Reviewed by girlinthepages on
Following protagonist Pippa, a high school senior in New England, A Good Girl's Guide to Murder has a very similar vibe in some ways to the first season of the podcast Serial, which I know has been many people's first foray into true crime (including mine!) While the "case" that's at the center of the plot shares many similarities with the case featured in Serial, I was glad to find that the story had its own unique elements too. Pippa is researching a five year old suicide-homicide that happened in her otherwise sleepy suburb, and while her teacher warns her not to breach any ethical boundaries (including contacting the families of the victims), Pip is relentless in her quest for the truth. While at times it seemed a bit far fetched (Pip does some very brave/stupid things sometimes to progress the plot), it was also fascinating because in this day in age there are folks who are super into true crime who have taken it upon themselves to research cold cases and potentially make discoveries that law enforcement may have missed. I really enjoyed how the narrative was broken up with Pip's case log entries, her diagrams, maps, emails, notes, etc. It made the mystery feel more immersive and helped the story move along at a fast paced clip.
The mystery itself was extremely well written. There were a lot of great clues and even red herrings peppered throughout, and as a reader I felt satisfied with the ratio of things I was able to pick up on and guess correctly and things that surprised me. I enjoyed that Pip teamed up with Ravi, the little brother of the supposed "murderer," and that the narrative touched on the stigma that his family has had to endure the past five years as everyone has believed his older brother killed an "innocent" girl. I also enjoyed how the narrative painted many characters in shades of grey, and there were really no suspects who were all good or all bad, but who were nuanced and varied in their motives, behaviors and reasoning for doing things.
Even though the story was a mystery/thriller, it also still had strong contemporary elements and I feel like I got to know Pip and her family and friends pretty well, which was refreshing as often times in mystery stories it can feel as though the protagonist is a merely just a vessel for the plot. I enjoyed Pip's supportive and warm family, her love for her dog, her devotion to her friendships, and her dedication to her schoolwork.
The pacing of this story was really phenomenal, and there wasn't ever a moment where I felt it stall or felt that it was too rushed- it had the perfect balance of sleuthing balanced out with situations a teen would also be dealing with (like college applications). I read the entire story in just 2-3 sittings which was honestly quite a shock considering I had been in a month long slump at the time!
Overall: A really excellent mystery that will keep readers engaged and enthralled! I'm interested to see how the author turns this into a series!
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Reading updates
- Started reading
- 31 March, 2020: Finished reading
- 31 March, 2020: Reviewed