Cosy crime is probably my least favourite crime genre, but I lapped this up. The premise is pretty far fetched. Annie Adams is suddenly named in the will of her mysterious country estate-dwelling Aunt Frances and called to visit. She ends up playing a central role in solving her Aunt’s sudden murder, alongside an ensemble of strange village characters.

The timeline jumps around a bit and it can be confusing to follow, but I enjoyed the use of Frances’ diary acting as flashbacks. Reading this felt a bit like playing a game of Cluedo. The setting is very cutesy and there’s a suggestion of romance too, if that’s your vibe.

I’m certainly hooked enough to care about what happens in Book Two….

With thanks to Quercus Books and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley & Quercus Books for approving me an ARC of this book, I really enjoyed it and it gave me that Sunday night watching Midsummer Murders feeling.

I found this a really easy, pretty fast paced read and the characters were well written where i could get a sense of who they were and how they lent to the plot. You really felt like you were working out these mysteries alongside Annie.

Annie Adams is called to her great Aunt Frances estate to discuss something but when she arrives Frances her been murdered, after spending her whole life focused on a reading a fortune teller told her at 17 Frances has a lot of 'dirt' on her family, friends and those who live in the Village.

With the help of these files and Frances diary Annie sets about not only solving Frances murder but also another mystery that happened when Frances was just a young girl.

My thanks to NetGalley and Quercus Publishing for a copy of “ How To Solve Your Own Murder” for an honest review.
I was really drawn to this book by the premise and the cover , but to begin with I thought I wasn’t going to enjoy it.I sometimes struggle when there are too many characters, but I’m so glad I persevered because the book was so good !
The characters were well written and I found the book really entertaining .
A must read

What a clever spin on a story, and also giving all the essences of a golden age with such an inspiring turn. Hugely enjoyable read!!
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Thanks to the publisher for an early read of this one!

Teenage Frances receives a prophecy of her death as a fortune at the fair. Consequently she spends the next 60 years gathering evidence on every villager she knows. Someone murdered her and it's up to Annie (her great niece she's never met) to discover who. In a twisted game of cluedo Annie needs to discover the murderer before several of the suspects so that she can inherit Frances's estate. Can Annie solve Frances's murder and the disappearance of her teenage friend?

Theres a lot of classic crime in this novel and it works really well. There's some double crossing, lies and bluffing until we get to the end for the big reveal. It works well and the addition of Frances's diary really helps - I think the novel would have been quite flat without it.

This book was great.
I was immediately drawn in and enjoyed both the past and present mysteries. The ending was satisfying and fulfilled my need for suspense! I would recommend

This was quite an entertaining story and I was interested to discover who was responsible for past and present mysteries. However towards the end the main character behaved in an utterly ridiculous way that completely disengaged me from the story. It was a shame as there was a lot to like up until this point, but I’m afraid this wasn’t for me and I wouldn’t recommend.

*** Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher ***

The plot is as deep and dark as it gets, multi-layered with 'who knew what when?' as the strands come together and the finer details get filled in. This is a compelling, gripping book full of mystery and suspense. Only a few authors can write deeply involving psychological drama of the very highest quality.

The E-Book could be improved and more user-friendly, such as links to the chapters, no significant gaps between words and a cover for the book would be better. It is very document-like instead of a book. A star has been deducted because of this.

This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and I would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if it were in a bookshop. Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

3.5/5.

In 1965, Frances Adams has her fortune read at a country fair, which tells her she is going to be murdered. She spends her life trying to solve her murder before it happens, without success. Nearly sixty years later, Frances is found dead – murdered – and her great-niece, Annie, is determined to catch the killer.

This book was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed Annie and could totally understand why she got so hooked on the mystery of Great Aunt Frances. The premise is set up in such a way that it’s entirely plausible for Annie to be investigating the murder instead of (or as well as) the police, which I appreciate, and there were plenty of revelations and possible suspects to keep things exciting.

There wasn’t as much outright humour as I was expecting (thanks to comparisons to The Thursday Murder Club), but the vibe was light-hearted and I liked Annie’s narrative voice. On the whole, the characters, the mystery and the reveal were all really well done and I enjoyed it a lot.

Some books come along at just the right time and man o man I needed a sleepy village crime to solve.

How To Solve Your Own Murder is the multigenerational story of Frances Adams and her great niece Annie. Annie is off to visit her aunt for the first time at Frances's request as she is being bequeathed property in her will. However, when Annie turns up in Frances' small village she finds she may be receiving her inheritance quicker than she thought.

