A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson Series Review

I finally picked up the Good Girl’s Guide to Murder series by Holly Jackson and I have some thoughts. Instead of creating a post for each book, I decided to review the series in its entirety in one post. I’m not going to get overly detailed as I don’t want to spoil this series for anyone but I do want to share my thoughts for each book then, at the end, my thoughts on the series as a whole. I’m also going to touch briefly on the Netflix series, which was what piqued my curiosity to finally read this series. 

Kill Joy by Holly Jackson

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder #0.5

Rating: 3.5

Pippa Fitz-Amobi is not in the mood for her friend's murder mystery party. Especially one that involves 1920's fancy dress and pretending that their town, Little Kilton, is an island called Joy. But when the game begins, Pip finds herself drawn into the make-believe world of intrigue, deception and murder. But as Pip plays detective, teasing out the identity of the killer clue-by-clue, the murder of the fictional Reginald Remy isn't the only case on her mind ... 

When Pip’s invited to attend her friend’s 1920’s fancy dress murder mystery party, she wants to say no as she has more scholarly things on her mind. Deciding to attend, she finds herself thrown into a world of mystery, which she’s eager to solve.

While this is a prequel novella, it was actually the last book published in the Good Girl’s series. I made the mistake of reading this last as I didn’t realize it was a prequel so I read in publication order. I don’t feel like this added a lot to the series but I do think that it’s a worthy way to start the series. It offers an insight into Pip’s friend group dynamics, it shows Pip’s obsessive nature, and it shows where Pip’s inspiration for her capstone project came from.

Overall, this was a quick read and a fun little mystery. I think younger teens would enjoy this one, as it’s lighter in tone. If you pick up the trade paperback (117 pages), just know that a third of the book is excerpts of the 3 full-length books in the series. If you’re an e-book reader, I think this would be a wise e-book purchase providing the e-book is cheaper than the print copy. 

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder #1

Rating: 3.5

Everyone in Fairview knows the story.

Pretty and popular high school senior Andie Bell was murdered by her boyfriend, Sal Singh, who then killed himself. It was all anyone could talk about. And five years later, Pip sees how the tragedy still haunts her town.

But she can't shake the feeling that there was more to what happened that day. She knew Sal when she was a child, and he was always so kind to her. How could he possibly have been a killer?

Now a senior herself, Pip decides to reexamine the closed case for her final project, at first just to cast doubt on the original investigation. But soon she discovers a trail of dark secrets that might actually prove Sal innocent . . . and the line between past and present begins to blur. Someone in Fairview doesn't want Pip digging around for answers, and now her own life might be in danger.

 I wasn’t sure what to expect when I pick this one up. I’d heard so many mixed reviews that I had left this series sitting on my shelf for years and was getting ready to un-haul the books. It wasn’t until I watched the Netflix series that I decided to give it a go and it was an okay read.  

Here’s what’s going on: Pip’s a very determined girl. When she sets her mind on something, nothing is going to get in her way and she’s going to give it her all until the task is complete. Deciding that she wants to reexamine the Andi Bell murder investigations to prove Sal Singh’s innocence, she enlists the help of Ravi, Sal’s younger brother. While she knew this wasn’t going to be a pleasant journey, she never expected that it would bring to light a string of dark secrets. As Pip draws closer to the truth, she finds herself in dangerous territory.

I’m always up for good mystery and, I’m happy to say, this one offered a nice mystery but I had to suspend my disbelief to throw myself in a world where Pip, a senior in high school conducts an investigation of this magnitude. If Pip had been a bit more mature in her actions and been fully fleshed out, I think I could have believed this one a bit better.

Unfortunately, Pip is very single-minded and has very little personality. While she’s very determined, she’s a very flat character and I found myself wanting to know more of who she was away from the investigation.

Overall, I do have to say that this was an easy, mixed media read that not only offered a mystery but a tale of romance, friendship, and family. Sadly, this one was a little too YA for my taste but I can see readers enjoying this one. I will say that this was the best full-length book in the series. 

Good Girl, Bad Blood by Holly Jackson

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder #3

Rating: 2.5

Pip is not a detective anymore.

With the help of Ravi Singh, she released a true-crime podcast about the murder case they solved together last year. The podcast has gone viral, yet Pip insists her investigating days are behind her.

But she will have to break that promise when someone she knows goes missing. Jamie Reynolds has disappeared, on the very same night the town hosted a memorial for the sixth-year anniversary of the deaths of Andie Bell and Sal Singh.

The police won't do anything about it. And if they won't look for Jamie then Pip will, uncovering more of her town's dark secrets along the way... and this time everyone is listening. But will she find him before it's too late?

 I picked this one up immediately after finishing the first book and it didn’t go well.

Here’s what’s going on. After the events of the Andi Bell case, Pip has decided that she’s no longer a detective but when Jamie, her best friend’s brother, goes missing, she can’t sit back and let the police mess up another case. Once again, she finds herself uncovering dark secrets about members of her community and puts herself in danger.

