In this second book in the series, Annie is now settling into her life at Castle Knoll when the infamous fortune teller of the first novel gives her a cryptic message hours before she is found dead on Annie's property. Annie is now back in the mystery solving game, and like the first novel, the reader is given insight into the past and how that plays into the present mysteries.

I find this series cute and entertaining when I need a light cozy mystery. I liked revisiting the familiar characters from Castle Knoll and learning more about them and their secrets. I wouldn't suggest picking this one up if you haven't read the first in the series. I personally enjoy the revelations from the past and how they are revealed slowly throughout the novel and how the author intertwines the past with the present. The narrator had a lovely English accent which always makes the listening experience better (at least for me). I think I preferred the first one, but I would definitely read another.

3.75 stars

Thank you to Dutton Books and NetGalley for the ARC to review

A good second installment of this series with the same good characters and the same excellent writing. Told in dual timelines from Annie and Frances' perspective, it's a continuation of the past events from Castle Knoll as well as the new mystery of the dead body found in Gravesdown Estate. If you haven't read the first book, you'll definitely have to or you'll feel lost. This is a really good series and I'm looking forward to more from Perrin!

"People who know too much about the skeletons in the Gravesdown closets? They tend to disappear."

HOW TO SEAL YOUR OWN FATE by Kristen Perrin brings us back to Castle Knoll with Annie Adams as she finds herself framed for the murder of fortune teller Peony Lane shortly after she delivered a cryptic message to Annie.

It was so much fun to be back in this world and with these characters! I love the way Perrin writes a cozy mystery and how this story connected so much to the first book in this series (a note that you should have prior knowledge from the first before diving into this one)!

The Gravesdown Estate was as picturesque as ever (despite the body count within its walls 🫢) and the dual timelines really aided in the mystery and in getting to know characters that no longer exist in the present timeline.

I can't wait to see where the mystery leads in the next Castle Knoll book!

Thanks to NetGalley and Dutton for the early copy for review - out April 29!

Thank you to Dutton Books and Kristen Perrin for this ARC of How to Seal Your Own Fate!

I read How to Solve Your Own Murder earlier this year and absolutely loved the cozy mystery vibes, so diving into book 2 of this charming mystery series was a no-brainer! 🤩

🔍 What did I love most?
Kristen Perrin crafts dual timelines masterfully. Each chapter hooks you deeper into the story, and the way they interweave is truly an art form. I adored the overall narrative and found myself fully immersed.

The setting? A picturesque English country village that gives you all the cozy mystery feels, although this time the drama unfolds mainly at the brooding Castle Knoll. Perfect backdrop for a murder mystery!

What to expect:
🛋️ Cozy mystery vibes
❄️ Cold case investigations
👀 Armchair detective sleuthing
🔄 Dual POV

🔍 Do you need to read book 1 first?
Yes! I highly recommend reading How to Solve Your Own Murder before starting How to Seal Your Own Fate. It gives important character background that enhances the experience.

🔍 How’s the pacing?
Fast-paced with short chapters, cliffhangers, and dual timelines that keep you guessing (and flipping pages late into the night)!

🔍 Final thoughts:
If you love a cozy murder mystery packed with quirky characters, puzzling clues, and just the right amount of suspense, this series is a must-read.

Perfect for fans of:
🖤 Agatha Christie
🖤 Richard Osman
🖤 Nita Prose

Mood: 🛋️ cozy | ⚡️ adventurous | 🌀 twisty

Read if you love:
👀 Whodunits
🏘️ Small town mysteries
🚪 Locked-room mysteries
😅 Eccentric characters

I don’t know if I’m just in a reading slump or what, but I found this book incredibly boring and slow.
I absolutely loved the first book in this series so I had high hopes for this one, but it just fell flat.

How to Solve Your Own Murder had such a unique premise and this book felt so boring and simple in comparison. I thought that Frances was such an interesting character to be at the center of a mystery and because the other characters weren’t as interesting, I didn’t find this story as compelling. I felt like the story was just going in circles, and nothing really happened until about half way through.

The main character, Annie, didn’t seem to change much at all, and her relationships with the other characters didn’t seem to change after this story either.

