Annie Adams is back! And she is using her amateur sleuth skills to solve a murder another murder at Gravesdown Hall. Annie returns home from a stroll around her property, she finds Peony Lane, the fortune teller, dead. Since Annie is a suspect, she attempts to solve this murder quickly, by reading her Great Aunt Francis’ diaries and reviewing her files.

I enjoyed the use of a non-linear timeline in this book. Kristen Perrin switches between Francis’ diary entry and present day with Annie. The reader gets to reacquaint themselves with characters from “How to Solve Your Own Murder” and meet some new ones. As always, Annie has her best friend Jenny at her side.

I have really enjoyed both books in the A Castle Knoll Murder Mystery series. Annie’s heart is always in the right place, however, she doesn’t always end up on the “right” side of the crime. The way this book ends, I am expecting there will be more!

Thank you to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Dutton for providing this book for review.

This was a tough read for me. I thoroughly enjoyed the first book and looked forward to this immensely when a sequel was announced. Unfortunately, this book really didn’t live up to its predecessor.

How to Seal Your Own Fate kicks off with a new mystery in the present with Annie Adams, now the owner of Gravesdown Hall after solving her great Aunt Frances’s murder in book 1. The victim this time is the mysterious Peony Lane who told the fortune at the center of Frances’s life and death. It’s clear from the outset that Peony’s murder is tied up in events from 60 years ago and the story jumps back and forth between chapters set in the present and chapters focused on Frances’s life in the past. While this method of storytelling made a lot of sense in the first book, which centered around Frances’s fortune foretelling her eventual murder, in this book the jumps in timeline and protagonist just leaves the reader feeling unsettled and unsure which timeline/storyline is actually of value to the mystery. Clearly Frances didn’t solve the mystery if there are open questions in the present, but equally unclear is how Annie could hope to solve the mystery without the knowledge Frances possesses about the past.

This leads to a major issue I have with this book - the writing style of Frances’s timeline. While it’s a major plot point in the present that Frances kept copious diaries and investigative files on everyone she met, the chapters from her point of view don’t read as excerpts from her diaries, but rather first person narration threaded through with an omniscient narrator voice. I think we’re supposed to assume Annie knows teh information we’re gleaning as readers from Frances diaries, but Frances’s chapters are filled with literary flare, descriptions and details no one would include in diary, and omissions that seem equally absurd if these are private journals. These chapters would seem better connected to the present if it were clear that they are diary entries Annie is reading and if they were written more as journal entries than prose.

If it seems in this review that I’m mostly focused on Frances’s portion of the books, that’s because her portions are far and away the more interesting. Annie is not nearly as compelling a protagonist and even after two novels, it’s unclear who she really is as a person and what the author has in store for this character. Presumably if she continues writing in this series Annie will continue to solve crimes always connected to Frances and the past, but as Annie professes to be a writer (and past photography student), it’s very strange that she’s allowed to meddle in murder cases as often as she is, even if she has a future romance with the local inspector as the books hints.

Overall, this book was a disappointment after the promise of the first. I would have liked to see more of the book set in the present (this book spent about 60/40 time in the present versus the past), more character development for Annie, and less tangles of the mystery in the past with constant mentions and links to past fortunes. 2 stars for book 2

A fun sequel to How to Solve Your Own Murder. I loved being able to continue Annie's story of inheriting a mansion and all of the secrets held in the village. Highly recommend!

This is book two of the Castle Knoll mystery series!

We return to the small rural town in England, where the main character, Annie, has finally gotten a chance to settle into her new home after the events of the previous book.

Despite her hopes of some peace and quiet, she is found by the local fortune teller and overall mysterious woman, Peony Lane, who shares an unsettling message.

Not too long after Annie’s encounter with Peony Lane, she is found dead in Annie’s solarium.

It becomes clear to Annie that someone is trying to frame her for murder while ensuring Peony Lane is silenced, but why?

The parallel story in this book takes place in 1967 and follows Annie’s aunt, Frances, and her relationships with Ford Gravesdown and Archie Foyle—two men in town. Frances loves a good mystery and when she teams up with Archie to find out more about the mysterious deaths of three members of the Gravesdown family that occurred in town, what she discovers is a web of lies and deceit.

The two stories collide towards the end of the book in the present day, as Annie discovers more about not only Peony Lane, but items in Aunt Frances’ old house that give her clues to the past.

With plenty of characters returning from the first book, the second book in the series was just as delightful. I do wish that Detective Crane had made more appearances, as I enjoy the chemistry between him and Annie, but overall this was another great installment in the series and I look forward to reading more!

Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for a review.

