How to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin Summary

How to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin is a cozy mystery novel where Frances Adams receives a fortune in 1965 predicting her murder. She spends sixty years investigating potential killers and compiling evidence on everyone she meets. When Frances is murdered in her sixties, her great-niece Annie must solve the crime to inherit her estate, competing against other family members in a race against time.

Kristen Perrin is an American author originally from Seattle, Washington, who worked as a bookseller before moving to the UK to pursue graduate studies. She earned her PhD from University College London and lives in Surrey with her family. How to Solve Your Own Murder is her adult debut novel, published in March 2024, following her middle-grade series Attie and the World Breakers.

How to Solve Your Own Murder is perfect for fans of cozy mysteries, dual-timeline narratives, and classic whodunits with modern complexity. Readers who enjoy Agatha Christie-style murder mysteries, small-town secrets, and amateur detective stories will appreciate this book. It appeals to those who grew up reading Nancy Drew or watching crime procedurals like CSI, seeking an engaging puzzle with multiple layers.

How to Solve Your Own Murder offers an intriguing premise combining fortune-telling prophecy with classic mystery elements across two timelines. The novel blends 1960s secrets with contemporary investigation, providing multiple mysteries that interweave throughout the story. Readers appreciate Kristen Perrin's fresh take on the cozy mystery genre, though the 513-page length requires commitment for those seeking a fuller, more complex narrative than traditional single-timeline mysteries.

In 1965, seventeen-year-old Frances Adams visits fortune teller Madame Peony Lane at the Castle Knoll Country Fair and receives a chilling prediction that she will be murdered. The prophecy includes specific details that begin manifesting immediately, including threatening letters, which convinces Frances to take the warning seriously. This prophecy becomes Frances' obsession for sixty years, driving her to compile evidence on every person she encounters.

Frances Adams is the central victim who receives her murder prophecy as a teenager in 1965 and spends six decades preparing for it. She becomes the village busybody of Castle Knoll, gathering dirt on everyone as insurance against her predicted fate. Frances creates an elaborate system of murder boards, files, and journals documenting her investigations. Her eccentric detective work and paranoia define her life until the prophecy finally comes true.

Annie Adams is Frances' great-niece, an aspiring mystery writer from London who never met her great-aunt before being summoned to the estate. When Frances is murdered, Annie discovers she's part of a competition outlined in the will: whoever solves Frances' murder within a week inherits the entire estate. Despite appearing the weakest link against competing relatives and Detective Crane, Annie uses Frances' old diaries and her own investigative instincts to pursue justice.

Emily was Frances' best friend who mysteriously disappeared in 1965, shortly after Frances received her fortune. The disappearance occurs soon enough after the prophecy that many details from the fortune appear connected to Emily and the people in Frances' life. Annie discovers that this decades-old disappearance is directly linked to Frances' murder sixty years later, making Emily's case crucial to solving the present-day crime.

How to Solve Your Own Murder alternates between two timelines: Frances' journal entries from 1965 when she receives the prophecy and befriends Emily and Rose, and Annie's present-day investigation after discovering Frances murdered. This structure allows readers to piece together the mystery from both perspectives, revealing how past events and relationships directly connect to Frances' eventual death. The dual narrative creates a richer, more complex puzzle than traditional single-timeline mysteries.

Gravesdown Hall is Frances Adams' sprawling country estate in Castle Knoll, England, where the murder takes place. The mansion contains an eccentric library filled with Frances' lifetime of detective work, including murder boards, files, and compiled evidence on local residents. The estate becomes the prize in Frances' will, with inheritance going to whoever solves her murder, making it both crime scene and motivation for the competing investigators.

How to Solve Your Own Murder is the first book in The Castle Knoll Files series by Kristen Perrin. While it functions as a standalone mystery with a complete resolution, the series designation suggests future books may return to Castle Knoll or feature similar investigative competitions. The novel establishes the English countryside setting and characters that could continue in subsequent installments.

How to Solve Your Own Murder explores self-fulfilling prophecy and obsession, examining how Frances' belief in her fortune shapes her entire life. The novel addresses themes of buried secrets, family dysfunction, and the weight of the past on present relationships. Kristen Perrin also explores justice, revenge, and the lengths people go to protect themselves, while questioning whether we can truly prevent destiny or inadvertently create it through our actions.