The second in the Castle knoll series sees Annie Adams settling into the house she inherited from her Aunt Frances. When the body of the psychic her predicted her aunt's death is found in the solarium of Gravesdown Hall, Annie must turn again to her aunt's diaries and files to solve a murder. Annie is a likeable protagonist and this is an enjoyable story.

*3.5 stars*

Annie is back to trying to solve a new and old murder after a body is found in her house. This is the second in a series by Perrin. The first, How to Solve Your Own Murder, was the first and I loved that one! It was crazy that it was a debut, but it felt more like a seasoned writer. I didn’t like this one was much. It was hard for me to get into until about half way through. Even though I really enjoy the setting of Castle Knoll and most of the characters, it didn’t bring enough difference from the first one. There was only one new character and he was barely in it. The crimes were too much linked to the first book too. I liked the journal entries and the ending was well done.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for the advanced copy of the book!

This one had all the same fun vibes as the first one. I imagine the audio would be just as good! I listened to the first one road trip and this one seemed like it would’ve been great for that too

Thank you to Dutton and Netgalley for an advanced copy! I really enjoyed the first book in this series, this one was good too.
Annie is setting in Castle Knoll after solving the murder if her Aunt Frances Murder and inheriting her estate. She is walking one day when Peony Lane gives her a fortune, the same fortune teller who predicted her aunts death decades before. Before she can even work out what the fortune means Peony Lane is found dead in her house! To solve what in the world is going on she has to research all the secrets from aunt Frances past to piece together who would kill Peony Lane.
This one definitely ties up a lot of loose ends from the first one but I had a problem keeping the characters straight. It’s been a year since I read the first one so a little refresher connecting the dots for me would have made this a 4 star.

How to Seal Your Own Fate by Kristen Perrin is a fun cozy mystery sequel to How to Solve Your Own Murder released last year. I hadn’t read the first but heard so many good things about it, I wanted so much to read this one and I was not disappointed. It did take a little orienting having not read the first book, but outside of being generally aware that I was reading a sequel, i appreciated that this book pretty well stood on its own.

Set in Castle Knoll, we pick up with protagonist Annie in her inherited manor, Gravesdown Estate. On a morning walk, she is approached by Peony Lane who offers her a fortune “that (Annie) wouldn’t want.” Annie politely declines and sends her on her way. Later that day, imagine Annie’s surprise when Peony turns up dead inside her home and all signs point to Annie as the prime suspect for her murder. Can Annie solve her murder before she is implicated for a crime she didn’t commit?

This book is wrapped up in two timelines and we get to hear more from Frances as a young person getting her start at collecting secrets. With twists and turns you can’t see coming, this was a fun ride and I enjoyed it thoroughly!

I would like to thank Penguin Group and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I love me some cozy mystery and Kristen Perrin is great at it! Loved the first book and was so excited to see a second one. This story held my attention and didn’t let go till the end. Kristen’s stories are always fun and gets me in the right mood. Hopefully there’s more to come in this series! Thank you NetGalley, Kristen Perrin and Dutton for this digital arc!

Another great time tagging along with Annie Adam’s as she gets caught up a new mystery at castle knoll. Small town murder mystery mix with cozy cottage core what more can you ask for? Multi pov with knives out vibes another solid intriguing plot and mystery that needs solving. Hoping we get a book 3!!!

I loved How To Solve Your Own Murder.
Love Perrin’s writing, and couldn’t believe it was her debut.
I wasn’t as fond of How to Seal Your Own Fate. It took me a while to get into. Annie is trying to solve a new murder in the sequel, and piece together mysteries from the past.
Still loved the setting and the characters, but I found the story line uneventful.
It did pick up pace at the end and I did like the journal entries to get a more in depth look of the past, but I was a little disappointed.
Thank you so much for inviting me to read this one netgalley.

Kristen Perrin delivers another captivating cozy mystery in How to Seal Your Own Fate, the thrilling sequel to How to Solve Your Own Murder. This clever who-dun-it follows Annie Adams as she becomes the prime suspect in a shocking murder, forcing her to uncover long-buried secrets in the quaint yet sinister village of Castle Knoll. With a dual-timeline narrative and plenty of twists, this criminal thriller keeps readers guessing until the final reveal. Perfect for fans of suspenseful small-town mysteries with a touch of the unexpected!