This is the second installment in the Castle Knoll series and overall it’s a fun, enjoyable read. Like the first novel, it has a cozy vibe and we as the readers are once again along for the ride as Annie solves a present-day murder that happens to be linked to a past mystery.

I think that the first book did a better job of bouncing back and forth between the present and past (via France’s journal entries), which made it slightly difficult to keep track of some of the newer characters/their motivations here. I also struggled to remember some of the characters from the first novel that were reintroduced.

That being said, I did enjoy reading this and it was fun to see Annie make her way through a new mystery. I loved the dynamic of her and Jenny as a crime-solving duo, and would’ve loved to see more Rowan Crane too! Maybe in the next one. ;)

Thanks very much to the publisher and Netgalley for the eArc in exchange for my honest review!

Oddly enough for a mystery, what appeals to me is not the plot. Instead, I adore the characters and setting for the series, which more than makes up for some weaknesses in the plot

An exciting, unique story with tons of heart and unexpected turns! This one is a great blend of adventure, fantasy, and self-discovery that I couldn’t stop reading.

It was so nice to be back in this little series and back reading Kristen Perrin’s writing. I really feel like these books compare to the vibes of Agatha Christie! I couldn’t put this book down and I loved the mystery!

This was another engaging murder mystery in the Castle Knoll Files.

I do think I would have benefitted from rereading <i>How to Solve Your Own Murder</i> before jumping into this one, to better remember the characters we were previously introduced to, their relationships and motivations. In general they are an interesting collection of folk from a seemingly idyllic English countryside, one of whom offers the possibility of a future romance for our main character, Annie.

This time, it's the intriguing figure of Peony Lane, the fortune teller who set Great Aunt Frances on her life's course of trying to solve her own murder before it occurred, that gets caught up in the middle of the action. What might she have to do with the Foyles, Sparrows, as well as the Gravesdowns of yore? And why do these crimes always seem to come knocking right at Annie's door?

Alternating chapters between Annie's current timeline i(n present tense POV) and young Frances's diary entries got a bit confusing to me, as both included many of the same characters and events, making it difficult to keep straight who already knew what in their respective investigations. And the particulars of this mystery wind up being quite convoluted, and at times a bit of a stretch.

That being said, I was still definitely entertained by this contemporary whodunnit, and would happily read the next installment of Annie's adventures in investigating secrets in order to solve crimes.

My review has been posted to Goodreads, and will be published on my blog (jessicacrawfordwrites.com) on April 15th, and to my Bookstagram account around that same time.

A fun sequel that unearthed history and delved into the past of most of the characters. While everyone is now better known to the reader, though some atill not to the level one might like, the suspense and plot felt flat. Solid 3-star.

Annie Adams is back in the sequel to "How to Solve your Own Murder", with "How to Seal Your Own Fate". In book two, Annie is now the owner and living in Gravesdown Estate. The fortune teller, Peony Lane, that gave Annie's Aunt France's fortune (foretelling France's death by murder) makes a brief appearance early on in this sequel. Lane visits Annie and offers to tell her fortune; Annie refuses to hear it. Lane then instructs Annie to investigate the death of Olivia and Edmund Gravesdown, both were killed decades ago in a car accident. Lane tells Annie to start by looking through the files her Aunt Frances accumulated on the village inhabitants of Castle Knoll. That same afternoon Annie finds Lane stabbed to death in Gravesdown.

The rest of the story is told from two timelines, Aunt France's 1967 diary and Annie in the present. With the help of her close friend Jenny, Annie embarks on solving Lane's murder and delves into the mystery her Aunt Frances investigated about the car crash in the 1960's. Readers who enjoyed the first book, may want to put this book on their to-read list. For me, however, I found the pattern of the storyline too similar to the first book and the two timelines tiresome. Also, the way the characters interacted and the dialog didn't always ring genuine. The book deserves three stars, but I prefer a more challenging mystery.
Thank you to NetGalley for and advance reading copy.

I need more of Rowan Crane! He continues to be such a loveable character. This book serves as a strong sequel, and I truly hope the series keeps going. It has that cozy vibe while also delivering classic mystery elements.

A fantastic follow up for fans of the first book; I loved getting to reenter this world and its cast of characters while delving deeper into the past.

Once again this series has me in a chokehold. To me, these are the epitome of page turners. Every chapter ending on a cliffhanger or secret but not in a frustrating, predictable way. I love this series and this author. I am already looking forward to the next one. Many thanks to Netgalley, penguin group Dutton and Kristen Perrin for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC! I really love Annie, Jenny & Crane but I don’t love the unnecessary complications of the mystery. There are SO many characters to keep track of for a story only about 5-6 people. Jenny pushing Annie to get her life together came out of no where, she dropped it and that was that. Annie lets her mom walk all over her and that’s getting really old. I hope there’s a book 3 but I hope there are new characters or I’m going to pass.

