A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder is the first of a three-book series written by Holly Jackson that chronicles the investigative journey of Pippa (Pip) Fitz-Amobi. Pip is a 17-year-old girl entering her Junior year of high school. In the American version (the version I read) she attends high school in Fairview, Connecticut, painting the backdrop for the book.
Five years after the disappearance of high schooler Andie Bell, and the death of Bell’s boyfriend Sal Singh, Pip decides to look into the case and with the help of her study of media interference in murder cases. Pip does not believe the widely accepted story that Sal Singh chose to murder his girlfriend, Andie Bell, so during her case study Pip promises she will solve the case. Pip’s investigation is chronicled artfully through her Capstone project logs, helping to give insight into Pip’s inner monologue and how she chooses and eliminates suspects through her investigation.
The Capstone logs also allow the reader to form their theories on suspects, and track the investigation whilst they read. As the book progresses, and the plot becomes more complex, the Capstone logs help bring everything back to the investigation, and remind the reader of suspects and details that may have fallen to the back burner to make room for other plot elements.
Something very unique about the Good Girl’s Guide to Murder series in general is that throughout the Capstone entries, Pip will draw out blueprints and maps to help the reader map and visualize events as well as fleshing out Fairview as a believable town.
Despite being the driving force of the plot, the Andie Bell- Sal Singh mystery does occasionally take a backseat when Pip struggles with her mental health, coping with her perceived responsibility for solving the murder, and proving Sal Singh’s innocence.
The investigation also takes a backseat to showcase the blooming romance between Pip and Ravi Singh. Ravi and Pip first met when Pip knocked on Ravi’s door hoping to interview him for her Capstone project and have a better idea of who Sal Singh was as a person. Ravi and Pip’s romance develops as they begin to work hand in hand on the investigation with Pip being desperate to solve the case and Ravi equally as desperate to prove his brother’s innocence and restore his reputation.
They take on an almost good cop-bad cop relationship with Ravi often being Pip’s rock, keeping her tethered to reality, enduring that she won’t lose herself in the case. As a whole, in my opinion, the first Good Girl’s Guide to Murder book creates an enticing mystery with many twists and turns. It has a breakneck pace and never leaves the reader bored.
Whilst reading I was on the edge of my seat, unable to predict the ever-complicated unwinding mystery. However complicated, the book also does a good job of making the teenagers’ believable characters. Pip to me felt real. Pip felt like she could have attended our high school. Despite her well-developed investigative techniques, her naive view of the world felt real and made her a character to root for and relate to. Overall in my opinion the first A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder book is the perfect mystery book: alluring, mysterious, relatable and grounded.
