“If you want to know more about Peony Lane, you’re also going to uncover a lot of Gravesdown secrets. You should deal with those alone, because people who know too much about the skeletons in the Gravesdown closets? They tend to disappear”

Wow, Kristen Perrin does it again! I love that we get to see a reprisal of many characters I came to love in book 1. We start this book with the elusive Peony Lane, that predicted aunt Frances’s murder. We learn there is much more than meets the eye of this fortune teller, as she as well was tangled up into the scandalous lives of the Gravesdown family.

Once again Annie Adams is pulled into solving another murder in the Gravesdown manor—but this time as its current owner.

I started and finished this book in less than 24 hours. It was such a great cozy mystery to enjoy on a cold winter day. I needed to know who was behind this murder (and maybe a few more). I loved seeing the reappearance of Mr. Crane and am enjoying seeing the progression of his character with Annie as well. And of course I love that Archie is in this one, too! This was a great read and already can’t wait to get my hands on the next one!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to netgalley for the arc, I really enjoyed reading How To Deal Your Fate, the second book in the Castle Knoll Series. I absolutely loved all the unique characters and the cozy murder mystery. I had to stay up late at night reading and every chance I got. It is rare to find such a good book! I recommended reading the first book in this series How to Solve Your Own Murder and then continuing onto this book.

This is the first book I've read in this series, although the author provided enough information from Book 1 to make it easy to pick up the story. Annie has moved into an inherited home and is approached by mysterious fortune teller Peony Lane. She goes about trying to clarify some of the cryptic information she has. Her boyfriend is a from a local rich family and because the community dislikes the family, they are not very welcoming to her. There are two timelines and clues about older characters who were involved in an accident in the 1960s. While Annie is unraveling the mystery, a murder occurs in her house. This is a cozy mystery, but the intricacies of the plot and the unfolding puzzles make it a cut above.

A page turner! I love Annie's world in Castle Knoll. This cast of characters is so perfectly deranged, cosmic, and driven by obsession. They are extremely exciting catalysts in a never ending spiral of mystery. So so grateful for the opportunity to read this early.

<i>Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.</i>

3.5 stars rounded up

While I didn’t love this as much as the first book, it truly is a solid mystery and I do love fate/fortune part of the mysteries of Castle Knoll. I didn’t love some of the dialogue, it felt a little more YA than the first, which is fine but just not my preference. All that to say, I will gladly read a third book!!

In book two of the Castle Knoll series, we learn more about Peony Lane, the fortune teller who predicted Annie's Aunt Frances' death by murder. The story within a story motif ties together Archie-then and Archie-now in a game of cat and mouse between the village's haves and have nots. Aunt Frances' folders of secrets are still in high demand among the villagers in current day, but her old diaries, hidden by Archie, unfold the story one secret at a time. The depth of the storytelling moves this series out of traditional cozy mystery territory and into more literary murder. i love it adn can't wait to see what else Aunt Frances' secrets hold!

I received a copy of this from Netgalley in exchange for a review.

So I recently finished How to Solve Your Own Murder and really enjoyed the story of Annie and her learning about her Great Aunt Francis while simultaneously solving Francis’s murder as well as a murder from when Francis was young, so I was excited to get approved for this ARC and it did not disappoint.

Remember the fortune teller who told Francis her fortune, Peony Lane? I didn’t really, but it definitely came back to me (along with the song Penny Lane being stuck in my head the entire time I was reading this!). This time Peony has been murdered - right in Annie’s house, and right after Annie met her for the first time, and was given cryptic advice! Of course it’s a mystery Annie needs to solve. And solve it she does, along with another murder that soon happens and the case of the mysterious car crash from when Frances was young.

Along the way, we get to learn more about Frances and her relationships, as well as more of the side characters from the first book - Archie, Detective Crane, Saxon all return to help solve (or cloud) the mystery.

I really enjoyed reading it. I stayed up too late to finish it because I wanted to know what happened. Both the historical part and the modern day part of the stories are interesting and I look forward to seeing if we get a third Castle Knoll book!

