A review by readwithde
A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson

adventurous challenging inspiring mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

This was everything I wanted from a YA/NA murder mystery. I loved Pip and definitely felt kinship with her (in an overachiever way). Even though she is more of a vehicle for the narrative, I think she had enough personality leak through to show who she was and what mattered to her.

The mystery itself wrapped up nicely, in my opinion. Several people were connected to both Andie and Sal, enough for there to be crossover and various suspects. Though not all of them were connected to the actual disappearance, they still lead Pip and Ravi to the right answers. 

I figured out about Becca's assault/rape earlier in the book, but didn't think Becca was as involved as she turned out to be. Likewise, I thought Mr. Ward would be more involved, but I'll take the win at figuring out his connection to her. There are still a lot of unanswered questions about Fairview, the da Silva siblings, Howie's drug ring, Max's assault crimes, and reporter Stanley Forbes' racism and maybe blackmail payments -- all of which in hoping will be featured in future books.


tl;dr this is an amazing book focused on the crime, not teen drama, and is wrapped up nicely while still giving the author room to write in the future.
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