How to Cheat Your Own Death by Kristen PerrinHow to Cheat Your Own Death by Kristen Perrin
Series: Castle Knoll Files #3
Published by Penguin Audio on April 28, 2026
Source: Purchased
Genres: Mystery
Length: 9 hrs 14 mins
Pages: 336
Format: Audiobook
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four-stars

Some secrets are deadlier than others

1968: Frances Adams is loving her new London life, and she’s stepped into a world of glamour thanks to her new friend, Vera Huntington–a magnetic socialite as mysterious as she is provocative. Vera dances around London like she owns it, taking Frances with her.

Present day: When Annie Adams heads to London to visit her famous artist mother, Laura, the last thing she expects to find is a dead body. Least of all for it to be Laura’s new protégée, left in an alley with her heart surgically removed from her chest.

Annie is no stranger to murder–after all, she’s solved a few already. And something about this case feels familiar. She’s read about one just like it in the journals of her late great aunt Frances, whose friend Vera was killed in the 1960s in the exact same way.

As Annie investigates, threats pile up on Laura’s doorstep, and it soon becomes clear that she’s next. With her mother’s life on the line, can Annie find the killer before it’s too late?

The mystery was good and I enjoyed the mix of murder and art. I don’t love London as a setting as much as Castle Knoll, but I get it. Annie’s relationship with her parents is a mess. As is her whatever is going on with Detective Crane. I like that’s we’re sticking with the fortunes as our connecting point. I enjoyed the dual timelines, but maybe prefer the people and events of the 60s over the current time period.

About Kristen Perrin

Kristen Perrin is originally from Seattle, Washington, where she spent several years working as a bookseller before immigrating to the UK to do a Masters and PhD.

She loves working on projects that have a mystery at their heart, and splits her time writing cosy crime for adults and working on middle grade books that mix magic and adventure. Her children’s series, Attie and the Worldbreakers, is currently available in Dutch, German, and Polish.

She lives with her family in Surrey, where she can be found stomping in the mud with her two kids, collecting too many plants, and painting and sketching in her spare time.

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