This appears to be a debut novel for this author and what a delightful opener it was.
In the mid-1960's Frances gets her fortune told at a local fair. It predicts a betrayal and her murder. At the time she is with her two best friends Emily and Rose. They tease Frances about the fortune, but for her it becomes a life time obsession and in her English village of Castle Knoll she is considered mad and eccentric.
Annie Adams is in her twenties and wanting to become a mystery writer. She and her artist mother live in a house in London that belongs to Annie's Great Aunt Frances, who is still obessing about her own death. Frances summons Annie to Castle Knoll for a will reading, which is surprising as they have never met. Annie's mother Laura has tried to maintain some distance from her eccentric aunt.
On arriving in Castle Knoll, Annie is shocked to discover that the fortune has apparently come true and a series of events are triggered that have Annie wondering if she is the central character of one of her own mysteries.
Thank you Netgalley and Quercus Books for the opportunity to read this digital ARC.

Midsummer Murders meets The Inheritance Games.

Overall I had a good time with this book and I think the author did a really good job with setting, characters, and overall plotting. I did have an issue with the dual timeline aspect of the story but we will get to that in a moment. This book is set in a sleepy sort of village where everybody knows everyone else's business and shows a fun juxtaposition between our outsider protagonist who lives in central London and the more rural characters. Each of the characters that we see in the book felt fully-realised and their aspirations and motivations felt clear. The reveal of the murderer was not predictable and I am not sure if it was something that could have been guessed as the book seems to keep its clues close to the vest. This could have been something that was frustrating but it made sense in the context of the story as our character has come into the situation with no prior knowledge of anybody so the reader is learning the information at the same time as the main character which felt authentic and foreshadowing could have ruined the impact of the book as the reader is left wondering why the character didn't get there sooner.

Now, about the dual timeline... I understand the purpose of its presence in the book as it is an attempt to show the events from the past that factored into Frances' murder however I do not feel as though it was well-executed. I think my biggest issue was the fact that the chronology didn't seem to be well-handled. I believe the diary entries are meant to start a year after the summer that Frances received her fortune but I couldn't see a clear reason why that was the case and it ultimately just made the events feel all messed-up and confusing. I also just didn't find the past timeline to be compelling to read and I found myself eagerly anticipated the return to the present chapters. This all being said, I don't think this greatly reduced my enjoyment, I just felt as though some of the skill in craft was missing in these section.

I would definitely recommend this book for fans of cosy mysteries, especially if you are a fan of either of the comp titles at the beginning of this review.

Thanks to the publisher Quercus Books and Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this murder mystery; it did follow along well-worn cliché lines - the reading of a will, an outsider in a small country village trying to solve her relation’s murder etc. but the book is none the worse for this and offers a page turning mystery in what would generally be called the cosy crime genre.

The story hinges on a young girl being told a fortune at a local county fair in 1965 which goes on to dominate the rest of her life.
"Your future contains dry bones. Your slow demise begins right when you hold the queen in the palm of one hand. Beware the bird, for it will betray you. And from that, there’s no coming back. But daughters are the key to justice, find the right one and keep her close. All signs point toward your murder."

The young girl, Frances Adams becomes obsessed with this fortune and spends her life trying to outwit her own murder which the fortune foretells. In order to try and protect herself she investigates and seeks out the secrets of everyone in the village, even so far as to building up a murder wall (as one would sees in modern crime/police thrillers in TV and film).

Upon her eventual death, which is soon found out to be as the result of the prophesied murder, the girl’s niece is called to attend the reading of Frances’ will. A challenge is then laid down where the murderer needs to be revealed by one of the beneficiaries of the will within the timeframe of a week or the estate is to be lost to developers.

The main plotline follows the niece as she tries to solve the mystery in the present day alongside extracts from Frances diary which she entitled “The Castle Knoll Files” which dates from 10th September, 1966 to the 10th October, 1966.

Whilst admittedly this book is full of clichés (from the old to the new) they are deployed knowingly in a pleasurable way which help to drive the plot forward. I would recommend this book to fans of Agatha Christie style murder mysteries. The author seemingly intends to write more novels set in the small community of Castle Knoll and I would be interested to see where the author takes these characters next.

A very enjoyable read.
Cleverly written and well paced the story is told in the present and in the past through journal entries. it keeps the reader engaged throughout as well as keeping them guessing despite providing plenty of clues.
Thankfully all is revealed at the end with no loose ends left.

I was intrigued by the premise of the book and this captivated me from the beginning: "HOW CAN A CHARACTER SOLVE THEIR OWN MURDER!?!?!". My imagination ran wild.

I do not think the title quite reflected what happened in the the story. It was still enjoyable to follow.

The characters reminded me of the ones written by Agatha Christie. Not very fleshed-out or strongly developed. Just enough to intrigue us and move the story along. There were some moments of confusion given the high number of characters, but that might have been the intention all along.

I liked the most how the story developed using Frances' diary to recount the past.

