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 murder, Pippa Fitz-Amobi isn't so sure. When she chooses the case as the topic for her final year 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?

My Review - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Oh this was such an enjoyable read, really fast paced and Pip is so loveable - a main character that you definitely root for and want to crack the case and get the bad guy! It was a book that once I picked up i struggled to drag myself away from as I needed to know what was happening.

Even though it is a young YA and I am not the target market, I still absolutely loved it and would definitely read the next 2 books as I want to see what happens to the characters next and watch their relationships develop.

I would definitely recommend to people who enjoy a fast paced whodunnit, I think it would be the perfect book to get someone out of a reading slump as its quick, witty and throughly enjoyable.

Thank you to @tandemcollectiveuk @electricmonkeybooks @netgalley and @hojay92 for this copy of the book i loved playing detective and trying to work out "Who killed Andie Bell?"

So I’m going to admit something here. I read this back at the end of May and I’m only reviewing it now. But the amazing thing about this book is that I still remember it. Doesn’t that tell you something?!

An A-Grade student, Pippa Fitz-Amobi uses her Extended Project Qualification to solve the small town murder of Andie Bell. Andie’s so called boyfriend, Sal Singh was guilty for her murder, but Pippa feels very different about it. Using her EPQ and the help of Andie’s brother, she investigates and uncovers some dirty secrets, leading her to the real murder.

Pip is a young Miss Marple. She is a character, she won’t take no for answer, she’s nosy (in a good way), she’s unafraid of the consequences this closed case will lead her down. What she has gumption and I loved how that was reflected in her final statement. I revelled in the use of a real qualification of an A-Level student could be spun into reopening a murder investigation. We follow the investigation through her EPQ evidence just makes it so much more real, as I work on EPQ’s in my job I found that a really interesting aspect of the book. In some ways I sort of enjoyed it more than pure narrative As a true reflection of Andie’s life leading up to murder. A Good Girls’s Guide to Murder just has that edge that no other YA thrillers have. It’s what sets it’s apart in it’s own league.

Not only is the book bloody brilliant and keeps you guessing but Holly’s publisher Egmont/Electric Monkey did an amazing campaign to this book. I read this book in a good few days but the thing about the proof I received, the last 50 pages had been ripped out, I thought this was a error. *queue hysterical tweeting to publishers* Ha. I did not realise it was intentional, that I had to guess who the murderer is and wait for the end. That was excruciating. You know when the murder mystery is gone well when the guilty party is not you think it is. I was shocked and that makes for an amazing storyteller like Holly Jackson.

A Good Girls Guide to Murder is chilling, compelling new YA murder mystery novel, that will stay with you for a long time. It’s a book in league of it own and I would highly recommend for anyone who loves Karen McManus. This book was certainly one of my favourite UKYA books of 2019.

Thank you to Electric Monkey/Egmont for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review. *Sorry it’s a bit late.*

A Good Girl's Guide To Murder is Holly Jackson's debut novel and impressively, I haven't seen any negative reviews/comments/anything about this book, only praise. And I have to agree with everyone, this book is utterly fantastic and deserves all the stars.

I loved the different formats the author has used to tell this story, there's chapters told through third person narrative, police transcripts, telephone conversations and production logs. It was such a unique and different method of storytelling but fitted so perfectly as Pip's murder mystery project, I felt fully involved in Pip's mission to discover what happened to Andie.

The tension that built throughout this novel was so gripping, if I'd had a full day to read this I'm sure I would have finished it in a matter of hours. This book is such a page turner, I never wanted to put it down.

I also loved Pip, the main character, she was a brutally honest, nerdy teen with an agenda! The threats against her made Pip more determined rather than dismayed, I loved her stubbornness. Each new character that was introduced to the plot had a strong personality and a backstory, there weren't any vague or lacking characters which shows the real skill of the author.

A Good Girl's Guide To Murder is a very complex murder mystery novel told through a variety of medias. I would recommend this wonderful book written by an exceptional author to everyone! I can't wait to see what Holly Jackson writes next.

This book was incredible! This galley was for the final pages that weren’t included in the ARC but the book itself is amazing and I can’t wait to read more of Holly’s writing!

