THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING SERIES • Everyone is talking about this addictive must-read mystery with shades of Serial and Making a Murderer about an investigation turned obsession, full of twists and turns and with an ending you’ll never expect.Everyone in Fairview knows the story.Pretty and popular high school senior Andie Bell was murdered by her boyfriend, Sal Singh, who then killed … Sal Singh, who then killed himself. It was all anyone could talk about. And five years later, Pip sees how the tragedy still haunts her town.
But she can’t shake the feeling that there was more to what happened that day. She knew Sal when she was a child, and he was always so kind to her. How could he possibly have been a killer?
Now a senior herself, Pip decides to reexamine the closed case for her final project, at first just to cast doubt on the original investigation. But soon she discovers a trail of dark secrets that might actually prove Sal innocent . . . and the line between past and present begins to blur. Someone in Fairview doesn’t want Pip digging around for answers, and now her own life might be in danger.
And don’t miss the sequel, Good Girl, Bad Blood!
“The perfect nail-biting mystery.” –Natasha Preston, #1 New York Times bestselling author
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Okay, I know I’m super late to the party on this one, but I finally picked up A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder as part of my creepy October reads and it was so good!! I’ll admit, I went in knowing the hype, and I wasn’t that impressed for the first 20% or so as the story warmed up. But once the murder investigation really got under way, I was totally hooked! This book is truly un-put-down-able, and I thought it was clever and tightly plotted the whole way through. The notes and recorded interviews never felt gimmicky, and the twists were twisty enough that I didn’t predict any of the ending. It reminded me of another favorite YA murder mystery series I love, Truly Devious, and also felt a bit like reading one of those catch a murderer games. I’ve already got books 2 and 3 from the library!
Although everyone in their little town knows who killed pretty, popular teen Andie Bell years ago. Sal felt such remorse, he killed himself from the guilt.
Only, Pip doesn’t believe Sal killed Andie. She had looked up to Sal for his kindness, intellect, and gentle integrity.
So, for her senior project, she decides to prove Sal didn’t kill Andie all those years ago. She befriends Sal’s grieving brother and sets off in a brave, systematic, and thorough quest which garnered a lot of attention – and some of it quite threatening.
When matters turn deadly, Pip is faced with a decision. Should she continue, which will put those she cares about in danger, or should she scrap the project?
I enjoyed “A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder” by Holly Jackson. This fast-paced and unpredictable YA novel provided a solid mystery, a coming-of-age story, and a bit of romance. Pip is thoroughly likeable and apparently goes on to further adventures in books beyond this, if my library’s shelves are to be believed.
Fair warning: This is a murder mystery, and some of the characers are unsavory and do unsavory things – such as threaten, steal, murder, rape, drug, and kidnap – humans and pets.
But that is to be expected when reading a book with the words “Guide to Murder” in the title, I suppose.
I intend to read of Pip’s other tales as soon as my TBR pile stoops looming.
Audible Review:
WOW!!! I guess I didn’t expect this to be so good!! It was excellent!! I love a good Mystery Romance and Young Adult too!! Every time I thought I had things figured out (to some degree) there was a major twist that threw things off!! And Pip was a GREAT MC!!! You have got to read this one!!!
Also the Audible version has a full cast and was really really AWESOME!!!
A fun, gripping, and skillfully constructed novel of suspense. I loved Pip — her relatable quirks, her inventive investigative approach, and her willingness to step outside of her safe world in search of the truth.
Overall, I liked this book. It was a bit predictable at times, but sometimes I don’t mind that in a story. This was defiantly fiction, though. There, to me, is no way a seventeen-year-old girl would solve a cold case murder better/faster than the police. That part was very unrealistic.
Pippa could get very annoying at times, I have to say.
This was a fun read but there were a lot of unrealistic/ predictable plotlines/twists that bumped this story to a four-star for me.
Chapters are really short so that’s a plus
I’m honestly angry at myself for not having read this earlier! I love it and I’m recommending it to everyone I know!
AMAZINGGGGGGGG
I love A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder. It kept my brain in a tangle. Every time I thought I had it figured out, new evidence came up. Turns out I did figure it out, but with so much happening, and so much evidence coming in, I never felt fully convinced of my own solution. By the last third of the book, I was enjoying it so much that I kept putting it down because I wasn’t ready to finish it yet. I absolutely wish I had more than just 2 more books to look forward to in this series.
It’s been five years since Andie Bell went missing and her boyfriend Sal Singh committed suicide after being accused of her murder. But Pippa is convinced Sal was innocent and she’s dead set on proving it. Working with Sal’s brother Ravi she carefully puts together clues, following the long-cold trail. Even with years having passed since the murder, the answers are there if you ask the right questions, but the questions Pippa is asking may just put her own life at risk.
