Description: “For fans of Knives Out and The Thursday Murder Club, an enormously fun mystery about a woman who spends her entire life trying to prevent her foretold murder only to be proven right sixty years later, when she is found dead in her sprawling country estate… Now it’s up to her great-niece to catch the killer.
It’s 1965 and teenage Frances Adams is at an English country fair with her two best friends. But Frances’s night takes a hairpin turn when a fortune-teller makes a bone-chilling prediction: One day, Frances will be murdered. Frances spends a lifetime trying to solve a crime that hasn’t happened yet, compiling dirt on every person who crosses her path in an effort to prevent her own demise. For decades, no one takes Frances seriously, until nearly sixty years later, when Frances is found murdered, like she always said she would be.
In the present day, Annie Adams has been summoned to a meeting at the sprawling country estate of her wealthy and reclusive great-aunt Frances. But by the time Annie arrives in the quaint English village of Castle Knoll, Frances is already dead. Annie is determined to catch the killer, but thanks to Frances’s lifelong habit of digging up secrets and lies, it seems every endearing and eccentric villager might just have a motive for her murder. Can Annie safely unravel the dark mystery at the heart of Castle Knoll, or will dredging up the past throw her into the path of a killer?
As Annie gets closer to the truth, and closer to the danger, she starts to fear she might inherit her aunt’s fate instead of her fortune.” (GoodReads)
My thoughts:
I was hooked as soon as I read the title of the novel and really enjoyed the premise of the story. The protagonist Annie, is likeable and easy to root for. The back and forth between time periods is another aspect of the novel that I thoroughly enjoyed. This novel is great of you like mysteries and puzzle solving as it keeps you guessing until the very end.
The comparison of the novel to Knives Out and The Thursday Murder Club is a bit stretched in my opinion. If you are looking for humor in mystery, this novel is not the one. Although there some humorous moments, the novel lacks the underlying comedic tone that is prevalent in Knives Out and The Thursday Murder Club.
The title of the novel is so eye catching that it honestly leaves a lot to live up to in the story itself. Because of the family aspect of the novel, there are an abundance of characters that are difficult to keep track of and are underdeveloped. Not only are the secondary characters significantly lacking complexity, the protagonist herself lacks growth and development throughout the novel. Annie is a very likeable character, but that is it. She does not really grow as a character from the beginning to end of the novel. Additionally, the lack of language differentiation between the dual timelines makes it difficult to follow which perspective the story is being told from at different points. This them makes it easy to confuse Annie and Frances’ POVs. By the end of the novel, the pace rapidly speeds up as the pieces of the puzzle come together, making the reveal overwhelming.
Overall, the novel is very enjoyable and an easy read, but if you think too hard about what’s going on and the specific aspects of the story, you will be confused. In my opinion this novel is a three star read and although I do recommend it, I would prepare yourself to be underwhelmed.