I loved book one of this series, but this one was very boring to me. Maybe I wasn't in the right head space for this, but I was just rushing through wanting it to be over.

Thank you to Netgalley & PENGUIN GROUP Dutton | Dutton for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

How to Seal Your Own Fate by Kristen Perrin

When I read How to Solve Your Own Murder last year, I was interested at the prospect of a sequel because I wanted to revisit the characters and the writing. Here’s a little problem though: I forgot every single character and how they were connected. I found myself overwhelmed by characters that I should have already known, but I couldn’t remember what they did in the first book. At one point, someone is talked about being someone else’s great aunt, and I legitimately have no idea how they’re related. This is why I don’t read a lot of series that I have to wait for the next book.

Nevertheless, I kept on reading and hoping I would either remember these people, or get hooked enough to not care. Unfortunately, I did not get hooked enough. This felt like a filler episode. Neither past or present felt completely fleshed out, and the characters seemed to have less personality than they did last time. It just missed the mark for me.

Will I read another book in this series if there is one? Maybe. But I’m going to have to let the reviews come in first and decide. It might not be worth the time.

Read this if you liked the first one, but wanted the characters to have less personality.

Loved having another Castle Knoll book to read from Kristen Perrin! The first one was a 5-star read for me last year, so I was stoked to get this book here for review. This was a really solid follow-up read to the first book in the series, although I had to Google some aspects of the first book (that I had forgotten), which were helpful in following along with the first few chapters of this book. Lots of characters to keep track of and back and forth with the diaries, but a good mystery that was nicely tied up by the end. Looking forward to future titles in this series!

thanks to NetGalley for the eARC

⭐️=3 | 😘=2.5 | 🤬=2 | ⚔️=3 | 15+

summary: sequel to How to Solve Your Own Murder ; a murder mystery in a small English town alternating between today and diary entries from the 1960s

thoughts: the desperate attempts to make the main character an actual character with a personality are very funny to me. like bestie this is a cozy mystery series, the detective doesn’t need to have a character arc throughout the book, but tbh the MC has very few quirks, which is unfortunate? like there’s nothing interesting about her?? good mystery though!! nice twists et cetera, and the diaries are fun!

The second book of the Castle Knoll Files brings us back to Annie Adams, a few months after she solved her first mystery - the murder of her Aunt Frances. Along the way she gained a fortune, Gravesdown Hall, and files on decades of secrets about Castle Knoll residents. Feeling a bit unmoored, Annie runs into Peony Lane, the woman who first gave Aunt Frances her fortune. Peony piques Annie's interest with talk of her fortune and mentioning the death of Olivia Gravesdown decades prior. After finding Peony's body in her solarium, Annie again delves into the mysteries of Castle Knoll and past collides with present as Annie tries to figure out what happened to Peony and how it relates to the deadly crash involving the Gravesdown family almost fifty years prior. Again the reader gets to learn more about Aunt Frances though peeks into her diary entries that drop bread crumbs that lead to the final solution Annie reaches about the present murders and what they covered up about the past. Characters from the first book make a reappearance and the reader gets to know them better as Annie learns who she can trust - and who she can't. Her best friend Jenny also stops by to be Annie's Girl Friday. As the clues come together, Annie's life is in danger - as the person behind it all attempts to set her up to take the fall. I recommend this to anyone who enjoys mysteries - cozy or otherwise, but do not jump in before reading the first book.

“How to Seal Your Own Fate” is yet another charming chapter in the Castle Knoll Files series by Krestin Perrin and the story follows directly after the events of the first book. Annie is now living in the village of Castle Knoll after inheriting Gracesdown Hall and she finds herself embroiled in yet another investigation. Unfortunately, Peony Lane, the fortune teller who foretold Great Aunt Francis’ death, is discovered murdered in the mansion’s greenhouse, making Annie a suspect.

Narrated from Annie’s viewpoint and through the old journal entries of Aunt Frances, the tale fluidly shifts between two eras: Annie’s present-day life and the 1960s, the time when the journals were composed. The plot is filled with hidden family mysteries, controversies, clandestine love affairs, and the revelation of a long-standing murder.

Krestin Perrin delivers a complex mystery that spans multiple decades. The story is filled with suspense, featuring numerous twists and turns, and there are many secrets waiting to be discovered. This is an incredible follow-up, and reading the initial book in the series will offer more context and understanding of the characters and the overarching story-line.