With a set of twisty turny puzzles and a smattering of clues, you are drip fed nuggets of information and you feel like you are helping Annie to solve this murder. If you are anything like me then you will be completely baffled and blown away by the results.

A fantastic read that I was sad to say goodbye to.

How To Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin is available now.

For more information regarding Kristin Perrin (@Kristen_PErrin) please visit www.kristenperrin.com.

For more information regarding Quercus Books (@QuercusBooks) please visit www.quercusbooks.co.uk.

Annie is on her way to meet her great aunt Frances. She has lead a difficult life having spent years believing she will be murdered. Unfortunately she had been proved right. Annie is shocked to be the recipient of her Great Aunt’s estate but only if she can solve Frances' murder within a week.
Alongside her cousin Saxon, his scary wife Elva and curiously the estate agent Oliver, Annie has to get to know about her aunt’s life so that she can understand her death.
It sounds like a premise for a deep, dark and depressing novel but it’s full of life and optimism. The setting is modern but with a whiff of period murder mysteries. It is full of red herrings and blatant clues that I missed and it is definitely worth reading again.
I was surprised and delighted by this book which feels fresh and charming and i will be recommending it to everyone who loves a cozy mystery.

As a teenager Frances Adams has her fortune told at a local fair, part of the fortune is that she will be murdered. The only person who takes the fortune seriously is Frances, everyone else thinks it is nonsense and that she should live her life. Sixty years later Frances is found dead at home - murder or natural causes. - it is down to Frances’s great-niece to figure that out. The story itself is engaging, everyone in the local village has a secret that they want kept and quite a few seem to have reasons to want Frances dead.

How to Solve Your Own Murder is an enjoyable cosy crime mystery that’s well paced and original enough to rise above many of the other novels in this popular genre.
In 1965 Frances Adams was told by a fortune teller that one day she’d be murdered, when she dies 50 years later her great niece Annie must solve her aunt’s murder in order to inherit her estate.
I loved the dual timelines of the novel and particularly enjoyed reading Frances point of view told through her diaries from the 1960s. This was a fun and well written novel, the pace did slow towards the end but overall a satisfying read.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC.
3.5 stars

Cozy crime mysteries are enjoying their moment in the sun, so Kristen Perrin’s debut How to Solve Your Own Murder hits the market at exactly the right moment. Frances Adams is the wealthy, somewhat cantankerous protagonist who resides in a sleepy village called Castle Knoll. In the mid-1965s, Frances was warned by a travelling fortune teller to be on her guard as she might otherwise be murdered …. and Frances has carried the weight of that ominous prediction with her ever since. Fast-forward to current times, and Frances summons to her sprawling estate her great-niece Annie, a shy young lady with ambitions to become a mystery writer, for discussions about the contents of her will. Annie has never met Frances before but before the two women can become properly acquainted, Frances dies. To inherit her great-aunt’s fortune, Annie must solve the details of her murder within a week – and she soon discovers that plenty of unexpected, inexplainable danger lurks in even the sleepiest of pastoral settings!
I enjoyed the old-fashioned, sedate feel of this thriller that was big on clues and red herrings but mercifully devoid of brutal descriptions of victimhood that characterises so much of contemporary fiction. What I also enjoyed was the character development of protagonist Annie who matures from a nervous younger into a confident female not afraid to tackle a mystery. The dual timeline was less welcome (perhaps because it is such an over-used plot device these days) – internal monologues or diary entries would have been just as effective in transmitting the necessary details of Frances’ past. However, I cannot wait to see what cozy crimes the character of Annie will solve next! In the meantime, thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for allowing me to read the advance copy that enabled this honest and independent review.

This book is billed as a cozy mystery, not a genre I am normally keen on, though I do read one occasionally . As cozy mysteries go, this was OK and I didn't hate it. I do have some criticisms about it though, there are a lot of characters and it was quite a job to keep track of who is who and their relationships with other characters. I didn't see the point of some of the characters either, Oliver for example and others just seem to muddy the waters (Magda/Evra) . I also have doubts about some of the conversations which were at best stilted, though some were a little unrealistic (Annie & Oliver on the first day they met in the car) .
The premise was unusual, the narration in two timeperiods was a good way to further the story, though the book was maybe a little too long. The climax was a little too drawn out for me and as such was not too realistic. I did want to find out what happened though, so I am writing the book off altogether.
Thanks to Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

This book flicks between the present and 1965. This is the year that Frances was told by a fortune teller that she would be killed. In the present, Frances requests a meeting with her great niece, whom she has never met, so Annie travels from London to the country estate where Frances lives. Due to the fortune tellers prediction, Frances becomes the village nosey parker and throughout her life details all the happenings of not only people in the village but those closest to her too. Before Annie can finally meet her great-aunt, France sis murdered so Annie sets out to solve the mystery of who and why. This was an easy read and did make me want to find out who did it but at times I felt that the descriptions were just too long. In places I must admit I skipped pages as I was losing interest. Thank you Netgalley for a preview.

