“Your future contains dry bones. Your slow demise begins right when you hold the queen in the palm of one hand. Beware the bird, for it will betray you. And from that, there’s no coming back. But daughters are the key to justice, find the right one and keep her close. All signs point toward your murder.”
In 1965, when Frances Adams was seventeen, a fortune teller told her that one day she’d be murdered. Thus began a lifetime of trying to prevent the crime that would be her eventual demise.
No one took Frances seriously for sixty years – until, of course, she was murdered. But for Frances, being the village busybody was a form of insurance. She’d spent a lifetime compiling dirt on every person she met, just in case they might turn out to be her killer.
When her great-niece Annie arrives from London and discovers that Frances’ worst fear has come true, Annie is thrust into her great-aunt’s last act of revenge against her sceptical friends and family. Frances’ will stipulates that the person who solves her murder inherits her millions, and she’s challenged a group that includes Annie to prove to the world that Frances was right all along about her future.
Can Annie unravel the mystery and find justice for Frances, or will digging up the past lead her into the path of the killer?
As a fan of mystery / thriller novels, the title of this book was too intriguing to pass up. How does one solve one’s own murder? After all, the victim must be dead for it to be called murder.
Set in an English country village with an estate that has been in the family for generations, this story has all the ingredients for a charming, cosy whodunnit.
The narrative follows two timelines: one introducing Annie Adams in the present, a wannabe writer in London still waiting for her big break. The other as a journal that has meticulously captured the events of Frances Adams’ life ever since she was told her grim fortune at the Castle Knoll village fair in 1965.
Annie, who has never met her great-aunt, is summoned to the village when Frances revises her will that now includes her. She isn’t particularly keen but she needs to confirm she can keep their house in Chelsea which belongs to Frances, and where her mother has been living for several years. Unfortunately, before Annie can meet her great-aunt, Frances’s dead body is discovered at her estate on the morning of their meeting.
How To Solve Your Own Murder is an intricately layered puzzle with eccentric characters, multiple motives, a hefty inheritance and all-round mayhem. Add to that the ticking clock within which Annie must solve Frances’s murder if she wants to keep her mother’s home.
Annie is not a detective; she doesn’t have the nose for sleuthing, but she is a writer. She uses her plotting skills to unravel the murder and get to the root of the motive and its mystery.
The story weaves between numerous characters, some with a motive, some with an agenda, and almost all of them with a history that somehow connects them to the events of 1965. The author takes you on a suspenseful journey with old diaries, photo albums, and murder boards, that culminates in the big reveal.
I loved the characters in this novel, both the good and the bad in what they brought to the story and how they fit. Even though Annie is the star of this novel, I find myself insanely curious about Detective Crane who has as much to benefit if Annie is unable to solve the case in time. While he insists on following protocol, he also displays concern for Annie’s well-being at Castle Knoll.
Quaint villages may seem charming but still waters run deep. So do secrets that have been lying buried for decades until sixty years later a fortune teller’s prophecy finally comes true, revealing the wickedly ugly face of friendship and love.
The book is listed as Castle Knoll Files 01 so I am excited this will be a series. I am already on the edge of my seat to know what happens next with Annie. And oh, I do hope Detective Crane will stick around.
A breathless race of murder and intrigue, this is a fabulously crafted mystery that will persuade you to put your own sleuthing cap on and dig through the clues.
How To Solve Your Own Murder (Castle Knoll Files 01) by Kristen Perrin. Narrated by Alexandra Dowling and Jaye Jacobs. Due to be published on 26th March 2024 by Quercus Audio, a division of Hachette UK. This ARC courtesy of NetGalley and Quercus Audio.
Book 5 of 2024.
Aquamarine Flavours Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟.
Available on Amazon*.
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Superb article.
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Thanks!
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