I highly recommend this delightfully quirky cozy mystery and look forward to more Castle Knoll mysteries, along with the hope for a little romance between Detective Crane and Annie.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dutton Books for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Cute coz y mystery with appealing lead character and fun supporting cast - my only complaint was needing more info on previous book and a more development of love story with policeman. At times the huge cast lost me but it ultimately pulled me back in. Enjoyable.

The second book in the Castle Knoll Files is much like the first one.

The book is a murder mystery that spans a couple of decades and includes several mysteries and conspiracies that need to be solved. I liked how the timelines were interwoven, with most of the past reveals being through journal entries. I also really liked the main cast of characters.

I would consider this to be a bit more of a detail heavy cozy mystery. It's not quite as trope-y as a regular cozy but I also don't think it's quite as dark as some other straight mystery books. It kept me entertained and I like how everything was tied together, including the prophecies.

Once again, the main character was just way too much to be believable. She literally told the cop "you better just let me into the victim's house right now because if you don't I'll sneak back in later." Excuse you? That is a crime, ma'am.

But other than that I enjoyed the second installment in this series.

I thought this was a very enjoyable read and good followup to the original, but it did fall into some of the same pitfalls of the original, mainly that the "solve" at the end felt kind of like an info dump rather than a conversation between real people. I also felt the conclusion felt a little forced. Still a fun book overall.

I like the premise of this series and really enjoyed the first book. I think my issue with this book was that the story picked up where we left on in the last book without any specific reminder of what happened in the first book. With dozens of characters and many intertwining and convoluted storylines, some kind of map outlining everything would have been helpful. I was so busy trying to remember what happened in the first book that I couldn’t fully invest in this book.

With that being said, it’s a murder mystery where the whodunnit isn’t revealed until the very end, which I like. I think it would be best to read this book series all in a row…and the author has now set us up for a book three.

Castle Knoll: quaint, cozy… and absolutely crawling with murder. 👀

This dual-timeline mystery follows Annie, who just moved to the village, and her great-aunt Frances back in 1967. One’s investigating a fortune teller’s sudden death (after she gives Annie a very unsettling message 😬), and the other’s caught between two men and a decades-old cover-up. Secrets, scandals, and suspicious deaths? Castle Knoll is basically the real main character. 🏰🕵️‍♀️

I loved the creepy countryside vibes and the whole “gothic village with a dark heart” thing — it felt like a cozy mystery with teeth. But I’ll be honest: the pacing dragged in spots and I found myself wishing things would move along a bit quicker. Still, if you’re into slow-burn twists, family secrets, and dual POVs that eventually tie together, this could be a good pick for you!

Would I live in Castle Knoll? Absolutely not. Would I read more murdery stories set there? Probably. 😅

This was a fun second entry in the Castle Knoll Files series. I enjoyed seeing the past through Aunt Frances's eyes again and was invested in the central mystery right away. It did keep me guessing and I did not guess the whodunit ahead of the big reveal. One issue I did have was with being dropped directly back into the previous story with little reminder of what happened in the first book. I read it a while ago and was taken out of the story repeatedly trying to remember details that were important to the current story. I would not say that this book can standalone. I was more invested in the historical events than the current ones but not enough to prevent enjoying this cute, fun, and sometimes dark visit to Castle Knoll.

This is easily one of the most successful cozy mysteries of our time. It’s refreshingly clean, avoiding graphic details while still delivering a gripping, page-turning plot. As the second installment in the series, it hits all the right notes and sets the stage beautifully for book three. I can’t recommend it highly enough—if you love mysteries, this is a must-read.

A sequel as quirky, charming and intriguing as the first. I admit it has been a bit since I read the first one so I was a bit lost on some of the details. A reread or a refresher would have done wonders for my overall enjoyment of the book. The setting was vivid and beautiful. The characters were fascinating and I loved learning more about them and how their stories intertwined. It did drag quite a bit and I kept waiting for things to happen. But it was a nice quirky, cozy mystery that I’m sure you will love if you enjoyed (and remember) the first.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are mine alone.

Annie is slowly but surely settling into life at Castle Knoll. It has taken some getting used to and some residents still seem to hold the murder case as well as the actions of her great aunt Frances against her, but overall things are going well. At least, things are going well until a body appears INSIDE of the Gravesdown Estate leaving Annie with another murder to solve, this time while pleading her own innocence.

I was so excited to return to Castle Knoll. I love the way this connected back to the original story/mystery AND even kept with the dual timelines. Aunt Frances's journal entries are once again my favorite part of the book, with the budding romance between Annie and Crane as a close second. I can only hope that we get more of Castle Knoll. The ending made me absolutely DESPERATE to hear what happens next!

