I recently read “A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder” by Holly Jackson, and the thrilling and suspenseful elements of the book captivated me beyond belief.
The story takes place in 2019 and follows high school senior Pippa Fitz-Amobi, who’s chosen to do her capstone project on the mysterious disappearance of Andie Bell in 2014.
The people of Little Kilton believe that Andie was murdered by her boyfriend, Salil Singh, and they have speculated that he killed himself to avoid arrest. Salil’s autopsy report declares it a suicide, but Andie’s body was never found. Even though Sal allegedly murdered his girlfriend and the whole town is convinced he is the murderer, Pippa doesn’t think so. To prove everyone wrong and solve this 5-year-old mystery, she has decided to research the case. Pip works with Ravi Singh, Salil’s younger brother, to unravel the truth.
This book kept me hooked until the very end and took me on a journey of twists and turns that I hadn’t even considered.
“A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder” is Jackson’s first novel. During its release in 2019, it became the #1 New York Times bestseller and landed on the UK bestseller list. Fans waited for the next books in the series: “Good Girl Gone Bad” and “Good Girl Bad Blood.” Jackson also continued the series with a prequel, “KillJoy.”
Jackson has said she was inspired by true-crime documentaries. She wanted to use the same format in her books, and fans loved it. I was beyond pleased with the added elements like realistic transcripts, images of “evidence”, and documentary-like scripts. It felt like an actual real investigation.
Jackson also gave the reader an insight into the thoughts and emotions of the narrator, Pippa, with detailed descriptions that make the reader feel involved in the investigation. Pippa’s moral dilemmas and real-life problems gave readers a better grasp of the case. These elements kept me invested throughout this coming-of-age murder-mystery story as the truth of the Andie Bell case was unraveled.
The story also touches on important topics such as racism and unfair justice systems. Based on modern dynamics in the criminal justice system, Jackson highlights the unfair treatment of people of color in criminal law.
This realistic mystery story has had a hold on readers since its release. With about 1,342,264 ratings and 144,833 reviews, “A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder” has an overall rating of 4.3/5 stars. After four books in the series, fans still want more.
On August 1, 2024, Netflix released a TV show adaptation of the series. The show starred Emma Myers as Pippa, Zain Iqbal as Ravi and India Lillie Davies as Andie.
Holly Jackson has taken the book community by storm and continues to come out with further additions to this series.