How to Cheat Your Own Death

by: Kristin Perrin

5/5

Synopsis

Some secrets are deadlier than others

1968: Frances Adams is loving her new London life, and she’s stepped into a world of glamour thanks to her new friend, Vera Huntington–a magnetic socialite as mysterious as she is provocative. Vera dances around London like she owns it, taking Frances with her.

Present day: When Annie Adams heads to London to visit her famous artist mother, Laura, the last thing she expects to find is a dead body. Least of all for it to be Laura’s new protégée, left in an alley with her heart surgically removed from her chest.

Annie is no stranger to murder–after all, she’s solved a few already. And something about this case feels familiar. She’s read about one just like it in the journals of her late great aunt Frances, whose friend Vera was killed in the 1960s in the exact same way.

As Annie investigates, threats pile up on Laura’s doorstep, and it soon becomes clear that she’s next. With her mother’s life on the line, can Annie find the killer before it’s too late?

Genre

Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Murder Mystery

Content Warning

Stalking, Murder, Minimal Gore

Kristin Perrin knocked it out of the park with “How to Cheat Your Own Death”. I loved this one! So well written, engaging, and exciting! Let’s get into what I loved about it.

What I Liked

Plot

I loved that it still follows the fortunes and fate. In the present-day timeline, we get to follow Annie’s fortune as it tangles with her mom, Laura, and Rowan (yay!). I really like that it ties parts in from the first book, so definitely don’t read these out of order! It made me so happy that we get to see Frances and Ford’s relationship develop. If you’ve read the first two (which I hope you have if you’re reading this!), you’ll know they marry at some point, but that has seemed impossible until this book. It was also fun to get out of Castle Knoll and explore the Chelsea House a bit, and learn more about Laura and her art. 

“As the taxi pulls up in front of an enormous white stone mansion on a tree-lined street, I look at the gleaming marble steps at the front and feel transported to Frances’s evening spent drinking champagne.”

There was one mystery I figured out before the end, and I must say I was quite pleased with myself. I didn’t have any clue who the murderer was until the reveal, and I love when an author keeps me guessing!

The ending was fantastic. It sets up the next book differently from the last two, and I am so ready to learn a little more about Rowan Crane. 

Characters

Let’s start with the elusive Sam Arlington. He’s been in the background, kind of a big question mark for the first two books, so it was great that he finally showed his face. For a character with very few on-page moments, he was really well developed.

Laura is someone who’s been so essential to Annie’s character development, but didn’t have a lot of page time either in the first two. I enjoyed that she was a bit more of a focus in this one, and we learned why she’s been so elusive. 

“Mum has always been extremely private about her work–her whole process is usually shrouded in secrecy.”

Vera’s character was one I really liked. I still don’t know who she really was, and it added to the mystery around her. It made me so curious who was right: her dad and brother, or Frances?

Setting

As I said before, I loved that we moved from Castle Knoll to the Chelsea House in London. Don’t get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed the first two books’ setting. The Chelsea House has played an important role in various ways previously, it was fun to actually be there. The vibe in the 60’s London made me want to build a time machine just so I could go there and experience it for myself. 

“Frances had her own London, the kind that included hidden Soho spots that were cool because they were shabby.”

What I Didn’t Like

There wasn’t anything specific I didn’t like. Jenny wasn’t really in it, and I missed her and Annie’s friendship playing a part in the story so that was a bummer, even though I know she didn’t really have a good place this go around.

Overall it was an excellent third addition to the Castle Knoll series, I cannot wait for the next book to be released! If you haven’t read my other reviews on the Castle Knoll books you can here and here.

If you have a book you’d like to recommend, please leave a comment! Happy Reading!