A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder
Holly Jackson
4 stars
Format: Kindle
I will preface this review by saying I generally do not read Young Adult novels. Whew, that’s out of the way.
A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder is a YA thriller to its core. Pippa, a tenacious and studious teenager, chooses a controversial topic for her Extended Project Qualification (EPQ): the deaths of local girl Andie Bell and her alleged murderer, Sal Singh, who died by suicide shortly after. Sal was always kind to Pip, and the authorities never found Andie’s body, so Pip reopens the case to suss out what really happened. And boy, does she unearth the drama. Over the course of her research, she becomes more convinced of Sal’s innocence and closer to proving it all while befriending Sal’s younger brother, Ravi, who is as equally motivated to find the truth. If only the murderer wasn’t leaving her threatening notes to just leave the whole thing alone…
The Good
This novel is a colorful bag of shady characters. Pip is the most developed as the main character and the reader is able to feel her anguish, moxie, and perseverance. She acts like a regular teenager and not how an adult thinks a teenager should act. Ravi Singh is a charming boy and there is real chemistry between Pip and him. While there is some romance, it isn’t a major theme of the story and the spice level is mild. The focus is the crime and Pip’s spunky nature in trying to solve it.
The secondary characters, while not deeply developed, were all “bad” in their own ways. Since everyone had something to hide, the reader is sitting in the front seat as Pip navigates motives and opportunities.
Good Girl’s was quick-paced and action-packed. It was very easy to sit down and get absorbed into the story and lose track of time.
The Bad
Maybe this is because I’m well into my 30s, but girl, get some adults involved. Pip is off interviewing known drug dealers and willfully enters the home of a murder suspect. Not to mention her actions and decisions start to have very real consequences, like someone breaking into her house. Why is she keeping this a secret? She’s not at fault, but it becomes bigger than her very quickly.
It is convenient and unrealistic that everyone she interviews tells her what she needs with nearly no questions asked. Pip is what, a 17-year-old student? She carries no weight in these conversations, and yet she is able to gather information that somehow a police investigation missed.
Her parents needed to be more involved from day one. Pip starts acting strangely, she is obsessed with her EPQ, and her parents are nonchalant about the project topic. This was the Pip show and everyone else just floated in her orbit.
The Ugly
If you plan on reading the story and don’t want spoilers, skip this section. OK, everyone ready?
Barney dies. He DIES. The dog dies. A golden retriever drowns in the river. Her dog is TAKEN and they later find his BODY in the RIVER. It’s a bold move for a young adult novel. Good Girl’s discusses serious topics like sexual assault, murder, and drug use, but don’t kill the dog!
Final Thoughts
I rated this book as if I were the target audience. Pip is a modern Nancy Drew with a streak of darkness. While not feasible, it was an entertaining story. I wouldn’t be surprised if the author took inspiration from the Adnan Syed and Hae Min Lee 1999 murder case made known by the podcast Serial. Both the fictional Sal and real Adnan were minorities and faced obvious racial discrimination.. They were the boyfriends of the murder victims and both had witnesses fail them.
