Center for Teaching & Learning

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

Sixteen-year-old Pippa cannot forget the murder case of Andie Bell. Five years ago, Andie Bell was murdered by her high school boyfriend, Sal Singh, who killed himself days later. Everyone in the town of Fairview has moved on, even the police—everyone except for Pip. Pip has not forgotten about the murder, and she has a nagging feeling that Sal was never the killer that everyone made him out to be. She thinks Sal is innocent. As she dives deeper into the town's secrets, she finds information that may end up hurting everyone she loves.

Throughout the book the reader can feel connected to the main character, Pip, and all the emotions that this case causes her. Even though this case rips her apart and makes her lose things, she still has a hunger to show everyone that Sal Singh is guilty. This is effective because the reader is left wondering what Pip is going to do next. This adds a level of suspense.

In A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, Holly Jackson creates a realistic high school student who wants to stand up for what she thinks is true, even if nobody is willing to help her or believe her. This book is fast-paced and suspenseful, and I found myself on the edge of my seat as Pip uncovered more information.

This is a thrilling murder mystery filled with interview transcripts, pictures, texts, and maps that give insight into the investigation. I found Jackson’s use of of epistolary structure very helpful. It was interesting to see the sources that police in the story get their clues from in an investigation.

This book helped me learn about the problems of wrongful conviction and about the process of solving an investigation. I didn’t realize that sometimes the police will convict the wrong person, and then they have to live with the shame. Jackson took a story about wrongful conviction and told it from the point of view of a young, ordinary high school girl who tries to solve the case in a small town.

I would rate this book a ten out of ten. There are also two more books in this trilogy: Good Girl, Bad Blood and As Good as Dead. I have read the second book, and I look forward to reading the third soon. If you are looking for a book full of suspense and mystery, crack open A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder and start reading.

Lily

Electric Monkey, 433 pages (paperback)