How to Seal Your Own Fate is the second book in a wry and very well constructed series by Kristen Perrin. Released 29th April 2025 by Penguin Random House on their Dutton imprint, it's 320 pages and is available in hardcover, large print paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links.
This is a fun homage/send up of the classic British murder mystery whose protagonist is still trying to find her way after her deceased (murdered) great-aunt's crazy will left her a literal fortune and nearly got her killed in the process, -more- dastardly grasping relatives, conspiracy theories galore, a convoluted plot, and a satisfyingly exciting denouement and resolution.
It's not primarily a humorous plot, but there are quite a few wry moments with departed great-aunt Frances' journals and files which she collected over a 60 year period and containing a plethora of secrets concerning the locals who are understandably eager to insure that the info remain secret.
It's
not derivative, but fans of Knives Out, Clue, and the Thursday Murder
Club will likely enjoy this one. There's a third book due out in April 2026 from the same publisher.
Four stars. It would be a good choice for public library acquisition, home use, or gift giving. There's a fair bit of continuity from the first book, and it's an ongoing series, so it would make a good binge/buddy read and doesn't really work very well as a complete standalone.
The unabridged audiobook format has a run time of 9 hours 11 minutes and is expertly read by Alexandra Dowling (et. al.). She has a classically trained RP English accent and does a good job with the disparate and varied accents over a range of ages and both men and women. Sound and production quality are high throughout the read.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes
No comments:
Post a Comment