When she was a teenager, Frances Adams visited a fortune teller at a fair she was attending with her two best friends. She was told that she would be murdered. There was a bit more to that prediction but, spoilers... This, as you can imagine was a bit of a shock and, well, basically changes the life path she has planned and also pretty much influenced her every movement and decision... It really was a weight...
Our main story starts nearly sixty years later when Frances's great-niece Annie Adams is summoned to a meeting with Frances, her solicitors and others. She arrives only to be told that Frances has car trouble so will not attend the solicitor's office where the meeting was planned. Instead they are to go to her. Which they do, and find her lying dead...
Long story short - the will decrees that whoever solves her murder will inherit the lot. Unless its the police, in which case it will all go to the Crown/Government. Annie's main rival is Saxon who is Frances' late husband's nephew and who firmly believes he is entitled to the lot... To make it even more interesting, there's also a time limit...
And so begins a cracking whodunnit which takes the reader back and forth in time as the pieces of the puzzle are slowly exposed until finally, the whole truth is laid bare. The past is ably injected into the narrative by way of diary entries which adds a bit of spice to the mix.
I really enjoyed this book. It's quite a novel premise which kickstarts a very interesting and intriguing plot which is most ably executed. Wrapping up in a wholly satisfying ending. The characters are all well drawn and easy to connect with. As per the genre I did a bit of toing and froing with my allegiance as I got to know them better. So much so that I was actually quite sad to have to say goodbye to them at the end of the book. So... you can imagine my delight when I found out that it's the start of a series. I'm definitely going to look out for book two... My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Great Aunt Frances Adams has been murdered. After 60 years, she has been vindicated. Following a fortune teller's prediction when she was 16, Frances has been telling everyone she will indeed be murdered while relentlessly pursuing leads to discover who the killer might be. Now there is a cabinet full of information to help the person to find her killer after she is gone. Who will take on the challenge? Annie, her great niece has been entrusted with the task and if she solves the murder she will inherit Great Aunt Frances' estate. Is Annie up to the job or will nephew Saxon beat her and take everything?
I started this book full of enthusiasm, anticipating an easy absorbing read. Unfortunately my enthusiasm quickly waned. I felt the characters needed more development, the plot needed tightening up a bit, the 1960s needed to be presented more convincingly, the Englishness never felt quite authentic. That being said, I do see potential in this author and I think that the next books may well be much better.

I enjoyed this and would recommend it to fans of the genre, it gives out Agatha Christie vibes and the main character, Annie, is very likable. What's not to like about a fortune teller's prediction coming true many years later? And the fact that Annie, has never met her great aunt Frances and therefore, we go through the clues with her, and get to know the victim together as the mystery unfolds, makes the story more interesting and appealing. The time jumps between past and present are really good and make Frances feel more relatable, not just an old, quirky lady who was killed. A lot of well plotted twists and some highly unlikable characters, make for a fun read! An easy, fun read, would highly recommend if you're a fan of the genre and looking for your next read.

I'm wondering what will happen in the second book of this series because to me the story was nicely rounded up. We'll see.
In times I found this book a little hard to follow because the complicated family ties. We get to read the story from two POV's and since one part of the story is set in the sixties and the other in the present, the reader has to make a lot of connections before the story gets wholly clear.
Main character Annie needs more background and depth, I think, will the second book be a success. She's coming across as an 18-year old - she doesn't have a job, apparently not a lot of education but decides to 'write crime books'. Confronted with a death in the family she really needs to solve the crime that was involved, but she knows next to nothing about police procedural - hence the fact that she finds something that could be the murder weapon but instead of calling the police she picks it up and takes it to the police station.
Really?
Anyway, there are some interesting characters here - the greedy in-law, the estranged son and the dubious solicitor - but it was not enough for me to go beyond three stars.

Thanks to Quercus Books and Netgalley for this review copy.

As an Agatha Christie fan and lover of a good murder mystery this was right up my street and I literally finished in a weekend. It’s perfect for snuggling up on the sofa to read and escape with.

Annie is sent an invite to a meeting with her great aunt Francis whom she has never met.
The meeting is to discuss her aunt's wishes in the event of her death.
Francis is convinced someone will murder her after hearing her fortune told at a fair, not long after which one of her friends went missing.. She has spent her life trying to discover who would want to kill her.
Before Annie can meet Francis, Francis is killed in mysterious circumstances, leaving Annie to try to work out who did it and why.
An enjoyable murder mystery without the blood and gore of many. Almost a gentile murder.
Ideal holiday read.