It took me a minute to invest in this book the way I did with the first. I think I felt like everything had just been so well wrapped up that I was honestly surprised there was a sequel. As soon as Frances started really getting messy in the past, I was fully back on board. It did not take long lol

I think this book is so perfectly pitched: great for fans of Knives Out and Only Murders in the Building.

this was fun but for me not as engaging as the first in the series, i would probably continue to read as i live a nice murder mystery that unfolds like this series always does, inevitably

thank you to netgalley for an arc of this book in exchange for my honest feedback!

I enjoyed book one How to Solve Your Own Murder. I was looking forward to jumping into book two.
How to Seal Your Own Fate is a fantastic cozy murder mystery!
This mystery is so cleverly plotted and executed.
And with the well-developed characters I was eagerly turning the pages. The character development is on point.. the way the story unravels is effortlessly gripping.
The dual timelines and POVs were done so well I was honestly captivated by it all.
I loved the plot, story, characters and writing and the whole set up and idea of it was just so clever. I can’t remember the last time I enjoyed a murder mystery this much and I’m honestly incredibly excited to read what else this author will produce.

Thank You NetGalley and Dutton for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

**3.5-stars rounded up**

How to Seal Your Own Fate is the 2nd-installment in Kristen Perrin's Castle Knoll Files. These books follow Annie Adams, who has recently moved to the tiny village of Castle Knoll after inheriting her Great-Aunt Frances's property upon her untimely death. In the 1st-book, Annie needs to solve the mystery of who murdered her Great-Aunt. In this one, she needs to solve the murder of the person who foretold that death, the fortune teller, Peony Lane.

These Cozy Mysteries are told through both present and past storylines. Annie is in our present, and our past perspective is told via Frances. The past we examine here is 1967, when Frances is being pulled between two men: the wealthy, Ford Gravesdown, and the earnest, Archie Foyle. There is a mystery in the past as well, which involves a car accident that claimed the lives of some members of Ford's family. We shift back and forth between past and present, find out the connections, and ultimately gets answers to both mysteries.

I've really enjoyed both books in this series so far. I feel like Perrin has developed a nice little formula, and it's working. Upon picking this one up, I was immediately happy to be back with Annie in Castle Knoll. I do love her as a main character. Admittedly, it does take a minute, at least it did for me, to settle into the flow of the story, the back-and-forth can be a little jarring at first.

Once you are able to get your bearings though, it does flow nicely. I feel like the chapters are short and punchy, and always left me wanting to know more. This one is twisted. The mystery of the car accident, there are a lot of puzzle pieces involved, and it did get a little hard to track at times. Especially because a lot of my focus was also on Peony's death in the present.

I did feel it got a little convoluted towards the end, but nevertheless, it was a fun time and I did enjoy how it concluded. It looks like we'll be getting a 3rd-book and I'm definitely on board for that. I appreciated how Annie has come to understand and relate to her Great-Aunt Frances so much more over the course of these two books. I also love her settling into her new life, and look forward to seeing more of that in future.

Thank you to the publisher, Dutton, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I would recommend this to all Cozy Mystery fans, particularly those who enjoy a historical element in their Cozies, or those who enjoy small village vibes.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for granting me an e-arc!

I was so excited to get back to the world of Castle Knoll! I read How to Solve Your Own Murder in book club, and was so happy when I found out the series was continuing!

Annie is back and solving more mysteries! When fortune teller Peony Lane gives Annie a clue that she should be investigating a car accident that killed members of the Gravesdown family, Annie returns to her Aunt Frances’ old files on everyone in town. However, Annie quickly learns that Peony Lane must have known a lot more than she was letting on, as someone definitely doesn’t want the truth about that car accident coming out. Annie realizes she’s missing certain files and her aunt’s journals from the years in question, leading her to suspect people close to her may have been involved. Things quickly escalate when a murder occurs, and Annie has to put all the pieces together to save her own life and the others around her.

I did enjoy this one and it was nice to revisit this quaint little town and its cast of characters. I recommend this to readers that enjoy a mystery that’s on the cozier side.

I ended up enjoying this book but I wasn’t nearly invested in this one as I was the previous book in the series. I guess solving the murders just didn’t feel as high stakes? I’m not sure why I wasn’t connecting with this one as much. I ended up reading this as an audiobook and I did find it hard to distinguish which chapters were from Annie’s perspective and which were from Frances’s so maybe that was part of the problem.