How to Solve Your Own Murder

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Named most aniticpated by: Barnes & Noble, Goodreads, BookRiot, The Nerd Daily, Shelf Reflection, Novel Suspects, Borrow Read Repeat, The Everygirl, The Scout Guide, The Real Book Spy

The Top LibraryReads pick for March 2024

A Publishers Marketplace 2024 BuzzBook

For fans of Knives Out and The Thursday Murder Club, an enormously fun mystery about a woman who spends her entire life trying to prevent her foretold murder only to be proven right sixty years later, when she is found dead in her sprawling country estate…. Now it’s up to her great-niece to catch the killer.

It’s 1965 and teenage Frances Adams is at an English country fair with her two best friends. But Frances’s night takes a hairpin turn when a fortune-teller makes a bone-chilling prediction: One day, Frances will be murdered. Frances spends a lifetime trying to solve a crime that hasn’t happened yet, compiling dirt on every person who crosses her path in an effort to prevent her own demise. For decades, no one takes Frances seriously, until nearly sixty years later, when Frances is found murdered, like she always said she would be.
 
In the present day, Annie Adams has been summoned to a meeting at the sprawling country estate of her wealthy and reclusive great-aunt Frances. But by the time Annie arrives in the quaint English village of Castle Knoll, Frances is already dead. Annie is determined to catch the killer, but thanks to Frances’s lifelong habit of digging up secrets and lies, it seems every endearing and eccentric villager might just have a motive for her murder. Can Annie safely unravel the dark mystery at the heart of Castle Knoll, or will dredging up the past throw her into the path of a killer?
 
As Annie gets closer to the truth, and closer to the danger, she starts to fear she might inherit her aunt’s fate instead of her fortune.Praise for How to Solve Your Own Murder
“How to Solve Your Own Murder is a masterclass in the art of mystery. Kristen Perrin crafts a beguiling puzzle from sharp prose, compelling characters, and an irresistibly intricate setup. One of the best and most satisfying mysteries I’ve ever read.”—Elle Cosimano, New York Times bestselling author of Finlay Donovan is Killing It
 
“Debut novelist Kristen Perrin has done the impossible in delivering readers a quintessential English murder mystery with a fresh, unconventional approach. Idyllic country village? Check. Amateur sleuth? Check. But a fortune teller’s grim prediction coming true sixty years later? Now that makes for an enthralling tale. There’s no shortage of entertaining, well-rounded characters in this charming and multilayered whodunit, a perfect shelf companion alongside reader favorites like Agatha Christie, Richard Osman, and Nita Prose.”—Sarah Penner, New York Times bestselling author of The Lost Apothecary

“I so enjoyed this smart, original murder mystery. It’s filled with curious characters and takes place in the most gorgeous setting –  the mysterious Castle Knoll – and sucked me in from the very first pages. I think fans of Richard Osman will love this one.”—Beth O’Leary, author of The Flatshare

“Grab a blanket and mug of English breakfast tea and prepare to get lost in Kristen Perrin’s delightful How to Solve Your Own Murder. Perrin flawlessly links amateur sleuth, Annie, to a cast of eccentric characters, a fortune teller’s dreaded prediction, a decades-old mystery, and a puzzling murder. With Agatha Christie-like vibes and perfect for fans of The Maid, this is an utterly charming whodunnit—I loved it!”—Karma Brown, #1 internationally bestselling author of Recipe for a Perfect Wife

“A quaint village in southwest England, an amateur female sleuth with the deductive skills of Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot, and an eccentric murdered aunt come together in a brilliant and masterful whodunnit. For all murder mystery fans–this one’s for you! Don’t miss it.”—Liv Constantine, internationally bestselling author of The Last Mrs. Parrish

“I loved it: warm, clever and wildly original.”—Elly Griffiths, Edgar award-winning author of The Stranger Diaries

“Select a positive superlative and be confident readers will use it in describing this tale. Fans of Alice Bell, Janice Hallett, and Agatha Christie will hope to see more from Perrin, who set aside YA fiction to make her adult debut.”—Booklist (starred review)

“The pace is quick, the red herrings are plentiful, and Annie’s growth from timid wannabe writer to confident sleuth is beautifully rendered. Combining elements of Agatha Christie, Anthony Horowitz, and Midsomer Murders, this is a richly entertaining whodunit from a promising new talent.”—Publishers Weekly

“A spellbinding cozy mystery layered with so many twists and turns that readers, right up to the last page, will keep changing their minds about whodunnit and why.”—Shelf Awareness

“Perfectly structured and filled with suspense, Kristen Perrin, making her adult fiction debut, delivers a fascinating and twisting whodunit packed with wit and heart that’s perfect for fans of Richard Osman and Anthony Horowitz.”—The Real Book Spy
 
“A deliciously inventive new take on the classic murder mystery. I couldn’t put it down.”—Bobby Palmer, author of Isaac and the Egg
 
“Kristen Perrin has such a bright, fresh and natural voice – I was utterly absorbed by this classic murder mystery, with a uniquely spooky twist, and whizzed through the entire story in one sitting.”—Jessica Bull, author of Miss Austen Investigates
 
“A clever, captivating debut with an abundance of style.”—Kate Wells, author of Murder on Malvern FarmKristen Perrin is originally from Seattle, Washington, where she spent several years working as a bookseller before moving to the UK to do a master’s and PhD. She lives with her family in Surrey, where she can be found poking around vintage bookstores, stomping in the mud with her two kids, and collecting too many plants. Her middle-grade series, Attie and the World Breakers, was published in German, Dutch, and Polish. How to Solve Your Own Murder is her adult debut.US

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