4.5/5 🌟
I think I enjoyed this one just as much as the first book!
It picks up a few months after the last one left off and there’s a new mystery to be solved in Castle Knoll, and old one and a new one.
I enjoyed the characters just as much as the first time and loved the scenes going back and forth between the past and the present.
Definitely going to enjoy reading more by this author in the future!

I enjoyed How to Solve your own Murder and was excited to read Kristen Perrin’s new book. How to Seal your own Fate is a fun read full of murder and intrigue. The characters are likable and as the story unfolds between the past and the present I felt like I got to know them all a bit better.
I did feel that the plot got a little convoluted but it is a well written book so it wasn’t hard to keep up with all of the twists and turns, I think the strong characters helped with this.
I will be recommending the book and I know it will be well received among our patrons.

Kristen did it again! This book is so good!! I loved another adventure with Annie! This one is twisty and I did not expect who the murderer was! I was shocked! I enjoyed learning more about Aunt Frances and her life! All around this is another great mystery novel!! Can’t wait for the next one!! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc of this book!

How to Seal Your Own Fate is a fantastic classic-style mystery. With dual timelines, it’s fun to piece together all the facts in the present and in the 1960s. Kristen Perrin creates another story that plays fair with the clues while keeping readers guessing about the ending.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Annie is having a tough time settling in at Gravesdown Hall after inheriting it from her Aunt Frances. Then while out walking around the village of Castle Knoll, she meets fortune teller Peony Lane, who is full of cryptic messages. Then Peony is found dead in Annie’s home, and Annie is a suspect. As bodies begin to pile up, Annie tries to figure out what’s going on. And what do these events have to do with Aunt Frances’ past and the two men she was drawn to in 1967?

I really enjoyed this mystery. Annie is an engaging character, and it’s easy to understand her motivations for getting involved in another murder investigation. The author manages to intertwine the separate timelines into a single, coherent story. I like the direction this series seems to be going in, and I’m interested to see how the author continues it with both Frances and Annie’s points of view.

Note: this book is a sequel to How to Solve Your Own Murder. While it can be read as a standalone, it’s more enjoyable if you have the context from book 1.

How to Seal Your Own Fate is another great installment of this mystery series. It has a satisfying conclusion, and the author plays fair with facts while navigating two first person POV timelines. If you are a fan of classic mysteries set in small English villages, you’ll have a great time reading this series.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I read this book shortly after the first one and I think it helped to keep all the characters and their stories straight. While I did enjoy the mystery and "coziness" of the story, I felt it was a little predictable. I'm not sure if there will be a third book in the series, but I will look forward to reading it if so. 3.5 - 4 stars.

Kristen Perrin's How to Seal Your Own Fate is a compelling and well-written look at fate, choice, and personal responsibility. From the very first page, Perrin pulls readers into a world where destiny and free will mix, encouraging us to think about our own lives in new ways. If you loved her first book, you'll definitely enjoy this one.

The writing is clear, vivid, and keeps you hooked from start to finish. Perrin does a fantastic job of making her characters feel real and relatable, balancing action with moments of reflection. The pacing is spot-on, keeping things exciting while also giving you time to think.

At its heart, How to Seal Your Own Fate reminds us that our choices affect not just ourselves, but those around us. It’s a book that makes you think about your decisions and the role fate plays in your life, leaving you with a sense of hope and empowerment.

How to Seal Your Own Fate is a must-read. Kristen Perrin’s ability to combine a strong plot with deep emotion makes this novel unforgettable.

This was an excellent second book in this wonderful series by Kristen Perrin. The characters are well-developed and believable, the mystery and intrigue keeps you guessing, and it might be the most successful sequel I’ve read in terms of continuing and going deeper into both the characters and plot in a unique way while holding to the standards and setup of the first book. In both books I loved the past and present timeline mysteries develop in a way that feels fresh and interesting. More questions are uncovered even as some are solved, and the ending was the perfect set up for another book. The (what I truly hope is a slow burn romance!) is moving forward slowly, but that seems like it could work for many more books. The characters are fresh and fully fleshed out, and I had no idea who did it until the very end. I will absolutely be reading every book in this series and hope the next one comes soon!

How To Seal Your Own Fate picks up shortly after How to Solve Your Own Murder ended. Annie is feeling lonely and untethered when she meets Peony Lane, the lady who gave her Aunt Frances that fateful fortune so many years ago. After a few cryptic words, Peony walks away. Then the mysteries start flying.

