Holly Jackson

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?


Good Girl's Guide to Murder

For readers of Kara Thomas and Karen McManus, an addictive, twisty crime thriller with shades of Serial and Making a Murderer about a closed local murder case that doesn't add up, and a girl who's determined to find the real killer--but not everyone wants her meddling in the past. Everyone in Fairview knows the story. Pretty and popular high school senior Andie Bell was murdered by her boyfriend, 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. This is the story of an investigation turned obsession, full of twists and turns and with an ending you'll never expect. "Fun, gripping, and skillfully constructed." --Emily Arsenault, author of All the Pretty Things

A Good Girl's Guide to Murder

Lilly 

'We have to move fast, Ravi, use the minimum possible time it might have taken to kill her and dispose of her body.' 'Normal teenagers sit at home and watch TV on a Sunday' he said.

Alessia (Taylor's version) 

Perché metà in meno di una cosa brutta voleva dire che c’era spazio per metà di una bella.

Lea Labat 

He kissed her, and she glowed with that feeling. The one with wings.

Luoyi

He smiled, out his hands on the back of her neck, fingers in her hair, and leaned in to press his forehead against hers. He’d told her before that he did it to take away half her sadness, half her headache, half her nerves as she’d got on the train to Cambridge for her interview. Because half less of a bad thing meant there was room for half good.

And there was another person behind her, sitting her up, but she was a river and couldn’t be held

NOO WHST ARE YOU THINKING DRINKING A MURDER’S TEA !!???

Her mouth felt dry and there was an awful tremor in her throat, echoing back her doubled heartbeat. She raised the mug and finished off the tea.

this logic is so insanely messed up i can’t even

I didn’t want to kill him. I was trying to save my girls; they’d already been through so much pain. He didn’t deserve to die, but neither did my girls. It was an impossible choice.

‘You going around asking dangerous questions, girl you’re going to find some dangerous answers.’

mina

' I'm rambling. It's 2 a.m . and I just are half a Toblerone, that's why.'

Luca

She had secrets to hold to her chest and she would learn from the master, 

At this point, if I were Pippa, this would've proven Sal's innocence for me. Who would call someone 112 times knowing they're gonna be murdered any minute now? Alibi? Yeah for sure. 🤕

Haha... Naomi, choose your words carefully.

Rereading currently and this was already giving that Sal was really innocent from the very beginning 

Was mentioned two times that he was a nice guy, but really, would a nice guy kill a girlfriend when he's already touched a lot of people's heart?

Mesmerising, I was at the edge of my seat. This must be my favourite book. 

Grace 

Teaching kids how to be self-aware about their privilege and show consideration to other people 👏🏻 parenting 101

tanaz

Since Pip was a littie girl, her dad had always taught her about their different experiences of the world, explaining whenever something happened: whenever someone followed him arounda shop, whenever someone questioned him for being alone with a white kid, whenever someone presumed he worked security at his office, not as the firm's partner. Pip grew up determined never to be blind to this, nor her invisible step up that she'd never had to fight for. 

‘I came out of the womb knowing how to do academic references.’

‘Such an interesting superpower, you should call up Marvel.’

I've had five years to grow up and reflect on everything and when I think back to those times I don't like the person I was at all. The person I was with Andie. 

‘Was she a bad friend to you?’ Pip didn't want to say too much; she needed to keep Emma talking. 

‘Yes and no. It's really difficult to explain’, Emma sighed. 

Andie's friendship was very destructive, but at the time, I was addicted to her. I wanted to be her. You're not going to write any of this, are you? 

OK. So Andie was beautiful, she was popular, she was fun. Being her friend, being someone she chose to spend her time with, it made you feel special. Wanted. And then she would flip and use the things you were most self-conscious about to cut you down and hurt you. And still we both remained by her side, waiting for the next time she would pick us up and make us feel good again. She could be amazing and awful, and you never knew which side of Andie was turning up at your door. I'm surprised my self-esteem even survived. 

Cara lunged for the TV remote. ‘Rom-coms or films where boys get violently murdered?’

Sadie Hoffman

Their entwined hands became a new living thing, her fingertips perfect against the dips in his knuckles, like they’d grown just that way to fit together.

elly

‘we’re partners in crime after all. That means partners no matter what.’

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?