This one was a bit rough and I wanted to sit it down numerous times but I knew if I did, I would never pick it up again. The plot came off as weak. Jamie’s disappearance, the investigation, and the ‘evidence’ came of as lackluster and bogged down a little over 2/3 of the book. There was so much repetition that I started to tune out some parts. The ‘twist’ in this one came out of left field and felt as though the author’s word count was nearing the end and she needed to finish the book.

Pip went from having no personality to being this washout teen masquerading as an adult. By the middle of the book, it was obvious that Pip was spiraling out of control and I had to question why her parents didn’t realize it and get her help.

Overall, the only noteworthy aspect of this book was Ravi. He’s such a great character. I feel like this book could have been at least 100 pages shorter.

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As Good As Dead by Holly Jackson

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder #3

Rating: 2

The finale to A Good Girl's Guide to Murder series. By the end of this mystery series, you'll never think of good girls the same way again...

Pip is about to head to college, but she is still haunted by the way her last investigation ended. She’s used to online death threats in the wake of her viral true-crime podcast, but she can’t help noticing an anonymous person who keeps asking her: Who will look for you when you’re the one who disappears?

Soon the threats escalate and Pip realizes that someone is following her in real life. When she starts to find connections between her stalker and a local serial killer caught six years ago, she wonders if maybe the wrong man is behind bars.

Police refuse to act, so Pip has only one choice: find the suspect herself—or be the next victim. As the deadly game plays out, Pip discovers that everything in her small town is coming full circle... and if she doesn’t find the answers, this time she will be the one who disappears...

What did I just read? I’m just so confused that the author thought this was an appropriate ending for this series.

Here’s what’s going on. Pip’s spiraling out of control due to the outcome of her last case and struggling with PTSD. When someone appears to be stalking Pip, the police refuse to offer her help and, once again, she finds herself investigating on her own. When she discovers that there’s a connection between her stalker and a serial killer who is supposedly behind bars, Pip finds herself wondering if they have the wrong man. Now Pip must find her stalker before he finds her.

I had to force myself to finish this book and it was a struggle. I wasn’t feeling the plot, the mystery, or the characters.

It’s extremely obvious that Pip desperately needs help and I found it very neglectful that her parents failed to realize that she was in such a dark place. It baffles me how she was able to do the things she did without her parents noticing.  

The mystery, and identity of Pip’s stalker, felt like lazy writing. While it tied the series together, it felt rushed and I don’t feel as though it worked. There’s so much that I want to say about this one but I don’t want to ruin it for future readers.

Pip and Ravi’s actions were completely out of character. I had to question why Ravi would do this given what happened to his brother. With this series, I’ve had to suspend my disbelief but that actions were so outlandish that it was impossible to do with this one.

Overall, this one was extremely dark and out of place. The tone felt more along the lines of an adult thriller/mystery but the characters were still very immature. 

My thoughts on the series: Going into this series, I knew I had to suspend my disbelief but that didn’t work for me. At the start of the full-length books in this series, Pip is 17 with no investigative training yet she’s opened a full-blown investigation into the murder of Andi Bell and, somehow, she manages to get all of these people, some of them extremely shady, to spill all their secrets.

Throughout the series, this is something that I struggled with, as Pip doesn’t seem mature enough to conduct an investigation of this caliber. Had the author written Pip as a more mature character, or a character that grew in her maturity, or even an academic savant, I would have been able to get behind her intricate investigations and believe she was able to find things the detectives missed. Sadly, that didn’t happen and, as the series progressed, her actions became more immature.

The mystery aspect of the books suffered as the series progressed. A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder has a solid mystery that made sense. I could see those events playing out in real life. Books 2 and 3 had very absurd mysteries. I do believe that book 2 could have been a solid mystery had the catalyst been something other than Jamie’s disappearance. I didn’t care for the mystery in book 3. It was a bit outlandish and I’m not sure how it would have went undetected for so long.

I’m not the target audience for this series. I’m not even sure that I would have enjoyed this as a teen because I didn’t read a lot of YA even then.

Why did I read this series? One of the main reasons I wanted to read the series was because so many people on social media were upset because they changed the setting of the Netflix series and that piqued my curiosity.

The Netflix series is set in the UK. The books, published by Delacorte Press, are set in America. Knowing the author is British, I was curious about the tone of the books and if the change in sitting would make a difference.

I’m a little confused by the people making such a big deal about the change as the books have a very British tone and some of the included graphics are blatantly British. I did a little digging and found out that this is due to the fact that the original books, published by Electric Monkey, were set in Britain. When an American publisher purchased the rights, the setting was changed to Connecticut.

I’m really curious if the setting was the only thing changed and if the original versions show Pip is a different light.

Was the Netflix series different? Obviously, the setting changed. I do feel as though the show stuck to the plot of the first book but there were some differences. I’m not sure if they differ from the original British version of the book but it does differ from the American version. While the show was an okay watch, Pip comes off as being even more juvenile.