Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

How to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin

7 reviews

bibliomania_express's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

How to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristin Perrin is a unique take on a murder mystery that also employs a lot of classic tropes. It has the English estate and small town setting, secrets from the past, twisty family dynamics, greed, fear, passion, the amateur sleuth, the supportive best friend, and a dangerous gamble followed by a grand reveal.

I had a lot of fun with this book. Annie cannot resist a mystery, and she finds plenty to solve. I liked that she was curious and intelligent without being infalliable. Her medical fear also worked with the mystery and was consistent throughout the book. I also enjoyed her interactions with Detective Crane as they tried to solve her great-aunt Frances's murder.

This book really explores interpersonal dynamics through its present day investigation and the past timeline diary entries. It also looks at how much we can invest in something beyond ourselves, and how that can change your whole life.

I don't want to talk about the plot too much, but I love how Perrin basically weaves together two mysteries to explore friendship, family, obsession, and the ways people can or can't change. There's two closed circles of suspects (past and present) and they overlap in interesting ways.

I do wish we spent a bit more time getting to know some of the secondary characters and the village of Castle Knoll. Some of the diary entries were a bit long. On the other hand, I had suspicions but did not guess the murderer before the reveal.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship

Moderate: Death and Infidelity

Minor: Gaslighting, Gun violence, Violence, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Grief, Emotional abuse, Drug abuse, and Panic attacks/disorders

bessadams's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic friendship, and Death

Moderate: Drug abuse, Violence, Gun violence, and Pregnancy

Minor: Vomit, Alcohol, and Car accident

agathajanemaud1908's review against another edition

funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

I found the first few chapters a bit clunky, but then I got wrapped up in the mystery and finished this book in three days. A bit more tension in the climax and more details and background about the main character would have made this book even better. I also found some developments/theories of the mystery hard to follow.
Looks like this is book one of a series, so I’m looking forward to more mysteries involving Great Aunt Frances’ files! There’s a lot of potential for a great series involving the village of Castle Knoll.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Drug use, Pregnancy, Drug abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Murder, Bullying, Toxic friendship, and Grief

Moderate: Car accident, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Gun violence, Infertility, and Vomit

Minor: Abandonment

chelbelle122's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Murder, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Bullying, Death, and Violence

purplepenning's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

3.5

Really wanted to love it, but my interest kept wandering, which made it difficult to keep a large cast of characters in two different timelines straight. Great premise, but maybe a tighter edit would've been more to my tastes. I was unexpectedly bored and annoyed by the 1960s bright young things timeline — teen drama often affects me that way. And the present-day story managed to be both packed with clues and yet lacking a sense of urgency to drive it. I did enjoy that it felt like a fair, classical mystery, though — I had half of it figured out before the reveal.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship

Moderate: Grief, Infidelity, Emotional abuse, Vomit, Gaslighting, Murder, Death, Drug abuse, Medical content, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Alcohol, Physical abuse, Violence, Car accident, Pregnancy, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Classism, Death of parent, Infertility, and Sexual content

needles, including

attempted forced injection

burnedoutbookdragon's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny mysterious relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

WHAT I LIKED & DISLIKED ABOUT IT:
This read like the movie Clue for me. The right amount of cheesiness where it's not too cheesy but it's an ode to old-school murder mystery radio shows. I actually really liked the dual timelines where we get a perspective from teenage Great Aunt Frances. This was a fun and cozy read! I don't read a lot of mysteries and thrillers but I'm starting to become a fan. It looks like this is the first of a series and I'm looking for to the next one.

RECOMMENDATION:
If you like cozy mysteries and that old-school murder mystery vibes mixed with modern fun, I think you'll enjoy this. This isn't a mystery with a bunch of twists and suspenseful but thoroughly enjoyable. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Minor: Drug abuse

torturedreadersdept's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Infertility, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical content, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, Violence, Alcohol, Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, and Gaslighting

Minor: Car accident and Outing