A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder

A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder by Holly Jackson

THE CASE IS CLOSED.

Five years ago, schoolgirl Andie Bell was murdered by Sal Singh. The police know he did it. Everyone in town knows he did it.

But having grown up in the same small town that was consumed by the murder, Pippa Fitz-Amobi isn’t so sure. When she chooses the case as the topic for her final-year project, she starts to uncover secrets that someone in town desperately wants to stay hidden. And if the real killer is still out there, how far will they go to keep Pip from the truth?

This book definitely delivers on its promise of being intricately plotted. I was super impressed by all the hard work that must have gone into writing this complex and layered murder mystery.

Some people might tell you that this book reminds them of Pretty Little Liars. The crime which Pippa is investigating, and the suspects Pippa has to interview, did give me PLL vibes. But the book focuses on Pippa’s life, and Pippa’s friend group is nothing like that. So, if you’re coming into this story hoping to read about a PLL type friend group, then you are going to be disappointed.  

Book Format

The mixed media format of this book intrigued me because it gave me Illuminae vibes, but in the end I had mixed feelings about it. At times it felt like a chore to read through the mixed media bits. LOL, but maybe I’m just a lazy reader.

The Friend Group

This book had a large cast of suspects to keep track of, and then they also decided to give Pippa five friends. Personally, I felt Pippa could have gotten by with just one close friend, which we then could have gotten to know on a deeper level. Especially since the others didn’t really seem to play a significant role in the story, in my opinion.  

The pacing of the book felt weird with regards to the introduction of Pippa’s three guy friends. The guy friends are briefly mentioned to us when we are introduced to Pippa’s two female friends. And then a couple of chapters later, they are said to be in the background of one scene, but still not introduced to us. We are only formerly introduced to the boys much later in the book, during a camping scene. But just after that camping scene, they disappear into the background again for a long time. And when they finally resurface they just make little guest appearances throughout the story. Even Pippa’s second female friend, Lauren, seemed unnecessary to me. I would have preferred to get to know Pippa’s best friend, Cara and her sister, Naomi better. We are told Cara’s family is like a second family to Pip and I really would have liked to have seen more scenes that show how close they were.  

Show vs Tell

There were also other times when I felt like the book would tell us things instead of showing us the thing through a scene. For instance, we are told that one of Pip’s guy friends has a crush on her, but we never really see that in the scenes which feature them together. And, at the beginning of the book, we are told about one time when she felt awkward by the way people treat her because she is part of a mixed race family, but then it never comes up again in any future scenes.

WARNING: Big Spoilers Ahead!!!

Cara

Cara and Pip’s friendship felt a bit unrealistic to me because Pip lied to her multiple times but there were no consequences for her actions. Pip used Cara multiple times to gather incriminating information about her family members. It’s one thing for Pip to destroy Cara’s family (which was a necessary evil), but it is another thing to use Cara unwittingly to enable Pip to do so.

Also, Pip never tells Cara before she confronts her sister or gets her father arrested. It felt unrealistic that her friendships with both Cara and Naomi would not be seriously affected by Pip’s investigation methods. Cara forgave her way too easily. And Naomi suffered from depression so I don’t think she would get over it that easily either. Things with Cara and Naomi just wrapped up a bit too neatly in the end.

The Romantic Interest

The main highlight of this book for me was the witty banter between the main character, Pippa and the accused’s brother, Ravi Singh.

Now, I like me a good slow burn romance, but I didn’t feel like Pippa and Ravi were making any progress in their romantic relationship throughout the murder investigation. And then suddenly, in the epilogue, we are told in a by-the-way fashion that they are now a couple. I found this unsatisfying. It felt like all the progress in their relationship happened “offscreen” when I was eagerly waiting for something to happen between them while I was watching the investigation unfold.

Final Thoughts

I liked the first third of the book the most. But, because of the points listed above, my initial excitement decreased a bit as I got further into the story. But overall, it was still an enjoyable three star read for me, and I would recommend it.

As I was reading, I kept on thinking: this book would make a good murder mystery game. So, if you’ve ever fantasized about being a detective then this is the perfect book for you. Time to make that murder board you’ve always been dreaming of and go wild!