Lori C. (dollycas) reviewed How to Solve Your Own Murder (Castle Knoll Files, Bk 1) on + 639 more book reviews
Dollycas's Thoughts
Three teenage girls walk into Madame Peony Lane's tent at the Castle Knoll Country Fair in 1965. Two don't take her seriously, but one does. Frances Adams listens carefully to every word the "psychic" says and takes them to heart.
âYour future contains dry bones. Your slow demise begins right when you hold the Queen in the palm of your hand. Beware the bird, for it will betray you. And, from that, there is no coming back. But daughters are the key to justice, find the right one and keep her close. All signs point toward your murder.â
She spends the rest of her life trying to stave off death and trying to solve her own murder before it even happens.
Still alive and kicking almost 60 years later Frances has decided to change her will and requests her great-niece, Annie Adams come to her estate immediately. Sadly by the time Annie arrives in the small English village of Castle Knoll and her home, she finds Frances dead. Using all the information Frances has gathered over the years Annie plans to do whatever she can to find the killer and get justice for her aunt. But she has just met all the people in Frances's life, could one of them be the killer? In her quest to find the truth, she puts herself in grave danger. Will she join her aunt in the afterlife? or will she solve the murder mystery and receive her aunt's riches?
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This story is told from Annie's point of view and Frances's journals. I found Annie to be likable and engaging. She really knows nothing about her Great Aunt Frances but she gets to know her by reading her journals.
Readers and Annie are introduced to several people when she arrives in Castle Knoll. Her aunt's lawyer and old friend, Walter Gordon and his determined son Oliver, Frances' late husband's nephew, Saxon, along with his over-the-top wife Elva, she really grated on Annie's nerves and mine. After Frances's death, we meet Detective Crane. He seems very capable of solving the murder but a twist in Frances's will Saxon and Annie are in a race with him to catch the killer.
From Frances's journals, we meet her group of friends. Rose, Emily, and Frances were best friends, a young Walter Gordon, John Oxley, Teddy Crane, Saxon, and his Uncle Ford. The relationships between all of these characters are very complicated.
The idea of solving Frances's murder drew me right in. Frances had a room full of clues, files, and even murder boards with post-its, and strings galore. The journals added even more details. Annie didn't know any of the people so it was hard to know who to trust especially when many had motive to kill her great-aunt. She had to deal with secrets, lies, betrayals, and threats. With Frances's set timeline, the story has a very brisk pace. I admired the way Annie, the budding mystery writer, investigated the crime, but she does find herself in some precarious situations. The stress, tension, and danger build nicely to a dramatic reveal. The author did a brilliant job plotting out this story. I was gobsmacked reading the final chapters.
I found it very easy to escape into this story. I enjoyed going back and forth in time to see the characters and how they had developed from then to now. The English village settings of Castle Knoll and Gravestown Hall were perfect.
How to Solve Your Own Murder was an intriguing and original whodunit full of twists and turns that kept me guessing to the final pages. Annie Adams is now not only a budding mystery author but a budding amateur sleuth. I can't wait to see what Kristen Perrin has planned for her next.
Three teenage girls walk into Madame Peony Lane's tent at the Castle Knoll Country Fair in 1965. Two don't take her seriously, but one does. Frances Adams listens carefully to every word the "psychic" says and takes them to heart.
âYour future contains dry bones. Your slow demise begins right when you hold the Queen in the palm of your hand. Beware the bird, for it will betray you. And, from that, there is no coming back. But daughters are the key to justice, find the right one and keep her close. All signs point toward your murder.â
She spends the rest of her life trying to stave off death and trying to solve her own murder before it even happens.
Still alive and kicking almost 60 years later Frances has decided to change her will and requests her great-niece, Annie Adams come to her estate immediately. Sadly by the time Annie arrives in the small English village of Castle Knoll and her home, she finds Frances dead. Using all the information Frances has gathered over the years Annie plans to do whatever she can to find the killer and get justice for her aunt. But she has just met all the people in Frances's life, could one of them be the killer? In her quest to find the truth, she puts herself in grave danger. Will she join her aunt in the afterlife? or will she solve the murder mystery and receive her aunt's riches?
____
This story is told from Annie's point of view and Frances's journals. I found Annie to be likable and engaging. She really knows nothing about her Great Aunt Frances but she gets to know her by reading her journals.
Readers and Annie are introduced to several people when she arrives in Castle Knoll. Her aunt's lawyer and old friend, Walter Gordon and his determined son Oliver, Frances' late husband's nephew, Saxon, along with his over-the-top wife Elva, she really grated on Annie's nerves and mine. After Frances's death, we meet Detective Crane. He seems very capable of solving the murder but a twist in Frances's will Saxon and Annie are in a race with him to catch the killer.
From Frances's journals, we meet her group of friends. Rose, Emily, and Frances were best friends, a young Walter Gordon, John Oxley, Teddy Crane, Saxon, and his Uncle Ford. The relationships between all of these characters are very complicated.
The idea of solving Frances's murder drew me right in. Frances had a room full of clues, files, and even murder boards with post-its, and strings galore. The journals added even more details. Annie didn't know any of the people so it was hard to know who to trust especially when many had motive to kill her great-aunt. She had to deal with secrets, lies, betrayals, and threats. With Frances's set timeline, the story has a very brisk pace. I admired the way Annie, the budding mystery writer, investigated the crime, but she does find herself in some precarious situations. The stress, tension, and danger build nicely to a dramatic reveal. The author did a brilliant job plotting out this story. I was gobsmacked reading the final chapters.
I found it very easy to escape into this story. I enjoyed going back and forth in time to see the characters and how they had developed from then to now. The English village settings of Castle Knoll and Gravestown Hall were perfect.
How to Solve Your Own Murder was an intriguing and original whodunit full of twists and turns that kept me guessing to the final pages. Annie Adams is now not only a budding mystery author but a budding amateur sleuth. I can't wait to see what Kristen Perrin has planned for her next.
