A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson
Series: A Good Girl's Guide to Murder #1
Publisher: Ember
Publication Date: May 2, 2019
Format: Paperback
Source: Bought/Own
Rating:
Goodreads 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?
Trigger Warnings: This book contains references to self-harm, date rape/ spiking drinks, suicide, violence, and drug use.
Review: This book
was not on my TBR for this month but when I saw it at the bookstore it called
to me, and I had to pick it up. I have not heard much about it but the clerk
told me I was going to LOVE it, so I was immediately more skeptical, but she
was right! The story follows a bookish, smart, overachieving teen who decides
that for her independent project she is going to dig deeper into a crime that
happened in her town five years ago. She is given some guidelines, which she
immediately ignores, but she also stumbles upon a lot of very interesting
information that the town and the cops failed to discover when they reviewed
the case.
Pippa
resonated a lot with me, she is smart, determined, stubborn, and knows what she
wants, but she is also scared about who she is and who she wants to be in the
future. She was a very self-aware and I really appreciate that. Other
characters where great as well, Ravi as a sidekick/motivator/a great source of
dialogue and witty back and forth. Pippa's family was also wonderful, diverse
but also so loving and fun. I adored the dad and his jokes and the dynamic with
the kids, it was so good. I wish more books had this great family
dynamic.
The plot
was super engaging and stimulating, I was so excited to keep flipping the pages
and see what Pippa found out next. It was a little hard to believe that the
cops for the original case did so badly finding out anything, but then again,
they believed that the original killer committed suicide, so they didn't think
they had to work real hard I guess...
The was
that the book built up pieces to the case through the eyes of these teens was
very interesting. Pippa was able to really dig deep into the case and formulate
new theories. I should note that this book is written in a really fascinating way,
Pippa has to keep a log for her project to the book has the log entries and her
thought process but then is broken up by chapters told in the third person POV.
It was done really well, and I loved reading her process and the next steps. It
even included a map, emails, text chains, and idea board pages which were great
adds to the dynamic of this story. I felt really immersed.
Overall,
this book would be a great read for anyone that enjoys crime, thrillers, and
mysteries. It also showcases a strong female lead character who is smart and
able and a diverse cast of characters.