I didn't enjoy this series entry quite as much as the first one. The writing was good, and the story was compelling enough to finish it in one day, but the story felt a little more contrived. I am always annoyed when the viewpoint characters (Frances specifically) clearly have more information that isn't revealed to the reader, just in the name of drawing out the suspense. I'll still give the series one more try if any additional sequels come out!

I was so excited to be able to read the second book in this series. Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity. I really love this series. This book kept my interest that I had it finished in a day!

In this second installment of the Castle Knoll Files we return to the town of Castle Knoll and the cast of characters from the first book. I really enjoyed How To Solve Your Own Murder and was excited to dive into this follow up, which publishes April 29, 2025.

Annie Adams is settling into her new life at Gravesdown Estate when she runs into the fortune teller, Peony Lane, who told the fateful fortune from the first book. This new mystery was very intertwined with the first book’s mystery, so I recommend reading that before this book.

The story is very atmospheric. It was both a bit spooky, but also at times quite funny. A good balance. Many of the characters from the first book return and we meet a number of new ones.

Though I really enjoyed getting to hear more of Frances’s story in her own voice, I am less a fan or stories that jump back and forth though time every couple of chapters. It pulls me out of each of the stories.

The mystery in this book is new, but ties in with the mystery of the first book in a way I really enjoyed. That said, it didn’t have the magic that the first book had for me, though I certainly enjoyed it.

Thank you to the publisher Penguin Group / Dutton, author Kristen Perrin, and NetGalley for the gifted digital ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 stars!

I'm a bit disappointed in this book because I absolutely LOVED the first book in this series and it was one of my favorite books of 2024. This sequel, however, really lost some of the magic from the first book. Even though I enjoy our cast of characters, with some of the notable ones coming back in this book, I didn't really connect with the plot or mystery. Things felt a little too similar to book one, but without as much as the novelty or big twists. The writing was also very good, but ultimately the case is where I didn't find my most enjoyment.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

3.5 stars!

I'm a bit disappointed in this book because I absolutely LOVED the first book in this series and it was one of my favorite books of 2024. This sequel, however, really lost some of the magic from the first book. Even though I enjoy our cast of characters, with some of the notable ones coming back in this book, I didn't really connect with the plot or mystery. Things felt a little too similar to book one, but without as much as the novelty or big twists. The writing was also very good, but ultimately the case is where I didn't find my most enjoyment.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This is the first novel in this series that I have read but the first had been on my radar. I hope to read that one some day soon. I love British mysteries, and this one reminded me of some of my favorites. I liked Annie Adams, the main character. I also liked getting to know her Aunt Frances. In the beginning, I got confused between the two characters, but I soon sorted that out. The supporting characters were well developed, and I could picture them clearly in my mind while reading.
Because the narrator often mentioned what happened the previous year made me want to go read the first book. I would like to know more.
Loved the setting because I love anything British when it comes to mysteries.
There were plenty of suspects and the author skillfully planted red herrings throughout the story to keep me guessing. I didn’t figure it out until the end.
I loved the romance in the past and the possible romance with Annie and Detective Crane.
I especially liked the idea of new stories from Peony Lane’s fortunes.
I would recommend this book to anyone who loves cozy mysteries and would love to read more in this series.

I hadn't read the first one but this was just what I wanted. Cozy, lighthearted, fun, at times a bit ridiculous but overall a nice read. If you're looking for plausible this isn't for you. I think it was a great break from reality and I loved reading it!

3.5 stars rounded down

Another cozy mystery set in Castle Knoll! This is set after the events of 'How to Solve Your Own Murder', with Annie still at the crime-solving helm, but this one focuses on a new case and a different chapter of Frances's life.

Frances's diary entries are once again interwoven with the investigation unfolding in the present timeline, but I think this worked less effectively here than it did in the first book. The overlapping focus made it a little tricky to follow. Still a very fun and cozy read, though! And I do hope there's a third book, because I'd love more of Frances & Ford's story, and Annie & Crane's.

Thanks Dutton Penguin Group for the ARC!

