Book Review: A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson

Book Review: A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson

Synopsis:

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?

Review:

I am obsessed. Say hello to my first five star read of 2023. A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder was absolutely incredible. Why oh why did I put this off for so long? I’m seriously hating myself right now.

I flew through this book. Within one sitting I had read over half of the book and the fact that I finished A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder within 24 hours of starting it speaks volumes. I could not and did not want to put this book down. From the very first page, I was hooked and don’t to blow my own horn or anything, but I figured out a huge part of the investigation very early on. Yeah, I’ve read a few mysteries in my time.

There was so much depth to this book and watching the case evolve with every turn of the page was incredibly interesting. I particularly liked the production logs, especially as they were told in first person, compared to the third person the rest of the book is written in. It did well to keep you immersed and made you feel like Pip was speaking directly to you. It was a very nice touch and I hope the rest of the series has a similar format.

I really liked Pip as a main character. She was funny, determined and extremely likeable. It was great to see her development throughout the book and don’t get me started on her friendship with Ravi. I flipping love them.

Obviously, this book is a little hard to believe – a 17 year old solving a murder case that the police put no effort into. But you know what, it’s fiction so I really don’t care. It’s highly entertaining and why can’t an intelligent teen girl solve a murder case?

There was one plot line that I absolutely hated, if you’ve read this then you can probably guess what I’m talking about, but I understand it was done to set up the next book. Which I’m now definitely going to buy.

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder is 100% a book I can see myself re-reading in the future. I came across the audiobook a few days and I didn’t realise it was a full-cast production, so I definitely want to check it out. Is it weird to want to re-read a mystery book even though you already know what’s going to happen? Potentially, but I don’t care.