Maybe this would’ve been better as a novella about Peony Lane and her fortune telling?

If you liked the first book as much as I did, you could still give this one a try and let me know what you think. Maybe it just wasn’t for me?

How to Seal Your Own Fate will be out on April 29! Thank you to Dutton Books and NetGalley for the advanced copy! ✨

3.5 stars
How to Seal Your Own Fate by Kristen Perrin takes place in the English Village of Castle Knoll. I enjoyed the first book in the Castle Knoll Mystery series which alternated between Annie Adams in the present and the journals of her great-aunt Frances in the past. This new book also has a dual timeline with Annie narrating the present and flashbacks to Frances in the 1960s. Annie gets caught up in a dangerous mystery from the past and she becomes a suspect in the death of the fortune teller who shaped her aunt's entire life.

My favorite parts of the book were Annie and her friend Jenny investigating together and Annie's growing friendship with Detective Rowan Crane. I liked Jenny in the first book and was happy to get to know her a little better in this one. I also like the way Rowan began supporting Annie, even if it meant bending the rules a bit. The drawback is the plot became confusing to me and unfolded much too slowly. I liked the ending, though which hints at more secrets to be uncovered if there is a third book.

I received an advance copy of this ebook from Dutton Books for review consideration. My review is voluntary and unbiased.

Thank you to Dutton Books and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinions.

I’m very mad at myself for this but I cannot get into this book. I don’t know why because I LOVED this first one, but I just don’t seem to care about the mystery in this one. I’ve picked it up and put it down many times, but I’m 1/4 through and still haven’t connected with it, so I think it’s a DNF for now

Readers find themselves back at the magical Castle Knoll trying to uncover another mystery surrounding the towns eccentric residents. Annie Adams, now the owner of Francis’ grand old house finds herself decoding a cryptic fortune and solving a murder.

Exactly like the first book in this series, the story line jumps back and forth from the 1960s to present day. Tiny clues are dropped all throughout the past to help the reader solve the mystery.

As much as I enjoyed the first book of this series, I found myself DRAGGING in How to Seal Your Own Fate. Nothing grabbed my attention and made me want to continue. Quite honestly, I finished this with hours to spare before the ARC expired. While this isn’t a bad book by any means, it is just not for me. I could envision this as a low stakes beach read for those of us who don’t do romance novels.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for this ARC.

I really enjoyed the first book in this series, How to Solve Your Own Murder, but the sequel, How to Seal Your Own Fate fell flat to me. Annie is back in detective mode, between hunting down Frances’ missing journals and trying to solve a murder, she’s got a lot on her plate. Similar to its predecessor, this book switches time periods back and forth between 1967 and present day. It was a fun way to keep me engaged in the story and wanting to know more.

Where this didn’t land for me is that everything was “tell, not show”, following along with Annie, there’s no way to figure out the murder. It’s not until the last chapter when everything is explained in detail that it all comes together, which isn’t quite my style.

Thank you to Kristen Perrin, NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

This book was definitely a slow start, but I enjoyed following Annie as she solved both past and present murders. I wish there were a few more reminders to what had happened in the first book, as I didn’t remember much. Definitely didn’t end how I expected.

After reading the first book and enjoying it, I was very glad to learn that it was going to be a series!

I love the dual POVs that shift from Frances and Annie’s (past and present). I really enjoyed the concept of Frances’s diary entries and divulging more of her life through that perspective.

This mystery was very convoluted and had multiple layers to it which kept things entertaining. Honestly the time flew by and before I knew it the mystery was being solved when I had felt like I just started.

I feel like the story panned out pretty well and I enjoyed seeing characters develop deeper relationships.

I will say I felt a lack of connection with the characters and it did seem just slightly too complex of a mystery with all the time jump.