Angel 🖤

I’m not sure I’m the good girl I once thought I was. I’ve lost her along the way.

katerin

“Este lugar esperaría eternamente a alguien que ya no iba a volver nunca mientras la vida seguía al otro lado de aquella puerta cerrada.“

Hana 

and books. There was a fluffy pink rug in the middle of the room and behind it was a large flat-screen TV that was just being paused.

Sitting cross-legged on a single bed piled high with coloured cushions. Wearing a pair of blue penguin-patterned pyjamas, the same that both Cara and Naomi had. She stared over at Pip, her eyes wide and wild. She looked a little older, a little heavier. Her hair was mousier than it had been before and her skin much paler. She gaped at Pip, the TV remote in her hand and a packet of Jammie Dodger biscuits on her lap.

I'm not normally a mystery novel girlie, but I thoroughly enjoyed this. The ending wasn't one I would have put in my top three desired outcomes, but it was still a delightful twist and I definitely recommend giving it a read!

A bit slow to start, but had a satisfying ending despite there being a sequel. It was visually appealing formatting-wise. 

Kristen Savage

In the end, this was a story about people and their different shades of desperation, crashing up against each other.

This book has been on my TBR for far too long and I've heard nothing but good things about it, and now I can say, I get it - I get the hype. This was a gooooood book, I was so entertained by it, the storyline was fast paced and thrilling, and it even made me cry. For me, crying is a sign, because a book that can touch my shrivelled desensitised soul and made me feel genuine emotions is a book that has done it's job well (most of the time, there are a few caveats..). This was so close to being a 5 star read but there was just a touch of disbelief that went along with it that held it back for me, and also, I think I might be just slightly outgrowing YA because I cringed a number of times while reading this, but none of that over shadows how enjoyable this book was and how great that storyline was. I will try to write this with as little spoilers as possible, but you are warned in advance, just in case.

Firstly, Pippa is like a little energizer bunny, how she has so much energy and motivation and lack of fear is just beyond me. She's a bit of a goodie two shoes, she's the teacher's pet that we all remember from school, she knows that she can push limits and get away with things because she's always been so good. But this also comes with a level of complacency and lack of street smarts that I think made me dislike her character sometimes. She puts herself, and other people, in some really dangerous positions in this book and none of those situations really have any bad consequences except for one almost fatal incident which warps how realistic this book feels at times. She takes it upon herself to approach people with violent assault charges, drug dealers, people she thinks could be sexual abusers, even directly confronting a few people she thinks could be murderers, she charges headlong into these interactions without even thinking how it might affect her and the people she loves. She does get a few wake up calls throughout this book which was important for her to hear, but then she doesn't really learn anything from them either, so in my opinion, her character development in this situation was really lacking unfortunately.

The plot was just amazing though, it always kept me guessing. I had an idea of what had happened at the beginning, but as we are drip fed more and more information the convolution of what really happened just sweeps you along. I thought the writing was really well done because it kept me on my toes and on the edge of my seat for the majority of the book, the pacing was hitting every beat and I didn't want to put it down. If you can suspend your disbelief a bit and just enjoy the story I do think this is a must read, there are points where you're thinking "why on earth are these people admitting this to her so easily!?" that had me scratching my head a bit, but if you can overlook that then it is a lot of fun. At the beginning I wasn't thrilled with the progress log segues but in the end I didn't mind them so much, I think it was a good look into Pip's head at some points of the story, as the rest was written in third person, it added an extra layer of depth into her character.

Overall, I think this story really came together nicely and was well thought out. I've only read a couple of thriller mysteries written for older audiences in my time, but this certainly brought back nostalgia for the days when I would read Nancy Drew, Famous Five and Trixie Belden books, and it has me thinking that maybe I should dip my toes into some adult books in this genre. I will be picking up the next two in this series in the new year, and reading more by Holly Jackson in general and I'm looking forward to it a lot. I'm really glad I finally took this book off my TBR, now I can watch the TV series too - which I made my partner wait for so I could read this 😂😂

Genevieve 

In the end, this was a story about people and their different shades of desperation, crashing up against each other.

4.5 ⭐

This book has been on my TBR for far too long and I've heard nothing but good things about it, and now I can say, I get it - I get the hype. This was a gooooood book, I was so entertained by it, the storyline was fast paced and thrilling, and it even made me cry. For me, crying is a sign, because a book that can touch my shrivelled desensitised soul and made me feel genuine emotions is a book that has done it's job well (most of the time, there are a few caveats..). This was so close to being a 5 star read but there was just a touch of disbelief that went along with it that held it back for me, and also, I think I might be just slightly outgrowing YA because I cringed a number of times while reading this, but none of that over shadows how enjoyable this book was and how great that storyline was. I will try to write this with as little spoilers as possible, but you are warned in advance, just in case.