Frances receives bad news from a psychic as a young girl and is told she will be killed. Frances believes this to be true and sets about making a diary to lay down her thoughts on who it could possibly be if it does happen.

She decides to rewrite her will and calls all the people named in the Will to visit her so she can explain it but unfortunately someone kills her on the day they were due to meet. Annie her great niece and others have to solve the murder and the winner takes all her estate and her murderer punished.

Story is told partly from Annie’s point of view and other chapters are taken from Frances’ diary, which explains the complex friendships and families involved in the present time.

Not usually a fan of flashbacks in stories, just a personal taste but with this book it really worked.

Annie Adams has never met her wealthy great-aunt Frances but is invited to stay at her country estate in order to discuss recent changes to the older woman's will. Unfortunately, Annie arrives at the Castle Knoll estate to discover that Frances has been murdered and that the murder had been foretold many decades earlier.

Annie will need to find out whodunnit in order to inherit her great aunt's cash and to foil dastardly plots of those who wished Frances dead.

A fun romp with plenty of devious characters with secrets in their history.

I read an eARC of this book so thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley.

This is a clever mystery in which a character knows they are going to be murdered after having their fortune told in the 1960s so when they eventually are murdered, they’ve left copious clues and files on potential suspects with the hope that a family member can solve their murder.

We follow two timelines, Frances in the 1960s through her diary where we learn of her fortune, her friends and characters she encounters, and the disappearance of one of her close friends that scars her for life. In modern times we follow Frances’ estranged great niece who has been summoned to Frances’ stately home only to find her Great Aunt has been murdered and she must follow her instructions to solve the crime before the police do or she’ll lose her inheritance. She is competing against other family members who seem quite shady. She partakes in the investigation as she and her mother live in a house owned by Frances and they’ll lose their home if she doesn’t solve the case as her family members intend to evict them and sell the house.

This was entertaining and I liked the premise of the victim having left clues for someone to solve their murder. This worked quite well and meant our main character was able to find information that others couldn’t by learning her Great Aunt’s history. Others just resorted to brute force and it didn’t get them too far.

This is quite an unusual story as France’s seems determined from being a teenager that she will be murdered, completely believing a fairground fortune teller. The story is told in 2 time lines, when France’s is 17 and present day, I found this hard to follow at times. The country house and village setting is lovely and I found the descriptions delightful.

How To Solve Your Own Murder is a quirky, sweet read, that has the vibe of a Miss Marple mystery. A small chocolate box village, Castle Knoll, where everyone knows each other, and their secrets, is disturbed by the death of an eccentric elderly lady.

Lady Frances Gravesdown has been expecting her own murder since 1965, when a fortune teller, Madame Peony Lane, gave her a sobering prediction. This ominous verdict has cast a long shadow over Frances’ life, her every waking minute was consumed by her investigations into who would be responsible for her unnatural death.

The story is effectively told in dual timeline, thanks to The Castle Knoll Files. These are Frances’ detailed accounts of her life, and all that concerned her over the previous 60 years. They help bring to life to her younger days, and the complicated relationships that are only found in small towns and villages, where everyone’s histories are interlinked, and grudges can be held for decades, if not generations. Many of the colourful characters that we see in 1965, are still present in the village, bringing their motives into question, with regard to Frances’ demise.

I thoroughly enjoyed this cosy book, it has a Golden Age of mystery writing feel to it. It was a lovely light hearted mystery, without any gory details; making it suitable for all readers. I breezed through it in a few days, and I’m sure it will be a popular read on many a holiday this summer. 4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ from me.

I enjoyed this book by Kristen Perrin. We kick off in 1965 when 17 yr old Frances hears her fortune... discovering that she will one day be murdered. She'd probably laugh it off but there are elements of the fortune that have already made an appearance, including threatening letters.

We then move forward in time to the present, but don't actually meet Frances again as she dies just after the book starts. And now we meet Annie who's never met her great aunt Frances but she and her artist mother, live in a house owned by the now-older woman. There's some backstory to her mother's falling out with her family, nevertheless she's been led to believe she'll inherit Frances's fortune. Some day.

However, for reasons we later discover Frances decides to skip a generation and include Annie in her will instead, calling her to Dorset. It's only after she arrives [and finds her great aunt dead] she discovers Frances has pitched her against another relative... leaving her estate to whoever solves her murder, giving them a week to do so, or the fortune will be lost.

Annie believes Frances's murder is linked to the disappearance of one of her best friends (Emily) ... back in 1965, so sets out to uncover the events from decades earlier.

Perrin then takes us back to that time where we meet Frances and her best friends, Emily and Rose - Emily in particular pushing boundaries and frustrating Frances. I actually really enjoyed the events of this timeline as the girls' friendship is tested and as Frances falls in love. It's kinda nice knowing she's been happy given we learn she's spent her life obsessed with her pending murder.

