Happy Monday! Today I am bringing you two short reviews of books that I enjoyed reading last week. The first is a sequel to a contemporary cozy mystery series, and then the final book in a series. Enjoy!
How to Seal Your Own Fate by Kristen Perrin
Published: April 2025
Confession:
This lovely little cozy mystery is the second book in the Castle Knoll Files. I really liked the first book, How to Solve Your Own Murder, but I think this one was even better. The mystery felt slightly better and a bit more realistic than in the first book. I also liked that we got to know many of the characters from the first book a bit better. Many of the same suspects are back and this time they are very involved in the mystery.
I thought the dual narration worked a bit better this time as well. We have the present day Annie solving an old mystery that her Aunt Francis tried to solve in the 60s. Sometimes though things are revealed in Francis’s diary way before Annie figures them out. I got the feeling that the diary entries were not being read by Annie as they were in the first book. For some reason I thought this worked better. The mystery was also very convoluted and had lots of red herrings which I really like.
A solid second book that almost outshines the first one. If you enjoyed the first book, then you will like this one. I do recommend that you read the books in order. Much of the relationships between the characters that we learn in the first book is not explained in this one. So it would be hard to understand some of the things that happen here. I am looking forward to the next book and solving more mysteries with Annie.
Holy Terrors by Margaret Owen
Read by Saskia Maarleveld
Published: April 2025
Confession:
This is the second review that I am writing for this book. I read the ARC back in March and just really struggled with it. Most of what I struggled with had to do with my not remembering much from the first two books. Also I discovered that there was a collection of short stories that revealed what happened in the year that Vanya and Emmeric were separated. So I have now listened to the first two books, read the short stories and listened to the final book, and I have to say that made all the difference. I really enjoyed this book much more than the first time around.
The reader just does such a good job with the story that it really made a difference for me. I enjoyed her voices and the emotions it really made the story come alive. The interactions between Vanya and Emmeric were really well done.
I still had some of the same issues with the book that I had the first time around. Mainly the length and the convoluted political system, and the many, many characters that were involved in the election of the new emperor. But I was prepared for that and did find it a bit easier to follow this time. I loved the ending and found it easier to follow this time around as well. I really appreciated how much growth all of the characters showed, but especially Vanya and Emmeric.
I think that this was an excellent ending to this series. I will miss spending time with these characters, but feel like they got the ending that they deserved. I highly recommend though that you read the short stories, The Fallow Year, before picking this one up. Some important new characters are introduced in the collection and I felt I knew their back stories better going into this one.
Confessions of a Serial Reader 