But besides that, no complaints from me.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC. #NetGalley

4.50. I enjoyed this return to Castle Knoll. It’s the same format as How To Solve Your Own Murder- present day Annie trying to solve a murder mystery with ties to her Great Aunt Frances’ past. We get another journal from Frances & it’s just as juicy as the first. Frances seems like more of a romantic in this journal. She’s such a compelling character. This time Annie is trying to solve the murder of Peony Lane, fortune teller, in the present & possibly solve the mystery of the car crash that killed 3 members of the Gravesdown family in the past. I did not have a clue who the murderer- past or present- was. Full of twists & lots of longing- Annie & Detective Crane, Frances & a surprising partner- this is becoming one of my favorite cozy mystery series. I can’t wait to go back to Castle Knoll. Thank you go NetGalley & Dutton Books for this eARC.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Kristen Perrin for providing me with a complimentary digital ARC for How to Seal Your Own Fate coming out April 29, 2025. The honest opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I need to read the first book in the series. I really enjoy mysteries. I’m not quite sure if I love the dual timeline though. Sometimes it works for me and sometimes I prefer one time over the other. I think I would’ve liked more time dedicated in the present to Annie. I think Castle Knoll is interesting and I’d love to learn more about that place. I would check out more books by this author.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys mysteries!

We are back in Castle Knoll and following Annie through yet another mystery. This is another cozy mystery that leaves you trying to solve the case faster than the protagonist, though part of me wonders if that’s even possible, as I’ll get to below. The formula stays the same in narrative structure: Annie tells the present day story and we learn about the past through Aunt Frances‘s diary. Weirdly, I just finished another book in a very similar structure so it didn’t bother me that this is the exact same formula as book one, but I could understand why some people hoped for a little bit different storytelling. This is a very slow start, but once it gets going, it stays going. My biggest issue this time around is the same issue I had with the first book —there are so many characters and somehow my brain cannot keep them straight. The friend group in the past and the people in the present are somehow too many for me to remember who is related to who and how people are linked to one another at all times. Like book one, I still found myself wondering who people were meant to be linked to and how odd or not odd their behaviors were because I couldn’t keep it straight. I think this book would benefit a lot from being read directly after the first book because it touches so much on those same characters and the story we had already learned there is very relevant. The ending was a little confusing to me (but that could be because I was once again struggling with all the characters), but I also am not sure that I am fully convinced our protagonist got there in a natural way. Now that I know the ending, I would be curious to start from the beginning and see if I could spot all the clues throughout. It just felt like some of those clues weren’t actually there for me to have had a fighting chance of playing along, but I might be wrong on that. My only other issue is that there were a few very minor sub plots that started, never got flushed out, and then were totally forgotten about. It’s very possible that these will continue into another book in the series, but I wanted at least some minor payoff for certain things even if they wouldn’t come until later. Overall, a satisfying and compelling cozy mystery. Thank you to NetGalley and Dutton for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

How to Seal Your Own Fate by Kristen Perrin is the 2nd book in her Castle Knoll series.

"Annie Adams is settling into her life at Castle Knoll when Peony Lane, a local fortune teller, shares a message with her just hours before Peony is found dead inside the locked Gravesdown Estate. Now Annie must dig into the dark secrets of her new home before her life comes crashing down around her."

This is a cozy mystery. It is probably better to read the first book before this one to have a good grasp of the characters. There are many and sometimes it was difficult to keep up with all of them, especially since many are in both timelines and in different places in each timeline.
The story moves slowly and there are many red herrings. Annie keeps plugging away yo find answers. The pace picks up at the surprising ending.
Great story if you like an English cozy.

How To Seal Your Own Fate by Kristen Perrin

Thank You NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for a complimentary copy of this novel! This review and all thoughts associated with it are completely my own.

This is Book 2 in the Castle Knoll Files series. Once again, we find Annie Adams with a few mysteries to solve. Annie has now taken residence in Gravesdown Hall that she inherited from her Great Aunt Frances. It seems like murder has a way of finding Annie; because she is again faced with solving not one, but multiple murders – past and present! Annie crosses paths with Peony Lane, a local fortune teller, and leaves Annie with a very mysterious message. Hours later, Peony is found murdered in the solarium of Gravesdown Hall where Annie now lives. Annie realizes this isn’t a coincidence and may have something to do with the mysterious message she left Annie. There was a car accident decades ago where three people died – all from the Gravesdown family. This was never solved, just laid to rest by Frances’ husband, Ford Gravesdown. Now, using her Aunt Frances’ diaries from the past, Annie works to solve the murders – past and present. As one more body drops, someone is intent on pinning the current murders on
Annie. Will she be able to catch the killer or is there more than one?

