A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson
🕵️♀️ A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson
One Murder. A Sharp Teen Detective. Zero Common Sense When It Comes to Tea.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4 out of 5 stars
✨ First Impressions: Insta-Love… With a Book
Have you ever cracked open a book and immediately thought, “Oh yeah, this is going to slap”? That was me with A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder. I was barely five minutes in and already mentally texting everyone I know: “You need to read this.”
But let me warn you — you might scream at the characters a few times. You’ll cheer, cringe, guess wrong, and yell “Don’t drink that tea!!!” at least once. In other words, it’s a fantastic time.
📚 The Setup: One Cold Case, One Very Determined Girl
Meet Pippa "Pip" Fitz-Amobi, a high school senior with a mild obsession with unsolved mysteries and zero chill. For her senior capstone project, she decides to investigate the five-year-old disappearance of Andie Bell, the golden girl of her town.
The case was technically closed when Andie’s boyfriend, Sal Singh, was found dead with Andie’s phone and a suicide note confessing to her murder. End of story... or so everyone thought.
But Pip’s got questions. And a Google Doc. And the kind of time management skills I envy.
🕵️♂️ The Sleuthing Duo: Pip + Ravi
Pip teams up with Ravi Singh, Sal’s brother, and together they go full junior detective — interviewing witnesses, tracking down secrets, and dodging increasingly creepy threats from someone who really doesn’t want the truth coming out.
They dig up all kinds of skeletons:
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Andie was involved with an older man.
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She was selling roofies at house parties (!!!).
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And most people in town didn’t like her all that much.
So yeah, sweet innocent victim she was not.
☠️ Wait, There’s a Corpse in the Attic?!
Eventually, Pip discovers something truly deranged:
Her history teacher, Mr. Elliot Ward, had been in a secret relationship with Andie. After trying to end it, Andie threatened to expose him. A confrontation led to Andie hitting her head, and instead of calling 911 like a normal human, Elliot just… let her leave.
Worried she’d recover and ruin him, he made the logical next move:
He kidnapped a mentally ill woman who looked vaguely like Andie, locked her in his attic for five years, and framed Sal for murder.
Yes, you read that right.
He found a random woman on the street, said “Hey, you’re Andie now,” and she just… went along with it.
Honestly, the man should not be teaching history. Or anything.
😳 So Who Really Killed Andie?
Here’s the jaw-dropper: Andie wasn’t dead when she left Elliot’s house.
She went home… and that’s where the real horror happened.
Becca, Andie’s younger sister, had just learned that Andie was the one supplying the roofies that got her raped at a party. Becca was furious. The two fought. Andie, still concussed, threw up and choked on her own vomit. Becca just… let it happen.
Later, Pip figures it all out and — in classic horror movie fashion — decides to confront Becca alone. In her house.
Pip. Girl. Why?
Becca offers Pip tea.
And instead of screaming "NO THANK YOU" like any true crime fan would, Pip drinks it.
It’s drugged, of course. Pip starts fading.
Becca confesses everything, tries to finish her off, and is only stopped when Ravi bursts in and saves the day.
(Don’t worry — Pip lives. And Sal’s name is finally cleared.)
🔍 Final Thoughts: Worth the Hype? Absolutely.
This was a wild ride, packed with clever red herrings, moral gray zones, and a main character who makes you cheer and scream in equal measure.
Pip is kind of like a Gen-Z Nancy Drew… if Nancy occasionally made terrible decisions involving strangers’ kitchens and suspicious tea.
I knocked off a star because parts of the final reveal were a little implausible (five years in an attic?? No one noticed??), but it was still extremely satisfying. And don’t even get me started on that cliffhanger… I’m absolutely reading book two.
📚 Read If You Like:
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YA thrillers with real bite
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Morally complicated characters
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True crime podcast vibes
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Plot twists you absolutely didn’t see coming
🛒 Where to Buy:
🛍 Amazon (Hardcover, Paperback, Kindle, Audiobook)
🔁 Recommended Reads:
| Book | Author | Vibe |
|---|---|---|
| One of Us Is Lying | Karen M. McManus | YA murder mystery, high school edition |
| Sadie | Courtney Summers | Gritty, podcast-style revenge story |
| They Wish They Were Us | Jessica Goodman | Elite prep school secrets |
| The Cheerleaders | Kara Thomas | Multiple deaths, one suspicious town |
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