There is a lot in this sequel that echoes great things from the first book (which I loved): likable characters, a red-herring laced mystery, a fun, vibrant setting, and nothing too gruesome or objectionable. However, there were a few things which made it not quite as stellar as the first story, for me. The author expected you to remember many details about characters and plots from the first novel and didn't include a lot of "review". So thrown back into the large cast of characters and their various relationships, I sometimes felt pretty lost. A sharper reader than myself may not have this problem! Secondly, the mystery felt a little forced and less believable. Not a deal breaker to an enjoyable story, but it did have me raising my eyebrows in disbelief a few times. If you enjoyed the first book, it's definitely worth giving this one a try! And if you haven't read the first book...make sure you pick it up first!

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for an eARC of this title!

3.5 rounded up to 4. How to Seal Your Own Fate picks up where How to Solve Your Own Murder left off, and continues in the same way including with a witty title. Our smart, crime-solving but slightly wayward Annie is in Castle Knoll in her newly inherited manor. The same cast of Castle Knoll characters is back, and soon another death has occurred as well. Crimes committed long ago are brought to light but who was involved and who knew what is quite tangled. Annie and Detective Crane work to uncovered the clues, and are helped along by late Frances diary. Along the way, Annie ponders the role of fates and questions whether Gravesdown is leading her down a path of paranoia, just like Frances before her.

Overall I enjoyed reading this book and looked forward to it. As with other books in the genre, at times the crime and cast of characters felt a bit over-complicated and hard to keep track of. However, this didn't take away from my enjoyment and if you enjoyed How to Solve Your Own Murder I think you'll enjoy reading the sequel. I'm looking forward to the next book!

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for providing an ARC of this book for review!

Wanted to love this one as much as I loved the first book in the series, which felt crisp and original. I didn't, sadly.

It relied too much on information from the previous book, which I tried and failed to remember with the detail required to follow this story. (We're talking, "Remember that story that one side character told another side character in a flashback chapter? No? Well, that's important to understanding the significance of this piece of evidence.") It's fine if an author wants to require a reader to read all books in a series to fully understand a plot, but when they do, they should also recognize that they are going to lose people along the way. I knew enough to keep going, but I imagine other readers will give up in frustration.

I did stick around to read the whole thing, though sometimes I felt confused as to what was happening. That's not just because my brain was combing my memory to fill in story gaps. It was a convoluted plot that, in being too complicated, relied more on things happening than character motivations or good detective work. The first book took time to introduce us to characters and show us how Annie eventually solved the mystery. Here, it felt like characterization was skipped over for action, and that answers just fell on Annie rather than arising from her clever and meticulous sleuthing skills.

In the end, this was still somewhat engaging, and it did have a lot of potential. I will keep reading the Castle Knoll stories with hope that the next one goes back to what made the first one work well.

How to Seal Your Own Fate by Kristen Perrin is the second book in the Castle Knoll Files series. Annie has settled into her new home at Castle Knoll when she comes across fortune teller Peony Lane, who gives Annie a cryptic message and then is shockingly found dead hours later. Annie must dig into the dark secrets of Castle Knoll so she doesn’t get blamed for Peony’s death.

I enjoyed this about as much as the first in the series! The dual-timeline, multiple deeply-written characters, and unexpected twists and turns kept me interested and wanting to know how the mystery would resolve. I would definitely continue reading the series if more are written (and with how this one ended there is definitely the opportunity for more stories!). I highly recommend reading the first book before this one.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and author for granting me a complimentary advanced reader copy of the ebook. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own and based off of this draft; the final publication may be different. Expected publication date is April 29, 2025.

Annie Adams is settling into her new life at the Gravesdown Estate when she runs into fortune teller Peony Lane. After giving Annie a cryptic message, Peony is found murdered in the locked Gravesdown Estate.

Annie dives into her aunt's past to unravel Peony's message. I loved how the author uses Aunt Frances's journals to reveal the past, particularly the mystery of the 1967 accident that killed Ford's family. With Annie's best friend by her side during the investigation, they make a fantastic team in solving the present-day murder.

Many familiar faces from the first book make a return, along with some new characters. Aunt Frances's presence is strong, and her detailed journals provide excellent clues. The first part of the book sets up the characters, events, and mysteries, while the ending is fast-paced and kept me hooked. Overall, this is a fantastic sequel in the series.

Thank you NetGalley and Dutton for the opportunity to read in advance. This is my honest review.