I truly enjoyed this cozy mystery novel! It is a dual timeline between Aunt Frances’ diaries and Annie’s present. I love how the novel comes together at the end and it all makes perfect sense. The first novel in the series is How to Solve Your Own Murder that came out in March of 2024. To get a good understanding of what is happening in the second novel, it is preferable to read the first one. I personally feel that the second one builds on the first novel. This second novel comes out April 29, 2025!

Fans of the first book- How to Solve Your Own Murder- will likely appreciate this more than new readers but don't let that stop you if you don't know Annie, Frances, Archie, Ford, and the rest. This moves back and forth between Annie in the present and the diary of Frances, the aunt whose many millions and home she inherited, to not only continue the story from the first book but also introduce a new mystery- the murder of Peony Lane. Peony, a fortune teller, has caused a lot of trouble in her life and now after she approaches Annie one morning someone kills her in Annie's new home. Her murder is part of a mystery that's lingered for years, that of how Ford's family died in a car crash. Frances and Archie, now Annie's groundskeeper, investigate this in the past and grow close, even knowing that Frances and Ford may marry. How is it connected to the present? No spoilers from me but know that I probably couldn't explain it quickly even if I wanted to! This is complex, there are things you must remember and it fooled me. Annie, despite not feeling accepted in the village, has found her footing and she's still got all of the files Frances kept (one reason her neighbors are wary). This means, hopefully, there will be another mystery to solve. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. It's a great read.

After reading "How to Solve Your Own Murder," a 2024 gem, immediately pick up "How to Seal Your Fate," the thrilling and cozy sequel and second book in the Castle Knolls series.

WHAT WORKED:
I love this world and the characters. While there are MANY to remember (and trust me, you won't immediately remember them all), the author did a great job of gently nudging us back into each character's personalities.

Annie was a strong and smart female main character, which I always appreciate. She was never doing stupid things but you can watch her evolve since her arrival into Castle Knolls into now, basically a carbon copy of her great aunt. After all, she's taken over Gravesdown Estate and is finding she's more and more like her great aunt at every turn.

The story was told between two different timelines for the same mystery and I LOVED that. It gives readers the opportunity to see different clues in different timelines to create their own interpretation of events. All while eventually tying it all together in a neat bow!

WHAT DIDN'T WORK:
At times, the clues and information explored in each timelines didn't mesh as easily as it should have.

All in all, this was an excellent sequel to a story that could've easily been a standalone. And in that vein, it did not come across as a "money grab" in any way...this was a story that was set up so well in the initial book that it just flowed perfectly.

I would suggest reading this story right after the first book, as the events that take place happen essentially take place right after book one draws to a close.

Thank you to Penguin Random House and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review "How to Seal Your Own Fate" prior to its release on 4/29/25.

Annie is getting settled in the castle she has inherited from her Aunt Frances as the reward for solving her murder. The fortune teller who predicted it and caused Aunt Frances to live in fear all those years is found dead in the castle and Annie is a suspect. Could the answer to this murder be related to the past and do the famous files that Frances kept on her family and friends hold the secrets to help solve this new murder?
Family drama is the best kind and this mystery is another wild ride into the past for Annie!

Thank you to Penguin Group Dutton and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy! #howtosealyourownfate #netgalley

*Thank you to Dutton and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review and to LibroFM for the gifted ALC*

Double the mysteries, double the fun! I listened to this on a trip to Nashville with my husband and it was the perfect length and genre for the drive.

We're back with our favorite dual timeline sleuths, uncovering mysteries big and small in Castle Knoll. We've got car crashes, cover-ups, and conspiracies galore! I found myself much more invested in the 1960's timeline, but the modern day one was nothing to scoff at. It did get a little muddled at the end (for example, I couldn't tell you if there were any lasting implications of what Annie uncovers), so I wish there was better description kind of wrapping up the story or setting up the next one, but overall super enjoyable. Here's hoping there's a third!