I didn’t know this was a sequel when I requested it. I was a bit confused throughout and don’t know if I’m missing a lot without reading the first. Couldn’t get the first book in time for this review but hope to revisit this story in order.

3.5 stars. Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. All thoughts are my own.

I was lucky to get this ARC only like a month after finishing How to Solve Your Own Murder. I still love the alternating between Annie and Aunt Francis’ POVs. I think it helps the reader see the similarities between the two beyond just what Annie notices/fears are their similarities. I liked the continuation of Francis’ story with Peony Lane making an appearance again. I think Perrin did a good job of following up How To Solve Your Own Murder, and How To Seal Your Own Fate kept me guessing just like the first. The sequel also has a lot of the charm that the first does.

I do wish we saw more of a character with Annie, Jenny, Rowan or any of the characters really. I also had times where I really loved the dialogue and times where it felt like Perrin forgot how people interact, e.g. Rowan and Annie’s convos. There were times where Annie seemed uncharacteristically rude to Rowan even when he was doing her favors and they had worked together previously.

Now, the ending did not make much sense as the first’s did. I felt like it was very convoluted and there were a lot of strings to follow to come to the conclusion. I had to go back and reread parts because it didn’t make much sense. But, overall, it was a solid sequel and a solid murder mystery.

The first book in this series, ‘How to Solve Your Own Murder” was a cozy delight. This one? It was fine but often confusing and could have used a recap of what happened in & who’s who from the first book. Still, I’ll be back for the next in the series. Thank you to NetGalley & the publishers for making this title available!

I enjoyed this installment of the Castle Knolls Mysteries more than the last. The dialogue is a lot better and it was nice to have all the characters already introduced. I probably needed to reread the first one to refresh my memory and appreciate this book more.

What I Liked: The mystery is so intricate, yet really easy to follow, which feels like an incredible fete. The relationship between Annie and Jenny felt so real -- especially when they got into a fight. And I might be in the minority but I like that the "romance" is so much of a slow burn that you wonder if it exists at all.

What Could Be Better: The ending got kind of convoluted and all the explanations felt drawn out, but it felt adequately wrapped up even though there were a lot of moving parts.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin House for my e-ARC of this book!

Accidentally requested the sequel, but it was decent. Still don’t my care about the main character, Annie, and her great-aunt has become unlikeable in this book, as well. But story makes sense & mystery plot is enjoyable enough to keep reading. Suggest if you like cozies.

How to Seal Your Own Fate is the second entry in the Castle Knoll series, centering around Annie Adams in the present day, and her great aunt Frances Adams in 1967, told in alternating chapters. As the book opens, Annie is still settling into her life after "winning" her aunt's estate in the first novel by successfully solving her murder, when she encounters Peony Lane, the same fortune teller who foretold her aunt's murder, with a new fortune just for Annie. Before Annie can find out that fortune, Peony is murdered in a way that is clear the killer intends to frame Annie for the crime. What led Annie and Peony to this point is slowly filled in over the course of the book as Annie again puts on her investigator hat, and alternates with diary entries written by Frances from 1967.
I did read the first book in the series, but it had been a bit of time, and I barely recalled the solution to the murder of Frances, and I did feel that my lack of recollection took away from my enjoyment of this book. In other book series, I find author's typically fill the reader in without being too obtrusive and I was certainly lacking for that here. My other criticisms on this book included that the dialogue felt very poorly conceived and often not realistic at all. The overall plotting of the mysteries in this book, and subsequent solution was incredibly convoluted and didn't feel realistic, and in fact, I was left confused by the final reveal because there were so many threads being tied together. Overall, it was somewhat enjoyable, but I still struggled to finish it. I'm not entirely sure I would read a future book in this series.
Thank you to Penguin Group Dutton and NetGalley for the electronic ARC of this novel for review.

After loving Perrin's first book in this series so much last year, I think I came into this second novel with much too high of expectations.

Overall, the book felt way too convoluted. While the first book spent a beautiful amount of time developing characters and building the world in which the book takes place, this second book lacked all of those sparkling details and filled the gaps with useless blather. I was missing the depth and charm that its predecessor had.

I did enjoy the writing style of this book even if the subject matter wasn't my favorite. Perrin knows how to weave a witty narrative and I appreciate that about her.

The plot of this book felt like all of the scraps that were left on the editing floor of the first book and, upon its success, were scooped back into a dustpan and stitched together like some Franken-story. I was anticipating new, fresh, and exciting but was sadly let down.

4 🌟 Read

Had a great time, good balance of mystery and drama.
You don't have to read the first book to understand this one but I wish I did. It took me a minute to get into it because I was playing catch up getting to know the characters, but once I settled in I couldn't put it down.

The murder mystery unfolds through modern day sleuthing and journal entries from the 1960s. The dual perspective and the jump between time periods, allows the reader to really immerse themselves in the story.

Just as Annie's life starts to quiet down, Peony Lane, a local fortune teller shows up to offer Annie her fate and a clue to an unsolved mystery.
Before Annie can decide if she believes in fortunes and dysentery, fate claims its first victim and its up to her to unravel this mystery.

I'm very excited to read whatever Kristen Perrin writes next .

Thank you netgalley for the opportunity to read this ARC

I was thrilled to get an ARC for the second book in the Castle Knoll series (and thrilled that it was, in fact, a series). I enjoyed the uniqueness of the first book & that continues in this one. I do wish that there had been a list of characters at the start of the book & something like a "Previously On" they do for tv shows when it's been awhile since the last episode aired to summarize what happened in the first book. Normally I can remember what happened in a prior book in a series with the few reminders they give in the text, but because How to Solve Your Own Murder was so complex & had so many characters, in addition to the dual timeline, I had a hard time remembering the details of what happened. So maybe reread it before this one if you don't remember the details either.

