A creative and heart-racing debut, A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder is a fantastic read for fans of crime and mystery novels. I loved the twists and turns in this book. The presence of a potential murderer still out on the loose whom Pip (the schoolgirl turned investigator) is looking for made for a thrilling read. The characterisation is great, and I especially liked how Pip becomes paranoid at one point and it seems like almost everyone is a suspect! Below is a blurb and some spoiler-free Roses and Thorns associated with the book (please see About section if you are unfamiliar with this). A spoiler section is found at the bottom explaining the ending for anyone needing clarification. But don’t worry, this comes with a spoiler warning beforehand! For a spoiler-free review/ending explanation of the second book in the series, check out my post on Good Girl, Bad Blood.

Book Description: 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 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?

Please see About section if you are unfamiliar with the following Roses and Thorns reviewing method:

Roses

• The suspense. The author makes the reader question almost every character. It turns out that several people have certain secrets that they don’t want to get out and not everything is as it seems. This creates a constant atmosphere of suspicion which is exciting to read about.
• The process of finding the culprit. Holly Jackson spins a dark tale one thread at a time, with each new clue adding something further to the plot. As a reader you can expect to be thrilled, there is no dull moment!
• The characterisation was fairly well done too; Pippa is essentially a very smart nerd with guts, who is determined to find the real murderer of a schoolgirl who was never found several years before and prove the innocence of the supposed murderer in the process.
• The ending. Even when you think the story is coming to a close…nope, the author springs more and more into the story and makes it even more interesting!

Thorns

• Pippa is an admirable character, but her personality can be a bit frustrating at times especially when you are stuck with her point of view throughout the entire novel.

(If you are not yet familiar with the Roses and Thorns reviewing format, please see About section for more information!)

Overall, A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder is a tense young adult novel with an intricately woven storyline. Great for fans of murder mystery books.

Rating: 4/5

Spoiler Ending…

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Ending Explained: So Pip finds out that Elliot, her teacher and friend’s dad, has been printing and sending the messages to her by looking into the documents printed from his computer. She follows him to a supposedly deserted house and confronts him. He confesses to being romantically involved with Andie and breaking things off with her that night. Andie got hurt in his house and left. When he found out that she was missing and believing himself responsible, he decided to make it looks like her boyfriend was responsible. He threatens his friends to take back the boyfriend Sal’s alibi and Elliot lured Sal into the woods and encouraged him to take sleeping pills. Then he murdered Sal by suffocation. Elliot then finds a girl on the street who looks like Andie, but is not Andie. He takes her and keeps her prisoner in the house, appearing to be under the delusion that she is Andie and it is his duty to care of her and not let the story out. Becky (Andie’s sister) is the one who actually knew what happened to Andie. Andie was choking and Becky did not help, as she was angry that Andie did not care that she had been drugged and raped by the drugs that Andie had been selling. Becky disposed of the body and kept it a secret. Sal is proved innocent. Andie publicises her findings.

What were your thoughts on the novel? Let me know in the comments!