“A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder” is a Young Adult Mystery
Thriller by Holly Jackson. Pip, the protagonist, has to do a project,
in order for her to finish school. She chooses to investigate about a
murder case, which has taken place and has been closed several years
ago, in the small town where she lives. Andie Bell has disappeared
and some days later her boyfriend, Sal Singh, has been found dead in
the woods. After that the police finds evidence that he must have
killed Andie and then committed suicide. However something, about Sal
being accused of murder, seems off to Pip. She did not really know
him, but he was nice to her and she can not imagine, that he would
murder someone. Officially Pip does her project, about what role the
media had in this case – maybe with less public pressure the police
would not have closed the case as quickly? Anyways, as Pip starts
investigating further and further, she gets pulled into this case
more and more – now it is not only about some school project
anymore – Sal’s brother, Ravi, is now helping Pip and she also
wants to help him. After all if his brother got accused of murder,
although he is innocent, Ravi has a right to know that, right? But
will the danger of this knowledge be worth it? Or is Sal guilty after
all?
The style how this book is made, is brilliant – it leaves room for the reader, to
think about who might be the murder, but at the same time there is
also a lot of character development involved. The book is told from
Pip’s POV and every now and then there are her documentations of
for example interviews. These documentations also state new found
information and new suspects, providing the reader with an overview
of the findings, Pip has made so far. The part of the chapters that
is told from Pip’s POV is like a ‘normal’ book, describing the
events and Pip’s thoughts etc. This combination enables a nice and
also soulful feeling while reading, which makes the novel somewhat
more personal, but it also enables clear information, so that the
whole case is not as confusing. So all in all the perfect Mystery
Young Adult Novel!
I strongly recommend this book, to anyone looking for a suspenseful Young Adult book or a lively Mystery novel or just to anyone, who is looking for something, to add more difference to their tbr.
