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Amateur sleuths, get ready—because on April 28, 2026, How to Cheat Your Own Death, the next mystery in Kristen Perrin’s New York Times bestselling Castle Knoll Files series, hits U.S. bookstores.
Perrin, originally from Seattle, Washington—where she worked for years as a bookseller before moving to the UK to pursue her Master’s and PhD—first cut her teeth as a writer of middle school-age fiction, before pivoting to adult themes. Her debut mystery novel, How To Solve Your Own Murder, a brilliant whodunit set in a quaint English village called Castle Knoll, rocketed into bookstores in 2024, taking the genre by storm on its way to racking up numerous accolades, including being selected as a finalist for Jimmy Fallon’s Book Club.
The story, a smartly-plotted, twisting look into the killing of Frances Adams, who nearly 60 years prior predicted her own murder back in 1965, features shifting timelines, as Perrin’s protagionist, Annie (Frances’ great-niece), hellbent on catching the killer, uses her aunt’s notes to piece together a list of suspects and their potential motives, and then investigates things on her own. Then, last year, Perrin brought Annie back for more mayhem in How to Seal Your Own Fate, a national bestseller, which follows Annie as she’s settling into Frances’ home, only to once again find herself knee-deep in a fresh murder, when a local fortune teller is killed just hours after sharing a cryptic message.
G.T. Karber, the internationally bestselling author of Murdle, called Perrin’s second effort, “A brilliant follow-up that proves Kristen Perrin is here to stay,” an endorsement that feels rather prophetic now, with How to Cheat Your Own Death primed for release. While there’s no official cover art just yet, Book Spy followers are getting an early peek at the plot details, and it should come as no surprise that Annie, once again, will soon find herself investigating two interlocking mysteries. And while she’s no stranger to murder, her latest case is setting up to be her toughest, and perhaps most dangerous, so far.
Read more below!
How to Cheat Your Own Death by Kristen Perrin
Release Date: April 28, 2026
Dutton
From the gritty streets of 1960s Soho to the lofty galleries of present-day West London, two interlocking mysteries decades apart unfold in this latest instalment in the award-winning, New York Times bestselling Castle Knoll Murder Mystery series
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?
We’ll be covering this book right up until its release, so make sure to check back in the coming weeks and months for more content, including a cover reveal, book review, and more. In the meantime, if you’ve yet to check out Perrin’s series, change that today—especially if you’re a fan of Richard Osman or Nita Prose.
Praised as “One of the hardest working, most thoughtful, and fairest reviewers out there” by New York Times bestselling author Lisa Scottoline, Ryan Steck has “quickly established himself as the authority on mysteries and thrillers” (Author A.J. Tata). Steck also works full-time as a freelance editor in addition to running TRBS. He is the author of FIELDS OF FIRE, which #1 New York Times bestselling author Jack Carr says “will leave you speechless and begging for more,” LETHAL RANGE, OUT FOR BLOOD, GONE DARK, and TED BELL’S MONARCH. For more information, follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and BookBub. For even more content and book news, subscribe to The Real Book Spy Substack!