A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson Review

Title: A Good Girl's Guide to Murder
Author: Holly Jackson
Format: Audiobook

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?

A debut YA crime thriller as addictive as Serial and as page-turning as One of Us Is Lying.

I heard about this book from Alexa Donne on her channel, I think. I know I read her review of it on Goodreads and decided I had to read it. This is a YA murder mystery.

What I Liked:

Pippa's home life - I feel that in YA mysteries this kind of gets shoved in the background or the home life is really bad. Whereas Pippa has a great connection with her family, especially her stepfather. Their relationship kind of gave me Veronica Mars vibes.

The Characters - All the characters were well rounded. While Pippa is trying to solve what actually happened to Andie, the other characters are having issues of their own. Life breakups and birthdays.

Ravi's Presence in town - This piggybacks off of characters, but I really liked how we got to see what Ravi's life was like in town. Being the brother of the guy that the town is convinced killed his teenage girlfriend five years ago is rough.

The Twist - I am one of those people that usually has a mystery all figured out. Most the time I can tell you who did it and why before the 25% mark. I have said this before in my The Girls Weekend review. And with this one, where I was right, I also wasn't. It is hard to explain this without giving spoilers, but the ending is something I never saw coming.

The POVs - This is written in third person and first person, both following Pippa. The first person her logging of the assignment she is doing. I really liked these, especially in the audiobook. We got to listen in as if we were listening to the tape recorded conversation or the phone call she made.

Sal Singh's Birthday - This one is silly, but Sal's birthday is the same as mine! And I read this rather close to my birthday. I took way more time than I would care to admit telling anyone that would listen that we had matching birthdays, because I am that lame and it was the coolest thing in the world to me!

What I Didn't Like:

The length - This is in several reviews as well. It could have been like 50 pages less. Some of the scenes drug on and I didn't feel it was completely necessary. I know she was trying to add to the suspense, but it ended up annoying me.

Overall I gave this a 4/5. I really did enjoy this book and I am looking forward to the second book in this series. There will be a total of 4 books, or at least that is how many she has signed on for now. Funny thing is, when I was reading this book I fell asleep with my headphones in and it played out in a very weird dream. Wouldn't recommend with a thriller!