In All Uncertain Terms

Sequel to How to Solve Your Own Murder, which I reviewed about a month ago, How to Seal Your Own Fate follows protagonist Annie Adams a few months (or possibly a year) after the events of the first novel in the series. The final installment in the Castle Knoll Files trilogy, How to Cheat Your Own Death, is expected to release on April 28th, 2026.

The book contains almost entirely the same cast of characters as its predecessor, though it focuses on figures who were minor in the first story. The plot unfolds in the same enjoyable structure, where the chapters alternate between the present-day perspective of Annie Adams, and decades-old diary entries of her great aunt, Frances Adams Gravesdown.

While I enjoyed How to Solve Your Own Murder, I enjoyed its sequel more. One common complaint about the first book is that there were too many characters and families to track. Since I had already become at least a little familiar with most of the characters through the previous novel, I found it much easier to follow this time around.

The plot, however, was even more convoluted than that of the first Castle Knoll File. One of the most fun parts of a whodunnit is trying to guess the perpetrator before it’s revealed. It would be incredibly difficult to guess the correct solution to the mystery in the first novel, but nearly impossible in the second. Still, it wasn’t so confusing that I couldn’t follow the story, just enough that I couldn’t begin to predict the reveal.

A noticeable improvement on the previous work is the dialogue and general writing style in How to Seal Your Own Fate. The awkward conversational volley I found so noticeable in the first book, especially early on, was not present in this one. This made for an overall much more enjoyable reading experience.

Though the novelty of being immersed in a new setting with a crowd of characters to be introduced to was, by nature of being the second book in a series, gone, I believe Kristen Perrin has shown noticeable improvement in her writing. I look forward to reading the finale to her series in April, and to seeing where she goes in her career as an author afterward.