Reviews tagging 'Violence'

How to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin

14 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

puddleshoes's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship and Death

Moderate: Pregnancy, Medical content, and Violence

Minor: Child abuse

emilywemily6's review against another edition

mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

This was a solid whodunit with an interesting premise involving two timelines. I enjoyed seeing the journal entries being relevant in the present day timeline and found both timelines engaging. However, there were too many characters to keep track of, which made the ending/conclusion felt a bit rushed since the characters weren’t flushed out as well as I would have liked. And while I enjoyed the protagonist, some parts of their behavior and dialogue were stilted and obviously intended to just move the plot along- like how Annie called her best friend to talk about evidence and draw conclusions. I would really like to read another book by this author and with these characters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Violence, Toxic friendship, Death, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Alcohol, Gun violence, and Medical content

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

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

juffnstuff's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, and Medical content

Moderate: Death of parent and Violence

toffishay's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, Child death, and Death

Moderate: Gun violence

Minor: Sexual content

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

gretka's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Murder, Bullying, Toxic friendship, and Hate crime

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders

goldenlake's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Murder, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Stalking, Death of parent, Gore, Blood, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, Drug use, and Mental illness

Minor: Alcohol, Homophobia, Dementia, Infertility, Vomit, Grief, and Infidelity

thisbookisbananas's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

This was an enjoyable cozy murder mystery. It kind of felt like The Westing Game mixed with Midsomer Murders. I liked the puzzle of it all, but it somehow felt a little too drawn out for my taste. I think this is due to the dual timeline embedded in the story. The reveal was surprising, but felt anti-climactic because everything seemed so drawn out. I’m not sure if I’ll  continue on in this series, but I’m glad to have tried a new author. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gun violence and Violence

Minor: Vomit, Drug use, and Murder