I always enjoy a good YA novel. In recent years, I have read some really fun Young Adult mysteries. A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson fits this genre. I first saw this title advertised in February as a Barnes and Noble YA book club selection. I tried to get it from my library back then, but it only became available when my library recently reopened.
Pipa decides to do her high school capstone project about the murder five years earlier of high school student Andie Bell presumably by her boyfriend Sal Singh. The case has been long closed even though Sal committed suicide and Andie’s body was never found. Pipa thinks there is more to this and is determined to clear Sal’s name and find the real killer. She pairs up with Sal’s brother as they work together to solve the mystery. I don’t want to give too much away (always a risk when you review a mystery), but it seems like somebody in town doesn’t want Pipa to find out what really happened.
The story is told in a mix of styles, mostly log entries for Pipa’s project (including interview transcripts). Of course, the town is filled with lots of secrets – drug dealing, teenage rape, abusive parents, prejudice, blackmail, cover-ups, corrupt police, mental illness, etc.
The book is a quick read and has some great twists all the way to the end. The book reminded me a lot of One of Us is Next by Karen McManus (which I also recommend). If you liked that one, or any of McManus’s books, you will like this one.
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