A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson Also by this author: Five Survive, Kill Joy
Series: A Good Girl's Guide to Murder #1
Also in this series: Kill Joy
Published by Random House Children's Books on January 5, 2021
Genres: Law & Crime, Prejudice & Racism, Social Themes, Thrillers & Suspense, Young Adult Fiction
Pages: 400
Format: Hardcover
Source: Personal Library
THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER EVERYONE IS TALKING ABOUT!
An addictive must-read mystery with shades of Serial and Making a Murderer about an investigation turned obsession, full of twists and turns and with an ending you'll never expect.
Everyone in Fairview knows the story.
Pretty and popular high school senior Andie Bell was murdered by her boyfriend, Sal Singh, who then killed himself. It was all anyone could talk about. And five years later, Pip sees how the tragedy still haunts her town.
But she can't shake the feeling that there was more to what happened that day. She knew Sal when she was a child, and he was always so kind to her. How could he possibly have been a killer?
Now a senior herself, Pip decides to reexamine the closed case for her final project, at first just to cast doubt on the original investigation. But soon she discovers a trail of dark secrets that might actually prove Sal innocent . . . and the line between past and present begins to blur. Someone in Fairview doesn't want Pip digging around for answers, and now her own life might be in danger.
And don't miss the sequel, Good Girl, Bad Blood!
"The perfect nail-biting mystery." --Natasha Preston, #1 New York Times bestselling author
If there is one thing I do like, it is a good mystery. This one was definitely one of the good ones. The first thing you learn in A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder is that Sal Singh killed Andie Bell. At least that’s what everyone in town believes. Except Sal’s family and one other person. That person is our main character, Pippa.
A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder – The Main Characters
Pippa is sort of an interesting character. She’s every faculty member’s dream. Her homework is done on time and very neatly. She studies all the time. Even when she chose to prove Sal Singh was innocent, she worked on that all the time. While she is an interesting character, I don’t think we got to see enough of her real personality. We got more of the workaholic than we did the actual person with Pippa. While she may be the main character in A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, she isn’t the best main character I’ve ever seen.
Now we move on to Ravi Singh. Ravi is our second main character and Sal’s younger brother. He and his family have been deeply hurt by town’s belief that Sal killed Andie Bell. He would do pretty much anything to be able to have Sal’s name cleared. His personality has been shaped by the events that took place in 2014, when his brother was declared as Andie Bell’s killer. I wasn’t attached to him either. He just seemed a bit flat to me somehow. Maybe it was because I read most of the book between midnight and three AM.
The Review
I have to say that A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder was a great book – as far as the plot went. The plot had a lot of action in it and it was a fairly fast read once I actually sat down to read it.
One thing I found interesting about the book is that it is clearly set in the United States. However, Holly Jackson lives in the UK (London to be precise) and so some things that are unique to that part of the world are found in the book. They’re just little things, like everyone wanting tea instead of coffee. It doesn’t detract from the book in any way and I actually enjoyed it.
If there is one thing that you will find in A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, it is mystery. First, the mystery of why Sal was pegged as Andie Bell’s murderer. Then we have the mystery of who doesn’t want Pippa investigating this case. Finally, we have the mystery of who really killed Andie Bell.
There are some heart-stopping moments in this book and it will definitely have you wondering what the outcome will be. I definitely never guessed it!
If you’ve read A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder and you liked it, you might also like There’s Someone in Your House by Stephanie Perkins.