I liked Annie (and as this is labelled #1 and she's a budding crime fiction author) I suspect we'll meet her again. I did find it a bit jarring however that she's never met her great aunt but feels very deserving of her inheritance nonetheless. I also felt a few other characters, including Frances's lawyer and his son weren't entirely consistent, though perhaps this was because we were meant to be suspicious of them.

This started a little slowly but was ultimately an enjoyable read. The 'old' mystery from 1965 was interesting but also sadly ironic given its eventual impact on the present (and indeed, Frances's entire life).

3.5 stars

As a teenager Frances is told by a fortune teller she will be murdered so she spends her life trying to figure out who and why. When she eventually is murdered her great niece attempts to find out who has done it with the help of diaries she has found.
An interesting story with two strands, the “then” and “now”. I found the characters interesting as was how the present day behaviour relates to the past.

I loved this! Such a great book, with neat flashbacks via diary entries and a compelling murder-mystery story, this was great fun.

I loved the unique premise of this - a life spent trying to solve your own (as yet not happened) murder after its predicted by a fortune teller. And I really enjoyed the strong characters including Annie Adams "recently redundant admin assistant by day, wannabe writer by night, "prone to fainting." and "a contestant in Great Aunt Frances' murder games." Frances herself is "a paranoid busybody". It was funny too such as best friend Jenny's astute observation: "If TV has taught us anything, it's that the murder rate in small villages is disproportionately high." The only thing I didn't like was the "why" behind it all. But that obviously didn't affect the read which I thoroughly enjoyed. I really hope there's a sequel as the ending suggests or opens up the possibility for.

The book follows two timelines, Frances' diary entries from the 1960s and Annies experiences in Castle Knoll. I enjoyed these dual narrative storylines, especially the journal entries by Frances.

The book involves two murders, 60 years apart. Even thought the clues are there, I was guessing until the end. A very clever murder mystery story.

One of the best murder mystery books I have ever read, if not the best one! Kept me engaged and on the edge of my seat for most of it, even the beginning which is a rarity for me. Reading this, even in the first few chapters, I was absolutely obsessed with the story, the intrigues, the different characters, and the mystery behind it all, which roughly means I only ever took breaks from reading when I had to sleep or work.

I don't want to give too much away of the plot because going in blind added so much to the mystery, so if family drama, small town gossip, high stakes, found family, and revenge themes resonate with you, run don't walk to get your hands on this book. It is a cozy mystery that doesn't loose its grip on the reader for being cozy, which is a complaint I had with past cozy mysteries.

Absolutely recommend this to lovers of mystery and Agatha Christie. Do not recommend this to those that are facing busy periods of their lives because they will feel the need to drop everything to read this just like I did. Can't wait to purchase myself a copy once this comes out!

Thank you NetGalley, Kristen Perrin and Quercus for providing me with this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Frances Adams has been haunted her whole life after visiting a fortune teller at 16 and being told several things about her future. When her Great nice Annie is summoned to Frances's estate, she thinks it is just to sign some papers after Frances has decided to change her will, but before anything can be read or signed, her body is found.

Following past and present POVs, Frances in the past in the years after the fortune telling as it takes a hold on her life, and Annie in the present using the files 'Castle Knoll Files' that Frances wrote to try and solve her murder. This was a good cosy mystery with two great lead characters.

It took me until approximately half way to really get into this book. I kept picking it up and putting it back down. I’m not a big fan of changing timelines and I didn’t love the MC in the present day (liked Frances though!!) It for more interesting and the big reveal was pretty good but then it just stopped. I feel there could have been something extra….

This was such a fun book! I've never read any cosy crime before and this was a great story to introduce me to the genre. With alternating timelines, an isolated community, and characters you're not sure you can trust, I was gripped. It feels weird to say that a murder mystery book can feel warm and cosy, but this one really did. I think it was the growing up aspects of it - seeing characters as teenagers in the flashbacks and then as adults dealing with grief and complicated life things. It gave the book a more grounded feel to it, and made the community feel more real.

I couldn't wait to find out what really happened to Frances and Emily. I really loved the fortune / premonition aspect of the book, and how that kind of festered and became an obsessive piece of the case. Watching everything come together was very satisfying, and I was surprised by the twist at the end.

The only reason I've marked it down a little is because I personally didn't really connect with the main character. I would've loved to see more of Frances and the 1960s timeline, but the writing from Annie's perspective felt a little stilted for me.

But I'd definitely recommend this one if you love your cosy crime, Richard Osman, Ian Moore, type books! It was a really nice change for me, and has made me want to explore the genre more.

A dual-timeline whodunnit that follows the recent death of an elderly woman seemingly ruled by her paranoia, and the investigations of her pseudo-grandniece into uncovering the truth behind her passing. Straddling the line between the cosy Death in Paradise and the darker Midsomer Murders, Perrin's cast of characters are enjoyable to follow and seem ripe for further adventures, even after the primary crime is solved by page's end, and her plotting of the mystery makes How to Solve Your Own Murder a breezy, entertaining read.