A Good Girl's Guide to Murder

A Good Girl's Guide to Murder

Author	Holly Jackson
Genre	12+ fiction, crime
Publisher	Electric Monkey (UK) Delacorte Press (US)
Publication date	2 May 2019

A Good Girl's Guide to Murder is a young adult mystery crime debut novel by Holly Jackson. The novel is the first in a series of three novels and one novella: A Good Girl's Guide to Murder (2019); Good Girl, Bad Blood (2020); As Good As Dead (2021); and Kill Joy (2021). All books were published by Electric Monkey in the United Kingdom and by Delacorte Press in the United States.

The plot follows an investigation carried out by seventeen-year old true crime enthusiast Pippa "Pip" Fitz-Amobi, a high school student in the fictional town of Little Kilton, Buckinghamshire. In the novel, she investigates the murder of popular student Andrea "Andie" Bell and the suicide of the perpetrator Salil "Sal" Singh under the guise of a school project. Her objectives are to exonerate Sal, who she is convinced was falsely accused, and to uncover the true perpetrator, who Pip believes is still at large.

A six-part television adaptation was released on BBC iPlayer on 1 July 2024, with Emma Myers playing Pip.

Summary

Five years ago, a tragic murder-suicide rocked the small town of Little Kilton, Buckinghamshire when popular schoolgirl Andie Bell was brutally murdered and her boyfriend, Sal Singh, was accused before seemingly taking his own life. While at first Sal was just a person of interest, he later became named the killer because of a confession text he allegedly sent. But seventeen-year-old Pippa is convinced that the real killer is still out there. She befriends Sal's younger brother, Ravi, and launches an investigation under the disguise of a school project. Unfortunately for Pip, each interrogation puts Pip in greater danger, yet she still persists. She finds evidence that Andie was selling drugs to students, including Max Hastings, and was having an affair with Mr. Ward, history teacher and father of Cara Ward, Pippa's longstanding best friend.

Pippa finds out Mr. Ward pushed Andie into a desk in a moment of fury. When Andie went missing, Mr. Ward thought he had killed her, so he framed Sal and murdered him while making it look like a suicide. A few days later, Mr. Ward saw a girl walking through the street and mistook her for Andie. Pippa discovers that the girl wasn't Andie, but a girl that looked like Andie. Becca, Andie's sister, confesses that Max Hastings had drugged and raped her - with rohypnol sold to him by Andie. In anger, Becca pushed Andie, who fell, convulsed and died. While still in shock, Becca takes Andie's body and hides it in an old septic tank in a farmhouse near Pip's home. When Pip learns of the truth and goes to confront Becca, she is drugged with rohypnol and Becca tries to choke her to death. That doesn't happen as Ravi comes to save her. Pip later finds out that Becca killed her dog by accident and that she was in charge of the death threats she received that were quite violent and literal. The truth is told and Sal is declared innocent. The final verdict on the tragedy is that there were 5 people in charge of this double homicide; Elliot Ward, Becca Bell, Max Hastings, Howie Bowers- Andie's drug dealer, Jason Bell- Andie and Beccas' dad. Even though it is said to have been just Elliot Ward due to his actions against her, it is actually a number of people who - in a way- worked together to make it.

Reception

A Good Girl's Guide to Murder was named one of the best books of 2020 by Barnes and Noble and received the following accolades:

• American Library Association's Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults (2021)
• Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Young Adult Fiction (2020)
• YA Book Prize shortlist (2020)
• British Book Awards Children's Fiction Book Winner of the Year (2020)

Sequels and prequel

Good Girl, Bad Blood (2020)

The novel picks up where the first book left off, with Pippa "Pip" Fitz-Amobi hailed as an amateur detective online after creating a podcast called A Good Girl's Guide To Murder, based on the events that took place in the previous novel. However, Pip has promised herself that she will never take on another case again after nearly getting killed and losing her beloved dog Barney. However, her friend Connor Reynolds comes to her, asking her to investigate where his missing brother, Jamie Reynolds, has gone. Pip refuses but puts in a word with DI Hawkins, but when the police take no action she decides that she will investigate one last case, having a gut feeling Jamie did not run away, but was taken.

Pip starts digging into Jamie's past and present, conducting interviews and piecing clues together. But as she gets closer to the truth, she realizes that Jamie's case is connected to a dark and dangerous criminal ring involved in drug trafficking and human trafficking. Not only that, but it seems like somebody is always one step ahead of her and trying to stop her from uncovering the real truth.

As she delves deeper into the investigation, Pip finds herself in the crosshairs of a killer who seems to know her every move, and will stop at nothing to keep the truth buried.

Good Girl, Bad Blood was shortlisted for the 2021 YA Book Prize.

As Good As Dead (2021)

Following the events of Good Girl, Bad Blood, Pip has been left psychologically traumatised and unable to sleep at night. Her life already at an all-time low, things take a turn for the worse when she becomes the target of a relentless, anonymous stalker. The stalker sends her constant messages, asking her the same question "Who will look for you when you're the one that disappears?" At first, Pip tries to brush off the threats, hoping it is just an internet troll, but as the messages become more frequent and the stalker's presence looms closer and closer to her home, she begins to realise that the danger is real, imminent, and inescapable. Despite her desperate pleas, the police refuse to take her seriously, leaving Pip to face the stalker alone.

Now armed with two past experiences in solving murders and uncovering the truth, Pip starts to dig deeper into the mystery, using her own resources and contacts, interviewing people and following leads, but the further she goes, the more she realizes that the stalker is someone who is closely tied to her past cases and have a vendetta against her. The stalker seems to know everything about her, every move, every thought and as Pip finds herself being constantly watched, she begins to feel like there's no escape.

As the investigation progresses, Pip discovers that the stalker is a dangerous serial killer who has been active for years, targeting bright young women like herself. The killer seems to be one step ahead at all times, leaving Pip to feel like she's always being watched and that there's no escape. The stakes are higher than ever, and this time, she's not just trying to solve a case - she's trying to save herself from becoming the killer's next victim.

As Good As Dead received a positive review from The Guardian, who named the book "a taut, compulsively readable, elegantly plotted thriller."

Kill Joy (2021)

Kill Joy is a prequel novella set a little while before the first book in the series. It follows the events taking place at a friend's birthday party, which is set up to be a 1920s themed murder mystery dinner. At first, Pip is not excited about the idea of a mock murder investigation, and would much rather stay home and work on her school project for the upcoming academic year, but she decides to attend for the sake of her friends.

But as the night wears on, Pip finds herself drawn into the investigation surrounding the fictional murder case of Reginald Remy. Using her sharp intellect and keen eye for detail to piece together the clues, she is soon caught up in this game of intrigue and deception and finds herself becoming more and more invested in the case, determined to be the one to crack it open and uncover the truth.

As the night comes to a close, Pip is left with the realisation that she is unable to resist the pull of the unknown, and that perhaps this game is not just a game, but a prelude to a bigger, more important real-life investigation into a locally infamous tragic murder-suicide that she could perhaps try her hand at solving.

Adaptation

Main article: A Good Girl's Guide to Murder (TV series)

In September 2022, it was revealed BBC Three had commissioned a television adaptation from Moonage Pictures penned by Poppy Cogan. In June 2023, Jackson revealed that production of the series had started, and announced that Emma Myers and Zain Iqbal were cast as the respective lead roles of Pip and Ravi, while in March 2024 she shared a small clip of the show with a July 2024 release date.

The series was released via Netflix in the U.S. and the majority of territories except the UK, Ireland, Germany, Australia, and New Zealand on August 1, 2024.