A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I loved this so much! My new favorite YA Mystery/Thriller of all time. This one will be tough to beat.
For her senior year Capstone Project, Pippa Fitz-Amboi, decides to solve a murder.
The murder in question, that of Andie Bell, happened five years ago. The police, and thus the whole town, say the crime was committed by Andie’s boyfriend, Sal Singh.
Their biggest piece of evidence, a texted confession to his parents, just prior to Sal’s apparent suicide.
In spite of this, Pippa does not believe Sal is guilty. Andie’s body was never recovered and there is no actual physical evidence against him.
Pippa is such a great character. She’s an overachiever who works tirelessly towards her goal.
You can tell, once she sets her sights on something, she does not give up and that’s exactly how she tackles this project.
I think one of the things that connected me so much to this story was Pippa. I found her super relatable and loved reading from her perspective.
She ends up befriending Sal’s younger brother, Ravi, and that additional commitment to him, and clearing Sal’s name, makes her even more steadfast in her project; even in the face of danger.
Additionally, the format of this was creative and engaging. Using mixed media sources, including the transcripts from Pippa’s multiple investigatory interviews, and a present day narrative, made me feel like I was a part of the investigation.
As Pippa is evaluating what she has learned along the way, she recaps things, as you actually would if you were working on this type of project; including a running list of current suspects and a murder board.
The stakes were high and there were times Pippa was very legitimately in danger. Through it all, she stayed true to herself and really fought to find justice for Andie and Sal.
I loved this so much, as I said. I could go on for many more paragraphs of all the positive attributes of this story, but don’t just take my word for it, PICK THIS UP!!!
If you love it even half as much as I did, you’re in for a good time!
Well done by Holly Jackson. I am so excited to get more mysteries from her!!!