Holly JacksonMystery · Thriller·b. 1992
A Good Girl's Guide to Murder
Synopsis
Five years ago, Andie Bell was murdered in the quiet town of Little Kilton. Everyone knows the story: her boyfriend, Sal Singh, killed her and then took his own life. The case is closed. But Pippa Fitz-Amobi has never quite believed it. When she chooses the murder as the subject of her senior capstone project, she tells herself she is only reopening old questions for a school assignment.
The deeper Pip digs, the less the official version holds together. With the help of Ravi Singh, Sal's younger brother, who has spent years living under the weight of his brother's supposed guilt, she starts tracing the last hours of Andie's life through interviews, old messages, and secrets the town would rather keep buried. Someone notices. As anonymous threats begin to arrive, it becomes clear that the truth is still dangerous, and that the real killer may be much closer than anyone imagined.
Told through Pip's project log, transcripts, and maps alongside the narrative, Holly Jackson's debut is a tightly plotted whodunit that helped define a wave of modern young-adult crime fiction. It is a story about the cost of certainty, the pull of an unsolved case, and how far an ordinary teenager will go to be sure she has found the truth.
How it reads
Prose complexity 4/10
- I think what kept me hooked when reading this was because of the unique layout - it's portrayed like a project, with recorded findings, interviews and informative snippets from articles/newspaper clippings/etc. Pip is clearly an overachiever, with hopes of standing out from the rest of the crowd by basing her final project on something outside the box. With her can-do attitude, she manages to navigate her academic and social life with ease. It seems that she's easy to like, but sometimes puts her nose in places where others would rather she didn't. The plot is pretty interesting, with some red herrings thrown in (I'm looking at you, HH). I found myself investigating the murder along with Pip, almost like I had some sort of stake in it. There was an obvious interest blooming between herself and Ravi, but it didn't take anything away from the main focus of the story. Overall, a great read.
- For the most part I’m really into romance books and I don’t read much else (huuuge CoHo fan!). I’ve had these sitting on my bookshelf for months now, untouched. But I decided to dive into them and “get it over with” so to speak. Safe to say, I misjudged this series thus far! I actually really enjoyed it. Once I started reading it was nearly impossible to put down. Pip definitely let this whole case take her life over entirely, which I guess I probably would too so I don’t really blame her, even if it’s a bad thing. Love love love the book, cannot wait to finish the series!!
-  Pippa once said, "Did you know a jiffy is an actual measurement of time?" This main character, with her quirky habit of spewing weirdly specific facts when nervous, has stolen my heart. I wish that I could be a Pippa Fitz Amobi, or Pip for short. This incredibly smart, courageous and semi-socially awkward character connected with me. Check out my blog for a more thorough review http://b00klover.blogspot.com/2022/07/my-guide-to-good-girls-guide-to-murder.html
- <div>Great fast paced read, kept me hooked till the end, not completely unpredictable but still thrilling enough. The real killer was definitely a surprise, loved that I couldn't guess that till the end when it was revealed.<br>There'd be something in the tea was too predictable, it was dumb of her to drink it 😭 apart from that loved it, great read with great character arcs and storytelling! </div>
- <div>I really really liked that book 🤩 <br>At the beginning I was a little bit unsure, tbh, but when the book really begun, it became so tense and I couldn't stop reading it 🤩<br>The plot was also so so shocking, and I can't wait to read the 2nd one 😁</div>
- I loved this book even more the second time around! Pip and Ravi have my whole heart (justice for Sal) I’m so excited to read the rest of the series for the first time 😋😋
- ⭐️⭐️⭐️ It's just not my cup of tea, ga suka sm format cerita yg kek gini. Terlalu ribet dibikin mikir wkwk endingnya juga b aja ga yg waw spt orng2 katakan
- Good YA. I didn't know it was a series and plan to check out the next book.
- I forced myself to read this but its worth it 🤷
- A really nice cozy YA mystery book.