Annie Adams is back for more!! Trouble, by way of murder of course, has found itself at Annie’s front door yet again.

This digs much deeper into the Gravedown’s story and what happened that tragic day in the 1960’s. Who is involved? Who is innocent? Most importantly, who can be trusted? This novel leaves you wondering who you (aka Annie) can actually trust.

Is anyone actually safe?!

And, well, this ended perfectly for a book 3!

How to Seal Your Own Fate by Kristen Perrin is a brilliantly immersive cozy mystery that had me hooked from the very first page. It flows effortlessly, pulling you into the world of Castle Knoll, where both past and present weave together in a perfectly balanced narrative. The dual narrators—Annie in the present and Frances through her 1967 journal entries—create a dynamic and layered storytelling experience that feels both nostalgic and thrilling.
I absolutely loved Frances and Annie's stories and watching how they unfold.

The connection to the first book is seamless, and it feels like a natural continuation of everything we've come to love about this series. The fortune teller, whose prediction was the catalyst for the events in the first book, is back with her own storyline, adding depth and intrigue to the larger narrative. It’s so satisfying to see her character evolve as she becomes more entwined in the lives of the Frances and her friends.

I loved seeing the characters we’ve come to know and adore, not only navigating their lives through Frances’s diaries but also as older versions of themselves in the present, watching as Annie follows in her Great Aunt’s footsteps as she leads the investigation that Frances began decades earlier. The way the past and present intertwine, offering a glimpse into their backstories, feels beautiful and special—like you're peeking into the moments that shaped the lives they’re living now.

With its seamless prose, intricate plot, and characters you can’t help but adore, it’s an unputdownable read.

I can’t wait for the next book and the promise of more adventures in Castle Knoll. There’s so much more story to be told in this series, and How to Seal Your Own Fate leaves you with a sense that the mysteries, secrets, and rich histories of Castle Knoll are far from over. With lingering threads and unanswered questions, it’s clear that this world still has plenty to unravel, and I can’t wait to see where Kristen Perrin takes us next.

Thank you NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review

How to Seal Your Own Fate perfectly captures the vibe of an Agatha Christie novel set in a small English town but with all of the modern conveniences.

The mystery unfolds in the present as Annie Adams tries to figure out who murdered the body in her house and in the past, 1967 where secrets that could lead to the killer's identity originated. The more Annie learns about the past, the more suspects she has in the present.

The story is fast-paced as Annie tries to solve the murder before the killer strikes again. Annie is likable and engaging, the townsfolk quirky with lots of hidden secrets. And the banter between Annie and the local detective sparkles with humor and romance.

Dive into this one with a cup of tea and plate biscuits!

I was excited to be offered an ARC for this, as I also ARC read the first book and really enjoyed it! This story was really interesting, too, but I didn't love it quite as much as the first. I'd still read the third, which it seemed like the ending of this one was setting up.

After I read “How to Solve Your Own Murder” last year, I promptly googled, “sequel to Kristen Perrin Castle Knoll Files?” And I was relieved and overjoyed to find that a second book was in the works! If cozy, unpredictable British mysteries are your cup of tea, then The Castle Knoll Files are well worth curling up in an overstuffed chair with a cup or two of your favorite brew.

“How to Seal Your Own Fate” is the highly satisfying follow-up to the first book in Perrin’s Castle Knoll Files, “How to Solve Your Own Murder.” In this second installment, Annie Adams is fresh off solving her first murders in the small town of Castle Knoll, and she thinks she might actually be good at solving mysteries! As she settles into the estate she inherited from her great aunt, more mystery and intrigue surface as she discovers the body of the local fortune teller in her house. And it seems that this murder is linked to a tragic accident that haunts the history of Castle Knoll. Annie will have to dig back into the past, reading the journals and files of her Great-Aunt Frances, to uncover the secrets of her friends (and foes).

The characters and storyline in this book draw heavily from the first mystery in this series, “How to Solve Your Own Murder.” I’d recommend finding a copy of that one before you settle in with this one. I am so happy to see that these characters will continue in a series, and I can’t wait to see what Annie Adams and her friends get up to next. Consider me a loyal reader of the Castle Knoll Files!

*I received an Advance Reader Copy in exchange for my honest review. Be on the lookout for this book at your local bookstore or library in the coming months! It’s available for preorder now. In the meantime, pick up the first book in the Castle Knoll Files series!