This book was SO GOOD! I couldn’t put it down. It’s been a long time since I read a mystery that kept me guessing this much and even when I figured it out, I didn’t figure EVERYTHING out. The only thing that I didn’t care for was that it switched between telling the story in third person to a journal type account from the main character. I would have preferred all one or the other. Otherwise, this book was perfection.
Pippa Fitz-Amobi has chosen to do her capstone senior project on something unique. Five years before, a high school senior named Andie Bell went missing. Police investigations led to the conclusion that Andie’s boyfriend Sal Singh was responsible. And when he ends up dead in the woods with Andie’s blood under his nails and some personal items on him, everybody considers the case closed. Except for Pippa.
She just can’t accept that the kind, smart, funny boy she used to hang out with at a friend’s house could have possibly been a murderer. So she reopens the case, unofficially, and begins to track down Andie and Sal’s old friends to try and piece together what really happened the night Andie disappeared. What she discovers is a twisted web of secrets, both Andie’s and other people’s. As she digs deeper, she begins to unravel the truth of Andie’s life, personality, and habits. But as she closes in on the truth, somebody becomes determined to stop her digging. Can she piece together this increasingly complicated puzzle before she ends up just like Andie Bell?
This book was a fun read. The alternation between narrative and the Capstone project that Pippa was working on was a nice change of pace from typical books. The styles were different, and they really made it seem like a high school project. The characters were interesting, and the mystery was enthralling. By the end of the book, I was more surprised than ever about what really happened. Though I predicted one twist, there were others that left me in shock. The author managed to weave a web of mystery that only deepened during the five years that Andie went missing and Sal was found dead.
If you enjoy mysteries, this is a good one. There are some disturbing parts that deal with sex and drugs (in the past), but overall it was a fascinating mystery. As a bookworm who was a stickler for homework myself, I loved seeing the world through Pippa’s eyes. An all-around harrowing time at points, but an addictive story that kept pulling me back in. For those who enjoy young adult fiction and mystery/thriller stories, this is the book for you.
Very good read!
Okay, this was fun! I added this book to my Book of the Month box just as soon as I saw it being offered as an option. I was so excited to read it but I put it on the shelf and let it sit for over a year. That was a mistake because this was a fantastic read and I am so glad that I finally got around to picking it up.
Pippa, or Pip, has started her senior project and it is a doozy. She has decided to tackle the mystery of the murder of a teen girl several years ago. Everyone knows that Andie Bell was killed by Sal Singh, everyone except for Pip. Pip is convinced that what everything thinks happened is absolutely wrong and she teams up with Sal’s brother, Ravi, to find out what did happen that night. Pip starts looking at everything that happened in detail, interviewing people who were there, and looking for inconsistencies. I loved the format of the book and really enjoyed taking a peek at all of Pip’s notes, interviews, emails, and other assorted evidence.
This was a very good mystery. I was pretty sure from the start that Sal had not been guilty of murder but I had no idea what had really happened to Andie. There were characters that trusted and others that I didn’t. There were a lot of twists that I did not see coming. Not at all. Things do get pretty intense at times and I worried about some of the things that Pip was doing more than once. I think that I was just as taken by the mystery as I was Pip and the other characters.
I would recommend this book to others. This was one of those books where the pages just seemed to fly by because I was enjoying the story so much. Pip and all of her friends were fun to spend time with and I cannot wait to read the next installment in the series.
Holy cow it has been a long time since I’ve read a murder mystery book as artfully plotted out as this one. While there were a few minor bumps in terms of plot, I thoroughly enjoyed this novel.
First off, Pip is an amazing character. She is quirky, sometimes annoying, but overall, she is real. Not real in terms of “based on a true story” real, but real in the way that she has been so carefully developed, so wonderfully drawn out that there is no way the reader could ever think of her as anything other than real.
Second, this plot will have you spinning. Spinning in the mind-numbingly complex way. It is so intricate that I remember thinking back to earlier parts in the novel and having that “aha” moment when something I thought was irrelevant tied together.
My verdict is that this is the perfect novel for those of us who love murder mysteries (I’m raising my hand very high), and even for those who don’t particularly like that genre. It is such a well-crafted novel with wonderful characters that it would make any true reader fall in love. I’ve read a lot of murder mysteries in YA and I do think that this one has become my favorite. Thank you, Holly Jackson for delivering this gem to the world.
Favorite quote: “‘You have cast her as your beautiful victim and willfully overlook the other layers of her character, because they don’t comfortably fit your narrative.’”
A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson was a book that I heard about because I almost concurrently saw it on a friend’s Goodreads profile and on the nominee’s list for 2020 Goodreads Choice Award for Young Adult Fiction. The friend reading it happens to be a co-worker, and she lent me the book. It sat here on a stack of TBR’s for a week or two, and then yesterday as I was finalizing my Popsugar and ATY52 challenge lists, I realized I could use it to fulfill a prompt for both, and here we are.
