How to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
**3.5-stars rounded up **
Annie Adams has had her presence requested at a meeting hosted by her wealthy and reclusive Great-Aunt Frances. Annie doesn’t really know Great-Aunt Frances, so the invitation stirs up some anxiety, but also a lot of intrigue.
Unfortunately, by the time Annie arrives to the quaint English village of Castle Knoll, where her Great-Aunt lives, Frances is already dead; murdered.
In a way, it almost seems fitting. Frances was a woman literally obsessed with her own death for close to 60-years.
This began in 1965, at the local fair, when a fortune-teller predicted Frances would be murdered. Disturbing, sure. The prediction also included clues as to how it would happen. Frances, unsurprisingly, had a hard time living her life without seeing connections to those clues everywhere.
Most of the long-time residents of Castle Knoll were well aware of Frances’s preoccupation with her impending murder, and they have a lot of opinions on that and her.
Annie is thrust into this world, where everyone seems to know a lot more about her Great-Aunt than she does. Now it’s up to Annie to solve the murder first; there’s an inheritance on the line, and of course, her Great-Aunt’s legacy and reputation.
How to Solve Your Own Murder was a fun an engaging mystery. It was the exact tone I needed at the time I picked it up just prior to Thanksgiving holiday.
The slow-build and seamless back-and-forth between the past and present perspectives were exactly what I needed to take my mind off real life stressors.
It felt cozy and thoughtful, though I did struggle at times to keep track of some of the characters. With this being said, it’s still a very fun story featuring a likable new amateur sleuth, Annie, who I’m looking forward to getting to know even more as the series continues.
As mentioned above, this story does have both past and present perspectives. The past perspective follows Frances as she receives her fortune and the events that follow shortly thereafter. Our present perspective is of course, Annie.
I thought the way Perrin presented both of those perspectives was really well done and I did enjoy both equally. I thought it was layed out in a way that allows the Readers to piece things together in a natural way.
I also loved the quaint village atmosphere, my absolute favorite setting for a mystery. I feel like as the series continues, we’ll get to know the villagers more and that slight confusion with who’s who will go away.
I’m so excited to continue on with this series. I’m not sure what the plan is for it, but I think this was such a solid 1st-book and I know that the 2nd-book will be just as exciting. Annie is already a character I can’t wait to meet again.
Thank you to the publisher, Dutton, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I can’t wait for more Annie and the Castle Knoll Files!!!