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC read.

#netgalley #arc

The sequel to my favorite cozy mystery from last year is finally here! I am so excited that I get to return to Castle Knoll.

Annie has now inherited this massive estate and is feeling a lack of inspiration in writing her next mystery, until a new mystery literally appears in her home. Travel to the past with journal entries from Aunt Frances that will help Annie uncover the mystery in the present. Seeing some of the characters from book 1 reappear in this book has been so fun! I loved getting to explore the town and really get to know some of its residents all while sitting on the edge of my seat wondering whodunnit.

I really enjoy getting the full picture of these small town characters from Annie's outsider view and then the actual interaction that Frances had with them through her journals. The writing style is super neat that way. I can't wait to see more of these characters in the future, I'm sure Annie won't be able to get away from murders anytime soon. An absolute must read series.

Thank you to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Dutton | Dutton for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange for my honest thoughts.

✨What to Read Wednesday: Review✨

For fans of: Magpie Murders, The Thursday Murder Club
Title: How to Seal Your Own Fate
Author: Kristen Perrin
Series: #2
Genre: 🔎 Mystery
Rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕
Violence: 🪓🪓 [mostly off-page]
Spice: 🔥
TW: panic attacks

Synopsis: Annie’s new English country life is disrupted when the fortune-teller who predicted Aunt Francis’s death is found dead in Annie’s locked house, just hours after delivering a cryptic message. Who could want to frame Annie for murder?

Thoughts: How to Solve Your Own Murder was 1 of my top-rated reads of 2024. This new novel shares a lot of DNA with the 1st: alternating timelines between Annie’s present & Aunt Frances’s 1967 journal; a mystery tied to a fortune-teller’s predictions; & a solution buried in decades-old history. The paranormal element adds a twist on the traditional mystery. Can Peony see the future? Or are people’s actions influenced by her predictions, seeing patterns that fit their preconceived ideas? 1 of the elements I 💕 most in the 1st book was how deftly Perrin hides clues in plain sight yet delivers a gobsmacking ending. For me, book 2 lacked that powerful combo of “I didn’t see that coming!” & “Of course, all the clues were right there!” That’s not to say the solution is obvious. Rather than a whole town full of suspects, there are a small pool of viable suspects, ping-ponging suspicion among them until the end. I also enjoyed seeing how Annie navigated her new life as heiress in a small town still suspicious of her, as well as seeing her relationship with Detective Crane continue to develop. Can’t wait to see what those 2 get up to next!

Haven’t read book 1 yet? Check out my review here: https://www.instagram.com/p/DCo5kPRJ80o/.

Thank you to Dutton Books & NetGalley for this gifted book in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed the first book in this series but had some issues with it, and unfortunately couldn't get past them for this instalment.

The book starts back in time with Peony Lane as a teenager, then jumps forward to the present day. Much like the first book, the story goes back and forth in this manner, via Frances's journals, as Annie tries to solve another murder in the present day and untangle secrets from Frances's past.

How to Seal Your Own Fate lacked some of the sparkle that got me through How to Solve Your Own Murder. The writing style wasn't for me, several events and decisions didn't make any sense, the plot got convoluted, and, as with the first book, the characters all felt flat. I kept mixing them up because they don't have distinct personalities.

I did struggle with my rating because I enjoyed parts of the story, but I eventually rounded down to 2 stars.

How I LOVED the first book in this series!

Another fun book by this author, totally worth the read.

This is the second novel in the series and does not disappoint. Always a fun mystery, leaving me turning page after page to put all the pieces together. I thought I placed the story but I was not at all correct. An excellent read and highly recommended novel.

We continue the story from the first book with a new twist to the mystery…who is the woman who gave the great-aunt the fortune of death, and why?

Told from the FMC’s pov and old journal entries of the great-aunt, I found myself able to easily to swap back and forth and equally interested in both storylines. The unfolding of story was just as good as the first book and I loved every minute.