It's a clever and witty novel that mixes past and present. A fortune told to Francis long ago talks about murder, long before she's murder.
Frances spent her life try to prevent her murder and collecting pieces of information about people around her.
It will be up to her nephew, Annie, to solve the mystery as was told in the fortune.
I had fun in reading this mix of past and present, a witty and well plotted story I thoroughly enjoyed and kept me guessing.
As it's the first in a series I can't wait to read the next one.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

How to Solve Your Own Murder is an excellent inter-generational murder mystery that will root itself in your brain and plant itself firmly there. It is such an addictive and cleverly plotted read that builds on an gem of an idea to create a treasure trove of a story.

Recently, I have been craving good mysteries with cosy settings, characters that steal my heart instantly and twists that make me gasp out loud. This book met all of those wishes and so many more in a story that I will recommend to anyone who will listen. In short, this was a wonderful murder mystery, packed to the brim with twists and turns.

With the boom of films like Knives Out, the type of mysteries that dig into wealth and complex familial relationships have become hot property—doubled by the popularity of Saltburn. Perrin taps into that sense of peeking behind the curtain into the lives of the extremely wealthy and that particular sense of class that pervades every aspect of British culture.

As an American expat in the UK, she gets a bird’s eye view of our class system and how it dominates life. This book is great in unpicking that glamorous façade of the upper class to reveal a dark and bloodstained truth lying beneath. In particular, I really enjoyed the throughline of the violence of that money and how it was obtained. There’s a seediness to it all, which contrasts wonderfully with the finery. It all feels entered around appearances and they are often deceiving. Also, it is a form of manipulation— becoming more key as the story progresses. The financial aspects in particular are keenly felt throughout, as the main theme is that of inheritance. This is a double edged sword though, with secrets and lies also becoming part of a legacy that weighs heavily on the shoulders of many characters. At the same time, it is infused with that classic charm of Golden Age British mysteries—it feels like you could be reading a Christie or watching Midsomer Murders from the quietly claustrophobic, picturesque and oddly charming little village. All of this makes for a brilliant, smart and highly entertaining read.

Perrin’s writing was wickedly brilliant, insightful and utterly captivating. I adored the use of timeline weaving in this book as we flip between Annie and Frances—both of whom are encountering their own mysteries and developing dynamics between characters. Their voices are distinctive and yet you can see their similarities shine through. Perrin really digs into the central theme of fate. Frances’ tarot reading defines her entire life and has ramifications that cause ripples that grow into tidal waves. It deftly plays with that eternal question of if you could know your fate, would you choose to do so? At the same time, it also adds a meta gloss to the story, akin to the knowing nods to said classic mysteries referenced earlier in this review.

The reader is keenly aware of Frances’ fate, as is Annie who is reading these diaries in real time. It adds a tragic air of inevitability to proceedings, but you best believe both timelines have plenty of surprises in store. On this note, the twists are very well done and upend the story each time. You feel the walls closing in on you as Annie’s investigation becomes ever more perilous. Because of the unique situation from Frances and a certain gauntlet thrown down early on, Annie is fighting an uphill battle in a town that does not welcome outsiders into its confidences that easily.

How to Solve Your Own Murder is an ingenious, insightful and incisive read. If you’re looking for a good mystery that will keep you hooked until the early hours, look no further.

Can you solve a murder before it happens? This was deliberately messy but in a really engaging way. I loved the premise for the story and was hooked from the start. Great fun

All Annie has ever known about her Great-Aunt Frances is that she is reclusive and very rich, now she has been summoned to meet her. However, before the meeting can take place, Frances is murdered and Annie must solve the case. Given that Frances was told by a fortune-teller that she would be murdered, she has spent her life compiling evidence to try to find out who which leaves Annie with lots of suspects, lots of motives and a fantastic reward if she succeeds.
I really loved the premise in this story, someone trying to solve their murder before it happens. The plot has huge holes in it but it is very clever and the narrative bounces along at a decent enough pace. It's not a particularly demanding book but it does entertain.