Book: A Good Girl's Guide to Murder
Author: Holly Jackson
Pages: 374
Read on: Kindle
Read in: 4 hours
Plot Summary: 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 crime, Pippa Fitz-Amobi isn't so sure.
When she chooses the case as the topic for her final 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 … ?
Things I Liked:
1. Getting a bit ahead of myself, but this book is a perfect cozy winter read! If you haven't read it yet, go grab it, get under a quilt/ blanket and read this lovely, riveting book!
2. I really enjoy stories about cold cases. There is just something so inherently interesting and exciting about following old leads, joining the dots, finding new information and bringing a smug criminal to justice- the kind of smug criminal, who is living his/ her life thinking that they've gotten away with murder. So, this is a book that immediately appealed to me!
3. The cold case at the heart of this book is a tragic one. A young woman went missing, her Indian-origin boyfriend was the chief suspect and a couple of days later, he was found dead- a suicide and a confession text confirming that he was, indeed, the killer. Pip, our 17-year old, straight A student looking into this case as part of her project, refuses to believe this version. Pip was uncomfortable with several inconsistencies in the case but, most of all, she remembers Sal Singh, the accused boyfriend of Andie Bell, being a kind and thoughtful young man.
So, as Pip starts to look into the case, starting with interviewing Ravi- Sal's younger brother as well as both Andie and Ravi's close friends, she comes across a side of Andie contrary to the angelic victim narrative created by the media and the local police. It is this image and the secrets that come with it, which help Ravi and Pip close in on the real killer.
4. The investigative process depicted in the book is very realistic. It is just the kind of thing a 17 year old amateur would do. Pip is not an annoying know-it-all; she makes mistakes, she gets into difficult situations, but the book handles all of that very well. There are no mega leaps and no random fortuitous escapes. I loved the gradual unfolding of the new discoveries made by Pip and Ravi and how they, finally, put things together to figure out the real killer.
5. The characters in the book are also very realistic. The families are like yours or mine. The teenagers are pretty realistic too. There are very few clichés in this book, very few stereotypical characters. I must also express my gratitude to the author for actually researching normal, real Indian names for the Singh family! Salil, Ravi, Nisha and Mohan! None of the Mohinder Suresh (Heroes reference) nonsense in this book!
Also, I really appreciated the author, through Pip, calling out deep-seated racism in her small town. I love it when books shine a light on that. Anything to build more sensitivity to the experiences of people of colour in predominantly white communities.
6. I also liked how the author did not shy away from showing that there are consequences to digging up old secrets and that bad things can happen to good, honest people. So, there are instances when this book breaks your heart into a million pieces.
7. This is not a predictable, easy-to-guess mystery. There are some fairly unpredictable twists in the end, which you may not see coming and that is always a bonus in a murder mystery!
Rating: 5/5
Highly, highly recommend!
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