How to Solve Your Own Murder.

Very British, very country, and a whole lot of fun. Back in 1965, when she was 17, Frances was told by a fortune teller that her future “contains dry bones. Your slow demise begins when you hold the queen in the palm of one hand. Beware the bird…But daughters are the key to justice.” While most teens would shrug it off, Frances became obsessed with the prediction, and devoted much of her life to warding off the prophecy. Jump to today—the story flips back and forth—and meet 25-year-old Annie, an aspiring mystery writer and Frances’s great niece. She’s been summoned to the village of Castle Knoll for a meeting with Great Aunt Frances and a discussion about “the responsibilities that will come with being sole benefactor of her estate and assets.” So off Annie heads to Castle Knoll, meets up with a motley crew of relatives, and quickly manages to arm herself with Great Aunt Frances’s extensive diaries that she discovers in the library. This novel is marvelously well-balanced, humorous, and lighthearted while at the same time dark and macabre, with two great characters—Frances and Annie—who share the narrative from opposite ends. Fans of Anthony Horowitz and Richard Osman will find much to enjoy here