I'm always a little skeptical of sequels, especially if the first book wasn't my favorite. This one defied all my expectations.

Annie Adams is living in the house she's newly inherited, trying to find herself in the wake of solving her great-aunt Frances's murder. When another dead body appears in her house, she becomes once again wrapped up in a mystery that bridges the past and the present, with only the clues left behind by Frances to help her solve the case.

I DEVOURED this book, I couldn't get enough of it. I loved the way that it explored Frances's past even further, adding even more depth to her character as well as some of the characters introduced in the first book. Annie is...not my favorite protagonist, I would love to see more growth for her in upcoming books. It's frustrating for her to feel so flat as the living character when the dead ones have so much more life.

All in all, a very fun read. Plenty of juicy clues, believable suspects, and an ending I didn't see coming. 4 stars.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

3⭐️

I really enjoyed the first book in this series, How To Solve Your Own Murder, and I was very excited to get an ARC of the the next book in the series. I'm assuming this is going to be a series that is continuing on and this book unfortunately suffers majorly from 'middle book syndrome.' The pacing of this book was extremely slow and you can see where the bread crumbs for future books were dropped. In the attempt to draw out the mystery, the plot almost got too convoluted but also repetitive. The magic of the fortune being the jumping off point was so well done in the first book, but it just felt repetitive in this one.

I did really like the background of Peony Lane and the fortunes she has told over the year. I also enjoyed that we got more background into what happened to the Gravesdown's. I'm interested in seeing how the returning please chief will make Annie's investigations more difficult and what his leaving town and coming back has to do with the story.

Thanks Netgalley and Dutton for providing this ARC to me!

3.5 stars

I have mixed feelings about this mystery, the second in the series. The first book was dark with a complex plot and this one is even more so. The narrative is split between past and present. Although mostly contemporary, the elaborate relationships give it almost a gothic feel. If you like plots that hark back to the past with entanglements galore, you will appreciate this. It all got a bit angsty for me. I don't think it would make much sense if you hadn't read the first entry.

Annie inherited an old estate after the events of the first book. It had to do with the mysterious death of her aunt and some long ago fortunes which presaged dark happenings in the future. Apparently the fortunes are to be a running theme. Annie is kept busy with a visit from her best friend Jenny and a hunt for her aunt's old diaries and journals. A horrible accident years ago killed three people and left a lot of questions: did they die in an accident or were they murdered? Who was in the car? How did the crash happen? Quite unbelievably the car itself shows up in this book some 50-60 years later. There are a couple of dead bodies -- characters in the original drama from way back.

Lots of complications and for me, some plot confusion. Annie's friend questions her about why she is spending her time on the past instead of concentrating on her writing career and settling in to her new home. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

It's been months since Annie solved two murders (one recent, one historical) to earn £40,000,000 and the Gravesdown Estate, but she's not settling in well with the locals. They have reason to be suspicious: the Gravesdowns were cursed, her aunt Frances collected their secrets, and Annie just found another corpse in her house. The most recent victim is linked to the car crash that killed most of the Gravesdowns decades ago, so once again Annie delves into Frances' journals to unravel past misdeeds that triggered recent sins. The ongoing Castle Knoll saga fleshes out both bygone and contemporary drama and characters for a double cozy mystery.

Yay for a number #2, I'm so glad this became a series! I can't believe that they brought back the fortune teller. Poor Annie has to, one again, try to unravel a mystery from the past....while someone is framing her for murder!

This book was fine. It had the same cozy mystery vibes as the first book, but the vibe was just slightly more sinister. I can’t quite put my finger on what exactly I didn’t enjoy about the plot, but I found myself skimming parts of it. It’s still a good mystery overall but something was missing? If you enjoyed the first one, you’ll definitely enjoy this one.

Thank you NetGalley and the Publisher for an ARC of How to Seal Your Own Fate.

I really enjoyed this book. I was unaware this is the second book and this is a series, and I did not feel lost at all. I thought the suspense was well done, and the characters were all fun and multi-dimensional. I wish I could jump into the setting of this book and explore the castle.