At the age of seventeen Frances Adams visits a fortune teller and receives a chilling prediction, that she will be murdered. For the next sixty years, Frances lives in fear of her fortune coming true and tries to solve the cryptic clues the fortune teller gave. On the day she is going to meet her great-niece Annabelle for the first time she is murdered and it is up to Annabelle to piece together the clues Frances has collected to try and solve the murder.
How To Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin is an old-school murder mystery. Set in a mansion in a small village there is a cast of larger-than-life characters, many of whom have a motive for murder. Saxon Gravesdown, another of the possible beneficiaries, came across as a classic villain. The narration makes you feel as if you are in the middle of events.
Annabelle knows of her great-aunt's existence but has never met her. When Frances announces that Annabelle is to be a beneficiary in her will she has to finally meet her great-aunt. On the very day of the meeting Frances is murdered, bringing about a prediction that was made almost sixty years previously. Frances has left instructions with her solicitor, whoever solves her murder will inherit her vast fortune, but they only have a week to solve the murder.
As everyone tries to solve the murder the story periodically jumps back in time and we learn about Frances and her close friends Emily and Rose in their late teens. The trio share a strong friendship, however jealousy begins to creep in as romance appears on the horizon.
I enjoyed the way in which the past and the present were woven together. Subtle clues from the past are dropped to help you try and solve the mystery of Emily's disappearance and Frances' murder. There is also some misdirection thrown in for good measure. I certainly didn't solve the mystery before the killer was revealed.
How To Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin will be published on 26th March 2024 in hardback, ebook and audio format. My thanks to NetGalley and Quercus Books for a review copy.
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