This is the story of a high school student, Pippa Fitz-Amobi, who decides to do her senior capstone project on the infamous murder-suicide of two students that had occurred in her hometown 5 years before. She never really believed Sal, the boy thought to have killed Andie Bell before killing himself, was guilty, and she sets out to prove it.
With the eventual help of Sal’s brother Ravi, excellent sleuthing skills, a complete lack of concern for her own safety, and lots of brains and sarcasm, Pip interviews persons of interest, goes “undercover” as a reporter for CNN, goes to a town hall meeting to confront a suspect, does a little breaking and entering in the name of justice, and so much more. The danger she is putting herself in slowly becomes more apparent, but that doesn’t stop this teenage pseudo-detective from working her case.
I found the writing strong, enjoyed the various formats of storytelling (log entries, interview transcripts, diagrams, and typical character chapters) and found them intriguing rather than distracting. I really liked the little bit of Pip’s family life we got to see on display (her parents remind me of Olive’s mom and dad in Easy A and I would have loved to read more of that dynamic). The case seems like it may be derailed, then perhaps tied up with a neat little red-strong bow, but there is a nice twist near the end that had me wracking my brain to try to untie the knots and solve it before the conclusion.
I am happy to see there is a second installment of Pip’s story coming out on March 2, 2021. I also learned this book was originally published in the UK, then published in the US afterwards with a change in setting (moved from England to Connecticut). I noticed another reader mentioned that the dialogue did not fit the US setting at all, but I did not find that to be the case. If I had not read after that this was a slightly altered version of a UK book, I would not have suspected it had been published there first.
I rarely give books a 5 star rating, but A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder is a solid 4.5 star story. I would definitely recommend it, and look forward to the next installment.
I’m not one of those people who’s really into true crime stories, even fictionalized ones, but I kept hearing so much about A GOOD GIRL’S GUIDE TO MURDER everywhere that I finally decided to take a peek at it. Actually, I did more than take a peek at it, I started reading it and I could not stop. Not only was it a completely fascinating mystery full of tons of twists and turns that kept me guessing and re -guessing, but there wasn’t anything in here that made me feel icky or disturbed like true crime type stories often can. This felt more like an amazing season of Veronica Mars. It’s definitely one of the most compelling books I’ve read all year.
She is a senior in h.s. Doing a project on who murdered a young girl in her neighborhood and if the boy accused really did it. Unfortunately, he commits suicide so she decides to work with his brother Ravi to clear his name.
Pippa (Pip) decides to write her senior capstone project on the missing persons case of Andie Bell. Everyone in the town of Fairview believes popular Andie was murdered by her boyfriend Sal Singh, who then killed himself. The story still haunts the town five years later–including Sal’s family and his younger brother, Ravi. Pip knew Sal, though, and he was always so kind to her. As she starts digging into the case, with Ravi’s help, hoping to cast some doubt on the investigation, Pip starts discovering evidence that could exonerate Sal–and a lot of dark secrets that people in Fairview do not want dug up.
“‘Because I don’t think your brother did it—and I’m going to try to prove it.'”
This is a dark and twisty thriller with an improbable but immediately likable protagonist. While I found it a bit unlikely that this high schooler could become such an excellent detective, I soon put my doubts aside. Pip is tough and determined and while some of the plot bordered on implausible, I was there for it, because I quickly fell for her, and for Ravi, Sal’s younger brother.
“’It’s not just that he’s gone. It’s that…well, we’re not allowed to grieve for him, because of what happened.'”
Forming a partnership, the two dig deep into Andie’s case, interviewing friends, family, and turning their town on its side. The result is an incredibly twisty and dark story-its sad, but sweet too. I loved the pluckiness of Pip; her friendship with Ravi; and the way the clues slowly unfolded, allowing us to see the horrible secrets and lies that led to what truly happened to Andie.
All in all, this is a quick read, full of twists and turns, and featuring a strong protagonist. 4 stars.
4.5 stars
The hype surrounding this book is absolutely worth it. Since I did the audiobook, the full cast narration really sold this one!
From the very beginning, I was completely sucked into this podcast type murder mystery. I have to commend Pippa for taking on a controversial capstone project as well as her teachers for allowing her to do so (this may be creative license, but I still found it fascinating).
I loved how propulsive the plot was. Pippa carries out so many interviews and transcripts, and the full cast really delivered on this aspect. This one completely took me by surprise in terms of whodunits. I thought I know who the killer was, but I was way off base.
While I did find Pippa a bit naive at times, I felt that both Ravi and her friends gave her good perspective. I definitely was team Pippa and Ravi since their relationship was a natural progression. Nothing was forced. No love at first sight.
I definitely am looking forward to the next chapter in Pippa’s story, so bring on book two.
Wow!! A page turner that I didn’t want to put down!