Oh my word, this book had me reading it quickly!! Great Aunt Frances, has been researching her own murder following a fortune teller's reading saying she will be murdered. We find out she has been keeping secrets of people within the village of Castle Knoll. It is told over several time periods. Annie Adams, Oliver Gordon, Elva and Saxon Gravesdown, Frances's nephew from her marriage to Ford Gravesdown, are pitted against each other as per the terms of Frances's will. Along with Detective Crane and Mr Gordon, her solicitor, are there to keep score of the winning person. Annie discovers a dairy from 1966, and this talks about Emily's disappearance. No spoilers but I found it to be an enjoyable, unputdownable book with a few red herrings thrown in along with the twists turns of the plot. I will be recommending this book.

Throughly enjoyed this book. A good pace to it and I loved how it developed. Kept me guessing until the end.

The way I’d describe this book is ‘meh’. It wasn’t terrible but it wasn’t amazing either. The first half of the book was really good and it drew me into the mystery but then second half felt rushed as if it the author was just trying to get it done. It left a lot of loose ends and I felt it just jumped to the conclusion with no actual way of explaining how the character really solved the mystery. It was like she took a wild guess and hoped it worked. It was an easy read, great first half but the final half just fell flat with a lot of unanswered questions.

I really enjoyed this dual timeline mystery. It had an old fashioned style to it that made it very readable. Great characters throughout and I especially enjoyed the diary story.

This is a great twist on a detective story, with the prime mover trying to solve her and a friend’s murder before it happens, and roping in the main protagonist (a debutante mystery writer) when she is bumped off before she figures things out.

Has many of the standard features of a traditional detective story and some new ones.

When Frances is a teenager she is told by a psychic that one day she will be murdered and takes this so much to heart, she spends the rest of her life gathering as much information about her friends and neighbours as possible. When Frances is murdered 60 years later it is up to her great niece, an aspiring crime writer, to solve the whodunnit.

This book is a good cozy mystery, perfect for fans of Richard Osman and the Rev. Richard Coles. It has an interesting cast of characters and moves from past to present in an interesting and quick paced way. It's not revolutionary but good mystery is very difficult to write and Kristen Perrin does a bang up job.

This has been written in an Agatha Christie style but with a much more modern twist. It was a case of dining oout who committd te murder, why and when and throughout I kept changing my mind. The story is fairly convoluted with so many characters involved and the flashbacks were very helpful but added more characters and events that needed being considered if you needed to solve the crime.
The comparison between the London life an the village life was very well written and added more to the intrigue.
A good book that i recommend to crime sleuths

Two mysteries for the price of one as Annie investigates both who murdered Frances, who herself had been waiting for this day since the 1960s and also unveils the truth about what happened to Emily back in the 60's.
Very Christie in its plot style with the traditional gathering of suspects, wills to be read and convoluted hoops to jump through for the inheritance Annie has her work cut out to solve the murder.
There are a lot of characters in the book, which was a bit confusing at times, but the main players are focused and it is clear with whom the story lies at each new reveal of information.
A thoroughly enjoyable, gentle crime read!

How To Solve Your Own Murder had you drawn in from the start, the story begins a little bit slow but the pace picks up and has you questioning everything on who done it! an absolute superb book

This book has the puzzling charm of an Agatha Christie whodunnit. There is a gradual drip-feeding of the various little mysteries, which kept me engaged throughout, right up to the big reveal. Everything was then neatly tied up with a happy ending that seemed a fitting conclusion for many of the characters.

How to Solve Your Own Murder weaves good mysteries, delightful settings, and engaging characters into one really enjoyable adventure.

Highly recommend if you like a bit of head scratching while you race to beat the protagonists to solve the puzzle!

I loved this story.

Annie was a brilliant sleuth. She was such a genuinely nice person which was so refreshing to read.

Frances was an interesting character. The flash-back scenes told via her diary added a whole other layer to the mystery Annie is trying to solve in the present day, and there were plenty of clues which in hindsight made Annie's solution make sense.

The pages practically turned themselves.

I liked the premise of this book and the writing style which felt quite Agatha Christie lite with the big house and a village full of secrets. However, I was less convinced by the very convoluted plot which involved so many characters that I kept forgetting who they were. I understand this is the author's adult fiction debut, and will be interested to see what path her future works take .
Thank you to netgalley and Quercus Books for an advance copy of this book

Really enjoyable story around two mysteries - what happened to Francis's friend, Emily, in the 1960s, and who killed Francis in the present day. Thanks to a fortune teller, Francis has always believed she will be murdered so has spent decades collecting information about people who might want her dead. Her great-neice Annie is tasked with solving the mysteries in this traditional mystery set in a country house and a small village where everyone has a secret.
Amusing and well set up, it's an enjoyable read, and for once I didn't guess 'whodunnit'.

How to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin was an interesting take on the murder mystery. I found the book slow to start and difficult to become involved in. But as it progressed it was easy to be drawn into. I liked Annie particularly and was soon rooting for her.