I loved the start and setup of this book, seventeen year old Frances receives a cryptic fortune that changes the course of her life. Knowing she will be murdered, she becomes superstitious and strange. Collecting secrets and clues on everyone in town. When instead her friend Emily goes missing, Frances dedicates her life to solving her murder. Now in her seventies, Frances invites her great niece Annie to the estate but she’s found murdered before they can meet. Now Annie is tasked with solving Frances’ murder on her behalf. Leaving a ton of clues, Annie discovers who killed Emily all those years ago and murdered Frances to keep the secret hidden.

This was a pretty solid murder mystery. I really liked the fortune prophecy plot and it kept me guessing throughout. There were a lot of characters to keep track of and Frances had dirt on everyone. I liked the dry British humor and line delivery, I could see this play out on screen like a TV show.

I enjoyed Frances’ diary entries, where we get recollections from her POV about certain events that lead up to Emily’s death. I liked Annie’s POV and I respected her drive to get to the bottom of the secrets and clues Frances left behind. There were moments of intrigue and a creepy being-watched-feeling that Annie kept sensing, it added to the atmosphere that I also enjoyed.

I wished the pacing overall was a little faster and we got more character development for Annie. I would recommend this to Agatha Christie and cozy mystery fans.

Thank you to Netgalley and Dutton for the review copy.

Title: How to Solve Your Own Murder
Author: Kristen Perrin
Genre: Contemporary Mystery
Rating: 3/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️