September Book Recommendation

If the many charming books and British mystery TV shows are to be believed, a small English town may be the deadliest place in the world. A new small-town mystery series begins in How to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin, a dual-narrative murder mystery set on an English country estate with fresh and clever twists.

After a fortune teller in 1965 predicts her murder, Frances Adams spends her life both fearing her death and searching for her best friend who disappeared mysteriously when they were teenagers—until Frances actually is murdered 60 years later. Her grand-niece, a struggling writer named Annie, had been unexpectedly invited to the estate at Castle Knoll, upsetting long-standing presumptions about which desperate locals or conniving relatives will inherit Frances’ land and wealth. Now, Annie must solve the crime to avenge her great aunt’s death, and in so doing uncovers the dark heart of the quaint English village, where she might just find herself in the path of the killer.

This is an original and witty addition to the tradition of small-town English mysteries, and it already has a sequel: How to Seal Your Own Fate.

There are many excellent books recently that take apart the trends and tropes of a classic mystery, while still delivering on murder and intrigue. You may also enjoy The Author’s Guide to Murder by Beatriz Williams or Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto. You can request these books at the library in print, digital, or audio formats, or go online to find them through our catalogue: http://library.brucecounty.on.ca/