“I’ve already learned my lesson here: when you catch someone lying about a murdered girl, you go ask them why.”
An excellent true crime seems to get all of us here at two@twenty-seven, especially Sharee. You’ll recall she’s a devout follower of Dateline. She records the episodes she misses! It’s in the genes apparently because I felt the itch for a little lawlessness. And I was looking for an easy read. One that didn’t require a lot of brain power but kept me interested. A while back, my friend mentioned that she loved Holly Jackson’s A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder for its true crime vibes. So I picked it up because I hadn’t read a YA novel in a while.
Set in Fairview, Connecticut (a fictional town in Fairfield County where Tray and Sharee grew up!), Pippa Fitz-Amobi found the perfect project for her senior capstone project—uncover what happened to the murdered Andie Bell. The only problem? The police closed the case 5 years ago when Andie’s boyfriend, Sal Singh, was found dead in the woods with a confession on hand. Regardless of what the police say, something just doesn’t sit right with Pip. She decides to take matters into her own hands. An intricate web of lies, deceit, and shady dealings lead Pip down a dangerous path to discover what actually happened to Andie that fateful night.
Like many YA novels, this feels more adult as it mentions suicide, rape, sex, and drugs. I’m giving it a solid 4 out of 5 stars. Oh, and despite being a paperback purist, I listened to this thrilla in 3 days. Look at me go!
*Bonus points to you if you can find the UK version and get your hands on it–the author adapted the original UK version to a US version.