A Good Girls Guide to Murder is set up fantastically as part narrative, part school report where main character Pippa talks to us directly about her findings and theories giving the reader a real sense of closeness and inclusion into what’s happening and where Pips train of thought is going. Not only is the format well chosen but the writing style chosen to accompany it feels spot on, it drips with mystery and unanswered questions. Holly is very good at feeding us just the right amount of information so that it feels like we a good level of understanding without being bogged down with too many uninteresting info dumps. Of course, then she artfully pulls the floor out from under you leaving you to wonder which way is up and question everything you think you know while you piece together every single scrap of evidence you can get your hands on.

As Pip investigates the narrative is pleasingly organic, nothing feels especially twee or too much of a coincidence, I love that Pippa is resourceful, determined, loves to study and sticks up for what she believes in. I also realised while waiting for the last few chapters to arrive that none of the things Pip does are particularly out of the realms of possibility for an ordinary teenager which I really liked.

One of my favourite things about this twisty book is that everyone feels untrustworthy at one point or another as things change and different pieces of information and evidence come to light, I think throughout this book I've suspected almost everyone at least once. A Good Girls Guide to Murder as a brilliantly realised, deliciously tense tale of whodunnit wrapped in danger and betrayal.

(Review goes live on my blog at the below link on Tues 30th April)

I particularly commend the marketing team on this one - tearing the last few pages out of the book led to a certain amount of frustration, but also eagerness to finish this book.
I loved the setup for this. A motivated student doing an EPQ over the summer, trying to solve a mystery that the rest of the town thinks was put to bed long before. Plus, I've never actually read a book with a murderboard before. And Pippa actually uses red string for it. How cliché. How amazing!

This is Holly Jackson's debut, and it doesn't read like it. Mixed media within the book adds an extra dimension of interest to a fun and quirky story, and really let the narrator's voice shine through. She's clever, insightful, but also mired in the most teenage of self-delusions - believing you're invincible.

If I had one complaint, it would be that it all wrapped up too fast in the end, and there was a severe over-reliance on the notion of GPS tracking. There were lots of threads to be untangled, and Pippa, smart as she is, seemed to be wildly impulsive in the final chapters of the book, a marked contrast to her slightly detached investigating in earlier chapters. The contrast could probably be explained by her fear/her excitement as she got closer to solving the mystery, but this wasn't really clear from the text, and has only been my musings after I finished.
Still, a thoroughly enjoyable murder mystery, with stacks of potential suspects, and my list changed over and over as I raced through the pages. I look forward to more from Holly Jackson. She's relatively young, so hopefully she's got way more books in her yet.

I was kept on my toes throughout as there were constant culprits and I could have believed that almost everyone was responsible. Through out the book my opinion kept changing and I was constantly guessing. I was fully behind any idea that Pip had and convinced of whoever she thought had done it at that time.

The book was interlaced with transcripts, text messages and normal chapters. That format really worked for me and kept things even more interesting.

I also found that the authors personality shone through in Pip. I got the chance to chat to Holly when she was signing my ARC and I could keep picturing her as Pip, plus it helped that Holly was just as bubbly as her protagonist.

Pip probably wasn't you're average teenage in a YA book as she was methodical and organised. She cared about her school work and didn't really let things slip while she was investigating. Some people might find this hard to relate to but I think it was exactly what was needed in this scenario. Plus she still did make the odd rash decision that could have put her in harms way and that kept her realistic.

Electric Monkey also were really clever about their marketing. The ARC copies won at YALC had the last few pages ripped out and you had to email the publishers to get the ending. I then also had to share my #1 suspect on twitter which obviously generated more buzz for the book. The only small downfall from this for me was that I finished the book and then had to wait two weeks to get the final chapters as emails are going back and forth and tweets have to be sent. This resulted in the ending not quite having the same impact as I had forgotten all the small details of the case. I was still shocked and would not have been able to guess the outcome but I just think it would have had that bit more impact if I had been able to read it sooner.