Firstly, Pippa is like a little energizer bunny, how she has so much energy and motivation and lack of fear is just beyond me. She's a bit of a goodie two shoes, she's the teacher's pet that we all remember from school, she knows that she can push limits and get away with things because she's always been so good. But this also comes with a level of complacency and lack of street smarts that I think made me dislike her character sometimes. She puts herself, and other people, in some really dangerous positions in this book and none of those situations really have any bad consequences except for one almost fatal incident which warps how realistic this book feels at times. She takes it upon herself to approach people with violent assault charges, drug dealers, people she thinks could be sexual abusers, even directly confronting a few people she thinks could be murderers, she charges headlong into these interactions without even thinking how it might affect her and the people she loves. She does get a few wake up calls throughout this book which was important for her to hear, but then she doesn't really learn anything from them either, so in my opinion, her character development in this situation was really lacking unfortunately.

The plot was just amazing though, it always kept me guessing. I had an idea of what had happened at the beginning, but as we are drip fed more and more information the convolution of what really happened just sweeps you along. I thought the writing was really well done because it kept me on my toes and on the edge of my seat for the majority of the book, the pacing was hitting every beat and I didn't want to put it down. If you can suspend your disbelief a bit and just enjoy the story I do think this is a must read, there are points where you're thinking "why on earth are these people admitting this to her so easily!?" that had me scratching my head a bit, but if you can overlook that then it is a lot of fun. At the beginning I wasn't thrilled with the progress log segues but in the end I didn't mind them so much, I think it was a good look into Pip's head at some points of the story, as the rest was written in third person, it added an extra layer of depth into her character.

Overall, I think this story really came together nicely and was well thought out. I've only read a couple of thriller mysteries written for older audiences in my time, but this certainly brought back nostalgia for the days when I would read Nancy Drew, Famous Five and Trixie Belden books, and it has me thinking that maybe I should dip my toes into some adult books in this genre. I will be picking up the next two in this series in the new year, and reading more by Holly Jackson in general and I'm looking forward to it a lot. I'm really glad I finally took this book off my TBR, now I can watch the TV series too - which I made my partner wait for so I could read this 😂😂

As her senior capstone project, Pippa Fitz-Amobi is determined to find the real killer in a closed, local murder case, but not everyone wants her meddling in the past.

Omg omg omg. I NEVER read thrillers/mystery books but I loved this one! It's a very easy read and not too complicated (again, this is coming from someone who doesn't read mystery novels). The ending was really well done and I was honestly hooked the whole time. 

Paige Leitner

A beautifully constructed novel that had me questioning who was guilty the whole entire time. 

brooke ware

I keep saying it but the protagonist Pip reminded me a bit of Nancy Drew, and the mystery she investigates in the town of Fairview resembles the one that plagues the girls of Pretty Little Liars - which I find very exciting! And truly satisfying as a recovering PLL fan. 

Honestly I don’t have much to add about this book other than the fact that I truly could not put it down!

joana ashley

I keep saying it but the protagonist Pip reminded me a bit of Nancy Drew, and the mystery she investigates in the town of Fairview resembles the one that plagues the girls of Pretty Little Liars - which I find very exciting! And truly satisfying as a recovering PLL fan. 

Honestly I don’t have much to add about this book other than the fact that I truly could not put it down!

Alyssa Weaver

This book is so widely beloved, but I think it’s just not for me.The plot was swift moving, but the characters were only semi-developed and the ending felt clunky. Unfortunately true crime plotlines always give me the ick, and YA thriller/mysteries just aren’t gritty enough for my taste lately.

Amelia Hruby

ehh… felt like a pretty little liars knock off

Keila Rico 

Hmmm. The ending was very good, and I was shocked by how things went down. However, for the first 200-ish pages, it felt like a chore to read. Nothing kept me engaged, and everything was all over the place. Once things picked up, though, it was hard to put down. Pipravi are cutesy and fun. Something sweet for the kids

lena

was not a fan of thriller-mystery genre, but damn this book really changes me. i can follow the plot without having a hard time because the writing is digestible and i love how i can't guess the real suspect until the book reveal itself. 

yes, true, isang basa mapapa i want more ka pa

Mharie

I loved this book! It was a great murder mystery. There are so many twists and turns but it really does come together perfectly at the end.

dezzy

🌞Laur🌞

I really liked this book and can't wait to read the rest of the series. 

