How to Solve Your Own Murder

How does the motif of birds both inform and misdirect the mystery in the novel?

Compared to many of the other characters, Saxon and Elva feel one-dimensional. What about their characters makes them appear this way? What could be Perrin’s motive for leaving them less developed than other minor characters like Mr. Gordon or Oliver?

What are some clues Perrin leaves throughout the novel that could be foreshadowing for future stories set in this world?

Aside from the three best friends and Joe Leroy, what other characters show signs, though perhaps to a lesser extent, of the theme The Warping Nature of Obsession?

How does Laura Adams influence the narrative? Her role is limited to a few scenes, so aside from being Emily’s child, how does she function to either affect the plot or the characters?

Annie characterizes the trio of her great aunt’s friends as having “a toxic sort of closeness” and yet when she overhears another trio of teenagers in the pub arguing about borrowing clothes and makeup, she thinks they sound like normal young people (335, 284). How does Perrin create a sense of danger and unease between her great aunt and her two friends that strikes Annie as unique from this trio of teenagers?

There are many examples throughout the text of The Power of the Written Word. Aside from Frances’s journals, what example of the written word is the most powerful, and how does it affect the narrative?

Consider the title of the novel and the detective work of both Annie and Frances, as well as the gift of the journals at the end of the story. How does the novel’s title invite one into the story, and how is this fourth wall broken throughout the novel?