by Courtney Williams on October 25, 2023
The book I read is A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson. This book is a young adult mystery, and it is the first book in a trilogy. The book follows Pippa Fitz-Amobi investigating the case of Andie Bell and Sal Singh for a project at school. In this case it is believed that Sal Singh killed his girlfriend, Andie Bell, and then commits suicide out of guilt. The case never sat right with Pippa; she was determined to clear Sal Singh’s name no matter what it took. Unexpectedly, Pippa finds out so much more about the secrets of Fairview, more than what she ever expected, and it takes a dark turn.
Pippa Fitz-Amobi is a 17-year-old girl from Fairview, Connecticut. She is presented with a senior capstone project for school in which she can pick her own topic. She was given permission to do her project on the Andie Bell case as long as she does not disturb the families or people involved. She starts a system of doing recorded interviews with people from Fairview who may know something about what happened. Pippa finds herself very consumed in the case. When the information she is getting from everyone else is not enough, she disobeys the rule she was given and knocks on the house that Sal Singh once lived in. Ravi Singh, Sal Singh’s brother, opens the door to find a girl who has taken interest in the case of her brother. He is taken aback but reluctantly agrees to answer some of her questions since unlike everyone else in Fairview, she believes that Sal Singh did not murder Andie Bell and wants to clear his name.
With some time, Ravi Singh decides he wants to help Pippa solve the case and prove his brother innocent. He gives Pippa Sal's phone and finds text messages between him and Andie saying, “I’m not talking to you until you’ve stopped.” She also finds a text which Sal confesses to the crime, but Pippa does not believe it as it does not match Sal's usual texting style. Then Pip manages to catfish two of Andie Bell’s friends who revealed Andie was not as perfect as she appeared to be. Pippa and her friends, Cara Ward, Zach Chen, Lauren Gibson, Naomi Ward, and Anthony Lowe all went on a camping trip together. All was going well until they saw a silhouette in the dark, and her friends began chasing them; Pippa follows. They never managed to find them, so Pippa and her friends come back to try and go to sleep when Pippa finds a note in her sleeping bag telling her to stop investigating. Despite the threat, Pip continues the case and finds out even more about Andie’s life that she managed to hide from everyone. She finds out that she and her sister Becca Bell did not have a great relationship with their father, Jason Bell. She also finds out Andie bullied a girl named Natalie da Silva and even threatened to reveal that she has slept with her older brother, Daniel da Silva. This put both Natalie and Daniel on the suspect list as Daniel could have had a motive to kill her, and Natalie definitely was not fond of Andie as she made it very clear in her interviews. At this time Pippa, even with the help of Ravi and support of friends, has gotten so indulged and committed to the case to the point she starts putting herself in more and more danger with the more things she learns. She finds herself conflicted as the list of potential suspects and anonymous threats she is receiving grows, putting herself and family in danger. Still nothing is stopping Pippa; she is determined to clear the name of Sal Singh for herself, Ravi Singh, his family, and the town of Fairview.
I decided to do my review on this book because it has been my favorite book since I have read it. It is filled with so much suspense and mysteries that kept me guessing and kept me on my toes till the very end. I read this book because it had impressive reviews, and many seemed to love the book. If you like true crime, mystery, thrillers, and even romance, I believe you would enjoy this book. This book is the first in a trilogy, and I recommend the other two books as well as other books by Holly Jackson if you enjoy thrillers.
