Holly Jackson is a British mystery and thriller young adult author, who became a New York Times best seller, and broke the internet with her debut novel A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder in 2019 https://www.penguinrandomhouse.holly-jackson Since then, Jackson’s career has skyrocketed as she quickly became a well known name in the world of young adult fiction. She has published six books in the last five years, and I binged each one of them. Her addictive writing style makes the pages go by so quickly that you forget you’re even reading. Her plots unravel in a way that is so easy to understand and she never fails to create a jaw dropping plot twist. I wanted to focus on reviewing her iconic A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder series that broke the internet and is one of the most talked about series on booktok. A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder – NYT Bestseller Success!
A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder (2019)
Set in the small town of Little Kilton, Buckinghamshire England, the story follows 17 year old Pipa Fitz-Amobi (Pip). As a requirement for graduation, all seniors must make a Personal Interest Project as part of their EPQ. Pip chose to research and investigate the disappearance of Andie Bell – a 17 year old girl who disappeared from their small town five years ago. Despite her body never being found, she was presumed dead, and the community accused Sal Singh, Andie’s boyfriend at the time, of killing her. Despite Sal denying the accusations, he was an Indian boy in a predominantly white town. The public was charged by racial prejudices and Sal never got a proper trial. However, what was most damaging to his case was the last text message he wrote to his father before killing himself.
“I did it. I killed her.” Was all he wrote. His body was found in the woods, with a plastic bag over his head, three days after Andie’s disappearance and his cause of death was ruled as an overdose. Speculators assumed he had committed suicide to escape the consequences of his trial. Due to his damning confession through text, the case was closed and her alleged killer was found guilty.
Half a decade later, Pip is ready to reopen the case and conduct her own investigation, driven by her own personal connection to both Sal and Andie. I couldn’t exactly trust her judgment this early in the book since her main reason for defending Sal was influenced by her belief that he was a good person because she grew up with him. Her only argument was that Sal was sweet, kind, and incapable of causing harm to anyone, which doesn’t exactly provide substantial evidence of his innocence. I was originally weary that she may unintentionally be giving biased opinions because she cared deeply for Sal. She harbors doubts about his guilt and believes that there may be more to the story than what has been presented by law enforcement and media narratives. This determination fuels her to clear his name and discover what really went down on the night of April 18, 2014.
Fast forward five years later, Pip gets together with Ravi Singh (Sal’s younger brother) who also believes in Sal’s innocence, and that he was greatly wronged by the justice system. I loved Sal’s presence in the story as it was necessary in order to further the plot because he provided private insight into the life of Sal Singh, which Pip wouldn’t have had access to by herself.
The two agree to work together to prove that Sal was not with Andie during the hours of her disappearance. They both go into deep FBI mode, interviewing and recording Andie’s sister Becca Bell, her two former best friends, Sal’s family, and his former best friend Naomi Ward. Based on the input Pip receives from the people who had close relationships with Sal and Andie, I began forming my own opinions and judgments on who seemed more guilty. Later, Pip and Ravi manage to get their hands on Andie’s old burner phone where they find crucial information and missing puzzle pieces as to who she really was, which goes against how she wanted to be portrayed. I was absolutely flabbergasted at the revelations that were uncovered by the texts on Andie’s burner phone, because I was seriously not expecting such a turn of events. But as the story progresses, tracing down Andie’s whereabouts begins to seem like a dead end. So Pip and Ravi switch rails and focus more on Sal’s side of the story. Surely if Pip could find a strong enough alibi, to prove Sal was somewhere else on April 14th, she could redeem him. This led her back to the last place he was seen on the dreadful night. It was amazing to see how every time a door closed, Pip always managed to open another one. Two of Sal’s former best friends- Naomi Ward and Max Hastings testified that they had been with Sal on the night of April 14, hanging out at Naomi’s house and playing video games. Except not for the entirety of the night. According to them, Sal left the house at exactly 10:30. Thirty minutes later, Andie had gone missing. Sal claimed to have gone straight home. Unfortunately, there wasn’t anyone present at his house that night to confirm his arrival. If only Pip could uncover his exact whereabouts during that half hour, then maybe she could save his case. I really admired her stubborn and driven personality because she would not drop this investigation. Even when she started receiving death threats and put herself at risk. She dove deep into messy situations during her search, but she pulled through and it was such a great moment for girl power.
By retracing Sal’s steps of that night, and following Andie’s tracks for the past five months before she went missing, Pip uncovers some shady truths about both of them: there is more than one person responsible for this unsolved mystery. Maybe the people closest to the victim are the ones who harbor the most secrets.
Was Andie really a victim?
Could she possibly be alive?
Did Sal really leave his friend’s house at 10:30?
Was Sal used as a decoy to take the spotlight off of the person who really is responsible?
Pip learns information that completely turns the story plot on its axis and changes the course of the book. With the substantial evidence she acquired, Pip is able to align all the information. It was a humbling moment to learn the truth. I always thought I was one step ahead of Pip, and had already narrowed down the list of suspects to the one person I truly believed was guilty. I would have bet all my life savings on this person being the killer, just to be completely caught off guard by the truth.
We learn where Sal really was on the night of April 14, and that there are more people who played a role in Andie’s disappearance. We are reminded that things are never as they seem because no one is ever completely innocent. Such a complex story soon becomes clearly laid out in a way that has the readers blown away at how incredible the pacing, plot, and character building progressed.
Pip’s strategies while solving the case might have been unprofessional, questionable, and perhaps illegal. Did she break nearly every rule in ethical investigation and journalism? Yes. Do I care? No.
Her methods were effective, smart, and she applied herself more than any of the police did while investigating the case. A common pattern among Holly Jackson’s writing is that she will provide an abundance of information and characters, but every single one of them is relevant to the plot in some way. At first readers may feel overwhelmed by the amount of knowledge provided, which makes it more gratifying when all the pieces fall flawlessly into place, and you get the full picture of what happened. The author does an amazing job at transporting her readers into this fictional world, and making us feel as if we are solving the case ourselves. I will forever recommend this masterpiece.