A review by page_appropriate
How To Seal Your Own Fate by Kristen Perrin

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

 Thank you to Dutton for my #gifted advance electronic copy via NetGalley.  My thoughts are my own.

Castle Knoll has a surprising number of murders for such a small English town, and Annie Adams is just trying to settle in after solving the last ones when Peony Lane and her fortunes turn up again.  So Annie sets off again to try to solve the latest murder on her newly-inherited property with the help of her deceased aunt's old diaries. Could this latest one be related to the deaths of the Gravesdown family in a gruesome car accident in Aunt Frances' time?  And does the latest killer have it out for Annie too?

This is very definitely better read after (recently) reading book 1.  Perrin does give little reminders about what happened in How to Solve Your Own Murder but I quickly found myself getting confused and needing a refresher.  But I was quickly sucked in by the parallels between Annie's post-inheritance  life and that of her Aunt, right down to the air of fate and fortune and being trapped by one's inescapable destiny.  I liked this one better than the first one, though I was really annoyed that Annie shut out Crane for no good reason.  And maybe the confusion at the beginning was really a "me" problem because I found myself confused again toward the end with all the big reveals--I didn't follow it all very well either.  But, again, I enjoyed the read and will try to get everything straight in case there is a book three! 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings