Reviews tagging 'Grief'

How to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin

11 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

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

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

tamara_joy's review against another edition

mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Murder, Death, Medical content, Pregnancy, Classism, and Vomit

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Alcohol, Drug use, and Infertility

ms_elchert's review against another edition

mysterious medium-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Grief, Child death, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Death, Murder, Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Classism, Pregnancy, Violence, Blood, and Alcohol

Minor: Homophobia, Car accident, Outing, and Vomit

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

eperetz's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

The characters and perspectives in this story were incredible. As an avid murder mystery reader, the plot kept me guessing and kept me engaged with even the smallest details. And if you wanted to turn this into a series of Annie and Crane solving the other crimes Frances uncovered over the years I would read every word. 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Gaslighting

Minor: Grief, Pregnancy, Body horror, Car accident, Gun violence, Alcohol, Classism, Sexual content, and Vomit

chelseamayxxx's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Thank you to net gallery and the author and publisher for this arc copy of the audio book. I really enjoyed the narrator of this audio book as she made you feel like she was part of the book and you could feel all the characters emotions thought the way she read this book which I really enjoyed. The characters in this book were all told so well and described is so much detail which helped you learn about the characters a lot. I like the way the story went from the past to the future as that made the book a lot more engaging to the reader as you got to see the different parts of the story and how it all clicked together in the end. I really like the main character she was so well written and she brought the book to life more and I enjoyed watching her though out the book and how she become more confident though out the book. The ending of the book and the killer of the book I didn’t expect at all as I thought it was another character but when all the puzzle pieces were put together it made sense why the killer was who it was and why they did what they did and try to do towards the end of the book. I really enjoyed the ending were her mum kept the house she loved and she stayed in the village to get to know her family and wrrr her family roots came though. The only character I wasn’t 100% sure of was the police officer as he did creep me out though out the book and he just seemed a bit odd and over bearing in my opion. Also this book bought back my true love of reading again and bought me out of a reading slump. I will be reading more books by this author in the future for definite xxx 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, and Murder

likeagilmoregirl's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

How to Solve Your Own Murder was a five star read from the very beginning! I can’t say enough good things about this book. Not only was it a fantastic murder mystery with classic Clue vibes, but it also managed to feel suspenseful and cozy at the same time.

Annie, our main character, finds herself in a race against the clock to solve her superstitious Great Aunt Frances’ murder. Along the way, she runs into fantastically written characters, stumbles into danger, and uncovers a story that leaves the reader invested chapter after chapter. 

The story was laid out very well. It is told between alternating chapters of Annie’s investigation and Frances’ diary entries from the 1960s. The pacing is fantastic. And truths are revealed in a way that gives the reader a good balance of being unsure who the killer is, but also feeling like they are keeping up with the main character. 

I loved this book. It was so much fun! The characters were entertaining, the setting came to life in my mind easily, and I felt invested in the story. I can’t wait to get my hands on a physical copy of this book!

*Huge thanks to Netgalley, Penguin Group Dutton, and Kristen Perrin for granting me access to the advanced copy of this book in e-book format*

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship and Murder

Moderate: Grief, Death, Infidelity, and Pregnancy