Samantha 

SUCH a good book for a quick read. the mystery kept me on my toes throughout, tossing my suspicions back and forth making the ending unpredictable 

angie

ang 

i've never felt this sad for finish a book. ravi singh and pippa fitz-amobi you will be loved by me forever

Wow, couldn’t put it down. Kept me guessing until the end!

Chloe Dadd

I was hooked throughout the whole book. Trying to figure out what the truth was based on what was put in front of you. Pretty cool to be able to be part of this whole “research” alongside the characters. I did predict who it was at the end but there was still some twists involving others I didn’t really expect.

I’m hoping the new series can depict the mood and “interaction” as the book! 

lily

I was hooked throughout the whole book. Trying to figure out what the truth was based on what was put in front of you. Pretty cool to be able to be part of this whole “research” alongside the characters. I did predict who it was at the end but there was still some twists involving others I didn’t really expect.

I’m hoping the new series can depict the mood and “interaction” as the book! 

i still loved this book despite of it being pretty unrealistic, i mean it's about a high schooler solving a freaking murder💀💀

this book kept me hooked!! i started reading this at 11 freaking pm ITS NIGHT!! im getting those chills and goosebumps and i also felt so scared and nervous for pip like wutdaflip 

i really liked how there was kind of a double plot twist

first one is the dad, i totally did not expect that it was the freaking english teacher! i was guessing the whole time and i had no idea it was him AND THEN when you find out that it was not actually her in the attic!! like🤯🤯

i actually thought from the start that andie was alive and being held at for 5 years but yeah i was wrong

this is my very first murder mystery book and i LOVED it!!

i will definitely read the other books in the series, i hope its gooooooood!!😍😍

donits

i still loved this book despite of it being pretty unrealistic, i mean it's about a high schooler solving a freaking murder💀💀

this book kept me hooked!! i started reading this at 11 freaking pm ITS NIGHT!! im getting those chills and goosebumps and i also felt so scared and nervous for pip like wutdaflip 

i really liked how there was kind of a double plot twist

first one is the dad, i totally did not expect that it was the freaking english teacher! i was guessing the whole time and i had no idea it was him AND THEN when you find out that it was not actually her in the attic!! like🤯🤯

i actually thought from the start that andie was alive and being held at for 5 years but yeah i was wrong

this is my very first murder mystery book and i LOVED it!!

i will definitely read the other books in the series, i hope its gooooooood!!😍😍

The New York Times No.1 bestselling YA crime thriller that everyone is talking about! THE WINNER OF THE BRITISH BOOK AWARD'S CHILDREN'S BOOK OF THE YEAR 2020 SHORTLISTED FOR THE WATERSTONES CHILDREN'S BOOK PRIZE 2020 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 crime, Pippa Fitz-Amobi isn't so sure. When she chooses the case as the topic for her final 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 . . . ? Perfect for fans of One of Us Is Lying, Gone Girl, We Were Liars and Riverdale Holly Jackson started writing stories from a young age, completing her first (poor) attempt at a novel aged fifteen. She lives in London and aside from reading and writing, she enjoys playing video games and watching true crime documentaries so she can pretend to be a detective. A Good Girl's Guide to Murder is her first novel. You can follow Holly on Twitter and Instagram @HoJay92

after almost two months, i finally finished reading this! i know. how can i prolong reading a mystery thriller? uni is the one to blame. i had no choice. anyways i found some time (im procrastinating) and decided to go back to little kilton. 

i actually got spoiled halfway. i wanted to see who's playing andie bell in the adaptation instead who the real killer showed up. so that took the 'shock' (??) experience from me. i still enjoyed it, though. writing was really good, and pip and ravi are so cute i was actually tearing up towards the end.

can't wait to see how the adaptation will turn out.

Jennifer Gosnell

This was a fantastic YA mystery. It touched on a lot of important issues in a really engaging and well-rounded way. The characters were awesome and the plot was SO twisty. I’ll definitely be checking out the rest of the series!

One of the best mystery books I have read. I was so hooked finished it in 2 days. The ending was pretty unpredictable for me. A few things could have been written in more detail. Overall loved to have read a mystery after ages that had me glued to it.

I hope the Netflix series is just as good. 

Good Girl's Guide to Murder

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