I did find myself frustrated at times with Annie because of some of her decisions and how she acts sometimes when in Detective Crane's company. Mostly because he is generally cooperative in this book with her & is not incompetent at his job, so I found some of the things she said and did to him just rude for no real reason. Having said that, I still had a really good time reading this book! I stayed up too late multiple nights reading it & found it hard to put down. I look forward to more adventures in Castle Knoll!

Thanks to NetGalley & Dutton for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Publication date: April 29th, 2025
Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for an ARC in exchange for an honest review
4.5/5 rounded up to 5
I was so excited to read the second book in this series after really enjoying the first one! This book has so many details, storylines, and twists. It is exciting to see them all come together by the end. If you like cozy mysteries, I highly recommend this series.

This book continues the story of Peony Lane, the investigations, the fun of the first novel! There are a lot of twists and turns before any revelation, but it is a fun ride!

This book was just as gripping and exciting as the first!! There was one plot hole that wasn’t quite answered, I don’t think, but I plan to reread and make sure that that’s answered because Kristen Perrin is truly a master of murder mysteries. And I know she doesn’t leave questions unanswered. I was worried that I wouldn’t be as interested in this one as I was in How To Solve Your Own Murder, but dang, this was so good! And I feel confident that another book is in the works?????

I feel so fortunate to have been picked to read this amazing book early. What an honor to be able to to witness such genius!

Loved this follow up to How to Solve Your Own Murder. For me, things were much more reflective this time around with the mystery relying heavily on the past and the hard to read emotions of the present-day cast of suspects. This small town sure does hold onto a lot of everything: secrets, emotions, and grudges. I always stall a bit at the 60%ish mark, so I wish the pacing moved a little faster to build suspense.

I LOVED How To Solve Your Own Murder, and was delighted to return to the world of Castle Knoll. This time Annie is pulled into the mysteries and fortunes of the fortune teller herself, the woman whose words shaped great aunt Frances’ life (and whose life was much more entangled with Frances’ than Annie realized.)

Love the characters that populate Castle Knoll, and especially how many have surprising stories and are better (and worse) people than they seem in the surface. I also love how the Castle Knoll mysteries contain many of the usual British village murder tropes but they still feel fresh and original. Once again 5 stars, an excellent mystery, well told. I’m ready for the next (and would really like to see movement in what I hope is a long burn romance between Annie and Dt. Crane.)

I rated the first book in this series as a 5 star read. I have to be honest, I felt dropped into this book without a good introduction. I had read the first book last year and didn't remember all the characters so it took me a bit to catch up. I also feel like there's a TON of loose ends in this book, and I realize it probably it to lead to another book. One in particular was acknowledging Eric as the foil at the end but never singling out specifically who the arrow, rat and sparrow were.

I like the characters in this book and enjoyed the short lived marriage of Frances and Archie but felt there was no growth of Annie or Crane in the current timeline. I also didn't see the need for Jenny or the return of Chief Marks (really thought he was tied in to the cover up of the car crash but that red herring never appeared.

I think I just expected smarter writing and didn't get that.

I had loved the first book in the Castle Knoll series, so I was eager to jump into this one! It took me a little bit to reaquaint myself with all the characters, but after a little bit I was able to get back up to speed and enjoy this one as well. I love cozy mysteries, but some cozies can sacrifice, well, to be blunt, writing quality. Luckily, Perrin is a master at crafting cozy mysteries that don't sacrifice anything for their coziness. Highly recommended for cozy mystery lovers!

Thank you NetGalley and Dutton for this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Annie Adams is finally trying to adjust to living in Castleknoll and her new life as the heir of the Gravesdown fortune. When the infamous Peony Lane approaches her and tells her she should look into the tragic accident that killed the Gravesdown family years ago, it starts a series of events that
lead to Annie playing detective again. Who can she trust and what really happened all those years ago?

I love cozy mysteries and this one felt like a game of Clue! The first novel in this series was so good, and this was an excellent continuation. I highly recommend this series, especially if you love a good mystery.

I think this could have benefited from including some kind of recap of the first book and all the characters toward the beginning of this one—there are far too many names to keep track of in Castle Knoll and I was thinking, “who?” at a lot of points. I struggled to re-orient myself to this story and get invested into the new mystery at hand.

Also, I understand why the author wanted to include flashbacks of Francis again since it was a successfully utilized formula in the first book, but it didn’t work for me as much here. Thank you for the early copy, I appreciate your generosity!

The second book in the Castle Knoll series was the perfect cozy murder mystery & continuation of this story! You’ll definitely want to read the first book in the series before this one because there are a lot of the same characters you know & love from book 1 :) For this book, I was CRAVING a “here’s a recap of book 1” at the beginning because this one really dove right into the story & I needed to go back to my old review to refresh my memory!

I loved the flashback elements through Frances’ journals, which makes the story feel like navigating a cozy historical game of Clue! This one kept me guessing the whole book & it was super entertaining & surprising while also being an easy, cozy read!

Huge thank you to NetGalley for the ARC ☺️

In “How to Seal Your Own Fate,” Annie stumbles across an infamous character in the woods, and must solve old and new mysteries seemingly intertwined. This story is a must-read continuation of the first novel, “How to Solve Your Own Murder.” I love the past and present writing style combining Annie’s sleuthing and Frances’ journals and case files. This sleepy English village has plenty of suspicious characters and mysteries from the past to keep us intrigued for awhile to come. I can’t wait to see what comes next!

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.