While this can be technically read as a standalone story, people and events from the first book are mentioned with little detail on what happened. The Castle Knoll Files are the files Aunt Frances kept on the secrets of people who lived in the area. As with the first novel, the chapters alternate between Annie’s point of view in present day and Aunt Frances’ diary entries from the 1960s.

It’s a good story with lots of moving pieces that can bog it down in places. The ending was strangely unsatisfying, but it does wrap up the main mysteries here. It also leaves an opening for book three.

I liked the book and would recommend it to mystery lovers.

Family friendly though some themes are dark and there is violence as expected in this genre.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I picked up this book because I love a country-side murder mystery. I stopped reading at 14%. This was just not for me.

The prose, which was a bit overwritten and prone to tangents, felt hard to move through. By the end of chapter 5, I still didn’t have a sense of who Annie was. The past story and the way that storyline handled characters was definitely more compelling. But ultimately, I wasn’t drawn in by any of the other characters or the story.

I did like the moody, rainy atmosphere.
The description noted that How to Steal Your Own Fate could be read without knowledge of the previous installation. While I’m sure this is true, plot-wise, I do wonder if having read the last book would have helped with some of these issues.

I haven’t posted this review to any platforms since I did leave it unfinished. Thank you for the ARC, I appreciate the opportunity to read the book -even if it ended up not being a good fit for me.

Ugh, can't say I love an unnecessary sequel whose purpose is to complicate an already confusing story and making less credible the previous book.

While the first book in the “Castle Knoll Files” series, “How to Solve Your Own Murder”, was somehow justified as a debut mystery, this one is the copycat of something we’ve already seen happening and still confused us.
And this time we also have the foundation for a third book, which will probably be the same as the previous two but with slightly different characters (again).

Generally speaking, this was fine. There's action, a mystery to solve, a spark of romance and a good recapping ending that makes sense and gives the idea of a HEA.
But… I just hate the idea of not understanding what’s happening. Like, I have even taken notes this time — since in the first book I just came to the conclusion I wasn't smart enough — and it still doesn't make sense how the FMC comes to her realization.
She's the only one to put together the pieces of the story, and she does it not as a narrator who also explains to us but it just happens inside her head; and then, in the last chapter, she resumes what happened to us (and to the police officer), so we can close the book happy about it.

At this point, I just think I'm not a fan of her writing style or her scheming to get everything right — if she loves to confuse us too or if that's just a bonus idk.
Also, I'm not a fan of a mystery that takes place and gets resolved in the span of three days when it’s pretty clear that nothing else has happened since the last murder — six months and our writer hasn’t written a single word, or took a single photo, or even modernized her new mansion.

I don't wanna be a complete hypocrite because I read the whole thing in a day and a half, and I’ll also likely read the next book, but it’s fair to say this one was a bit pointless.

Thanks to Dutton and NetGalley, who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion.

I received a copy of this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I requested this because I loved book one in the series. This installment wasn't as good for me. I enjoyed that we still had the small town murder-mystery vibes, but the central storyline once again completely revolved around Frances and the past. It didn't feel as though the story or characters really progressed. The formula was very similar to How to Solve Your Own Murder. This was also told in dual timelines which gave us more insight to Frances, but also wasn't my reason for continuing the series. Lastly, the ending felt like everything was spoon fed to us and Annie started getting on my nerves.

I dunno, Castle Knoll was still fun and I like Archie.

I enjoyed this sequel very much. Like the previous book it kept me wanting to read and the way the author flips between the past and the present was very fun and satisfying. A solid follow up for sure and I look forward to many more from this author.

How to Seal Your Own Fate is the second book in the Castle Knoll Files series. It was a great follow-up to the first book, How to Solve Your Own Murder. It's definitely imperative that you've read the first book in this series before reading this second installment.

This book, like the first, is told in dual timelines by both Annie and Francis. Annie's POV is the present day, whereas Francis's POV is told from journal entries. I absolutely love reading the journal entries and really enjoyed that about this book.

Annie successfully solved her Aunt Francis's murder in the first book and in this book she must work hard to solve multiple murders from both the past and the present. In this book, Annie also finds herself as a suspect.

