroughly readable and fun mystery. And when it is adapted for film, I’ll be very glad to buy some popcorn and tickets.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this advance copy in exchange for my entirely honest opinion.

The mystery was satisfying, but the execution lackluster. The book is dual timeline, but the "past" chapters, which are ostensibly a diary, are a drag to get through (they aren't temporally grounded -- when was she writing these entries? Her voice seems very distant and removed, leaking any tension or drama). In the main storyline, the protagonist was flat and nonspecific (yes, there are details we know about her, but I couldn't predict how she would react to things, or feel alongside her). Despite the fact that the story had good plot bones, I doubt I'll be picking up anything else by this author.

Think who dun' it Agatha Christie mixed with The Inheritance Games mixed with Knives Out all together. A fun ride though I wish more time was spent on present day character development versus the past timeline.

Really a quick and good read!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishing team for this free ARC in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 rounded up - I enjoyed "How to Solve Your Own Murder" a lot - there were some really interesting & fun aspects to it. Indeed, it was very "Knives Out" meets A. Christie in tone. I enjoyed the dual-POV's of Frances, the murder victim back in the 60's & Annie, her relative, trying to find out "who-dun-it". Loved the English setting & manor house too. My biggest squabble with it was just too many characters to keep track of & the ending was kinda meh. Still recommend it for mystery fans. My sincere thanks to Net Galley & the publisher for the complimentary DRC, all opinions my own

This was a fun book with a likable main character. The story was engaging and each chapter left me wanting to know more - I read the entire book in one afternoon! The way Annie is able to solve the mystery makes sense, the clues were peppered throughout, and it didn’t come out of left field. I did guess the ending, but it was an enjoyable ride. I liked the use of alternate timeless via diary entries from the past - I loved getting to know more about Frances. If you like quirky murder mysteries you’ll love this book!

Thank you for the chance to read this cozy fall/spooky season read.
Enjoyed the dual timelines and trying to figure out the murder along side the MC.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for a review.
The book sounded interesting with a cute cover, but the title is a bit misleading, as the lead is not able to solve her own murder.
A teenage girl at a fair with friends receives a chilling fortune that leads her to believe her life will end in murder, prompting her to fixate on figuring it out. Years later, she ironically calls together her potential heirs, but before they can meet, she is found dead. It is determined to be murder, and her death launches the hunt for her killer, with a carrot that the killer need be found by one of the potential heirs within one week, or her estate gets sold off. Her great niece is one of the potential heirs and starts at a disadvantage, having never even met the woman before, but she is determined to solve the mystery and keep the estate intact. She is aided by reading the deceased woman's old journal.
It was a cute read, clean content, quick read.

🌟🌟🌟🌟
Thank you @netgalley for the ARC of How to Solve Your own Murder by Kristen Perrin. I loved this whodunit mystery. It was cozy and perfect for a fall read. I liked the duel timeline and the clues that were placed in both the past and the present.

When Francis is found dead on her estate, her great niece Annie is determined to solve her murder. Since Francis was told she would be murdered in the 1960s, she has spent her life trying to find who will kill her. Annie uses clues that Francis left along with clues from the killer to solve her Aunt's murder.

#bookstagra #bookreview #bookrecommendation #netgalley #mystery #mysterynovels

This is the first Kristen Perrin book that I've read, and I should say, I'm quite impressed! The style of this read has a Richard Osman kind of feel to it, but the story is very original. I loved tracking the characters and their development throughout the book. It was a fun little mystery and I was hooked after the first few pages.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read an ARC of this book. Overall I enjoyed the book and gave it 4 stars. It's a very good murder mystery with an exciting plot. It was a little difficult to remember all the characters, and I found some of them not as important. There are 2 timelines in the book, and it was very easy to follow. Kristen Perrin's writing style is amazing, and I can't wait to see what's next for her. I would definitely recommend this book to my friends.

This was a good read. It was generally upbeat but also kept my attention with intense scenes and twists. I found the multitude of characters and relatives difficult to follow at times, but the author did a good job of creating a community and a mystery within it.