A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson

I don’t often read mystery novels, mainly because there are so many, and they range from predictable and trite to mind-blowingly fantastic. My dear friend recommended A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder trilogy recently. Since mysteries are her specialty, I knew it would be great.

I devoured it.

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder follows Pippa (Pip), who, for her senior project, attempts to solve the disappearance and alleged murder of a local popular girl, Andie Bell. The alleged killer’s brother gets pulled in to help Pippa, and together, they uncover things neither ever expected.

Jackson’s debut novel is fun, well-paced, and intriguing throughout. I had suspicions about various characters, but the twists kept me turning the digital pages. And, it ended unexpectedly, but in a way that leaves you very satisfied.

One thing to note: the author is from the UK, and the story originally takes place in the UK. During some weird publishing meeting somewhere, someone decided that, for the USA version, they should change the location to Connecticut, USA. However, the characters still spoke with UK slang, and some of the descriptions of the surrounding area made me say, “Hey, that doesn’t sound like Connecticut.” Take it with a grain of salt. I didn’t think the discrepancy detracted from the story, but it threw other readers off.

Check out A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder. I’ll read the following two books soon, and I hope they’re just as great.