This was the perfect cozy mystery and perfect for any armchair detectives. This book was definitely fun like the first book and you get to know the characters from the first book in more depth, along with some new characters as well.

I really enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend it. It really held my attention and made me want to stay glued to the story.

Thank you to Dutton and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Expected publish date: April 29th 2025

I LOVED the first book of this series, but this second book was just ‘OK’ for me. It starts a bit slow and I never found myself fully invested in the characters or intrigued by the latest mystery. That said, I did enjoy the dual timelines and there were enough twists to keep me entertained until the end.

Thank you NetGalley, Penguin Random House, and Kristen Perrin for sending this ARC for my review consideration. All opinions are my own.

To say that I’m obsessed with this series is an understatement. I absolutely loved How to Solve Your Own Murder and I was so excited that there was a second. I loved jumping back into the Castle Knoll group and joining Annie on another mystery to solve. Just like the first, this was filled with twists and turns and had me wanting to keep turning the page until I was finished. I was still cheering on Annie and Crane to get together and if they don’t in the next one I’m going to scream.

Overall, I absolutely loved this follow up and cannot wait for another. I highly recommend this cozy mystery and it would be the perfect fall read!

I really enjoyed Perrin's How to Solve Your Own Murder, and this was a solid follow up. Once again we have a present day murder with ties to the past - specifically the past as it relates to main character Annie's late Aunt Frances. I was happy to see many familiar characters from the first book, and to meet fortune teller Peony Lane, who played such a central role in Aunt Frances's story. Structurally, this was very similar to the first book - alternating timelines between past and present, lots of excerpts from Frances's journals, village secret keeping, etc. I don't mind a familiar structure, so that didn't bother me, but I did find myself at the end wishing that I knew more about Annie as a person on her own, as opposed to Annie, crime-solving heir to her Aunt Frances. I hope this series continues, and I'd love to see Annie spend a little more time figuring out her own story.

I’m always thrilled to get ARC copies of sequels to books I also read as ARCs. It makes me so happy to follow along with these little worlds, and I was especially happy to return to Castle Knoll. I enjoyed the first book, How to Solve Your Own Murder, but it also had some foibles that kept it from being a 5 star read for me.

I really enjoyed this sequel. Where I was more overwhelmed with the cast of characters in the first one, How to Seal Your Own Fate was easier to follow (though whether that’s because I just knew the characters more this time around or whether there was less of them, I’m not sure). This one had really interesting turns and I was so happy to get another dual timeline perspective from young Frances.

This one is another 4 stars for me, but a stronger 4 stars than the first book. It’s rare that I like a sequel better than the original but this one qualifies. I’m so grateful to have had the chance to read these before they were published, thank you so much to @duttonbooks @penguinartgroup and @netgalley for giving me this eARC in exchange for an honest review. How to Seal Your Own Fate by Kristen Perrin is out April 29th!

How To Seal Your Own Fate
4 ⭐️

This crazy town in the UK has soooo many mysteries to solve, between this one and the last!

Annie is back to solving murders with a local detective when a murder happens write on her doorstep. With the same main cast of characters as the first book, this story pulled in historical mysteries leading to the present day murder.

I enjoyed this second book too! If you need a cozy mystery, this is a good series that isn’t too cheesy!

HOW TO SEAL YOUR OWN FATE
RATING: 4
GENRE: Mystery, Thriller

Annie Adams is back and she’s unfortunately stumbled onto another murder that happens on the Gravesdown estate - but who could be the murderer?

I really enjoyed this book with the juxtaposition of Frances’ diaries like the first book. We learn more backstory of previous side characters and how small of a town Castle Knoll is and intertwined its residents are.

No spoilers - I admit that Kristin Perrin has a way of storytelling that draws you in and leads up to an unexpected ending. I do recommend reading book 1 first as it does not read as a standalone but a continuation of Annie and Frances’ stories. Highly recommend as a cozy mystery set in the British countryside.

This was a great sequel to How to Solve Your Own Murder! In this we have a new murder for Annie to solve that once again involves diving into her Aunts files and diaries for some long buried secrets.

I just love the setting of this series and find Annie so charming. I’ve loved the slow build of a possible budding romance in her life and her relationship growth with the others in town.

I can’t wait to continue this series and see what Annie’s future has in store and how it will undoubtedly tie into the past.

Thanks to NetGalley & Dutton for the digital ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!