I devoured this - well all the way up to the missing section, over YALC weekend.
And it was incredible. Every time I thought I knew what was happening I was wrong. But now I need to #FindAndie

Pippa is a super smart student with her focus on her education. For her Extended Project Qualification Pippa can propose any topic. She choose the missing person case of Andie Bell 5 years previous and the subsequent suicide of Sal Singh, the allegedly guilty boyfriend.

Because Pip doesn't think Sal was guilty. As she digs into the crime that consumed the town and left a family hated, Pip uncovers more secrets about the case, which might not be as open and shut as it seemed.

After receiving the missing chapters: I was partially right! But I did NOT see the twist coming. Holly Jackson is firmly at the top of my new favourites.

This book was fantastic! An incredible debut with so many twists and turns I was hooked the entire time.
So glad I got the last few chapters!

Despite the shenanigans Electric Monkey pulled with the YALC proofs, I've finally reached the end of A Good Girl's Guide to Murder and it is extraordinarily good. I'm just going to come out and say it, the best YA crime story I've read.

I'll post a full review nearer the time of publication.

This book though! Oh. My. Gosh. If you're a regular reader of my blog, you will know that A Good Girl's Guide to Murder was my most anticipated proof of this year's YALC, and that I screamed really loudly when I won one.

Andie Bell was murdered five years ago by Sal Singh. Everyone knows he did it. The whole town was obsessed with the case. Pippa Fitz-Amobi isn't convinced, and chooses this topic for a school project. It soon becomes apparent that there are some serious holes in the original investigation, and Pip sets out to fill them in.

I loved Pip from the start. She has a strong voice, she is stubborn and very organised. She takes a methodical approach to the case study, which we see through her production logs and transcripts which are meticulously recorded. Sometimes she does really stupid things, resorting to some dangerous tactics to get the information she needs. On the one hand, I admired her dedication to the cause, but on the other, I spent a lot of time telling her off for making rash decisions and not telling her parents what is happening.

I really like mixed media in books, and the inclusion of Pip's investigation notes and work throughout this book really added something. It made me want to pull out a notepad and pen and try to solve the case with her. Alas, I am not that clever, and I quickly descended into wild speculations. The facts are revealed gradually, and just when you think you know what's happening, Pip pops up to tell you you're wrong. It's rare that a twist catches me completely off-guard, but the twists in this book did, and I loved it.

I'll confess that the marketing strategy of removing pages from the proofs drove me bonkers and I did many swears in the early hours of the morning as I got to the missing part. I'm assured that the finished copies will contain all of their pages, and I intend to get my hands on one as soon as possible. I'd highly recommend you do the same.

This book is bloody genius. One of the best written mysteries I’ve ever read. Pippa is a great lead and the mystery of Andie is fantastically done - all the little reveals and the way Holly Jackson uses the narrative to comment on the media and their depiction of the murder of a pretty white girl allegedly by an Indian boy. It’s brilliant.

The marketing from YALC was excellent too - they ripped out the ending! I know some people had a long wait, but I read it right before they released the ending so was lucky. I still think it’s a brilliant move to keep people talking about it.

Pippa as a main character really spoke to me - her nerdiness and determination, her love for her family and friends, her dedication to studying (lol)! And I like that she sticks up for what she believes in.

And I while I am ABSOLUTELY not going to spoil this because it’s too good to, I have to mention the mystery and how it played out. Every time I thought “oh this is about so and so”, or “they’re definitely involved” or even “Andie’s definitely still alive / super dead” (and I thought both, like Pippa!) Pippa was right there with me. She isn’t one of those book investigators that stumbles across things, and never figures anything out, she looks at the clues presented and then challenges each assumption as she goes. The mystery is so well done the list of who I thought definitely did it changed regularly. And while I won’t say what my suspicions were throughout (largely because there were so many!!) I will say that I wasn’t 100% wrong or right about any - I figured out bits but nearly always they weren’t quite what I thought. And one of the things I thought early on was in that category, it was both super satisfying and really annoying to be so close but not actually right! Incredibly well thought out and amazingly written.

I will definitely be buying a final copy of this when it comes out and highly recommend you do too.

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Review will be posted on my blog much closer to release