If you haven’t read Holly Jackson’s best-selling YA murder mystery series yet, this is the perfect time to do so.
The BBC is turning the first book of Jackson’s A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder trilogy into a thrilling six-part series, which will debut on BBC Three and BBC iPlayer in the U.K. this July and be available internationally on Netflix later in the year.
If you want to know what all the fuss is about before then, however, Jackson’s books are certainly worth your time. Set in a small town in the English countryside, A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder follows Pip Fitz-Amobi, a stubborn and determined teen who gets sucked into the dangerous world of murder and mayhem when, five years after the tragic death of one of her school mates, Pip is determined to crack the case once and for all.
There are three main books in Jackson’s A Good Girl’s Guide series, the last of which was published in 2021. In that same year, a prequel novella was also released, which sees Pip get her first taste of what it’s like to be a detective. If you’re interested, read on to find out how to follow Pip’s story from beginning to end, and all the twists and turns that come with it.
A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder
Five years after the unexpected and tragic murder of popular high school girl Andie Bell, Pip becomes obsessed with the case when she notices how much it still affects her otherwise sleepy hometown. Though Andie’s supposed killer, her boyfriend Sal Singh, killed himself after the murder, Pip has a hard time believing kind and gentle Sal could have committed such a violent act. As part of her senior project, Pip decides to delve into the case, but the deeper her investigation goes, the more she puts herself in danger—someone in Fairview really doesn’t want her to uncover the truth.
Good Girl, Bad Blood
Though she’s now a seasoned investigator—well, as seasoned as a student can really be—Pip, together with Sal’s brother Ravi, has released a true crime podcast detailing her experience with the Andie Bell case. Though she’s promised herself her detective days are over, it’s hard to keep that promise when someone she knows goes missing on the sixth anniversary of Andie and Sal’s deaths. Once again, the police are no help, and Pip vows to find the victim herself while the world listens along.
As Good as Dead
Pip is still reeling from her last case, and all the while she’s forced to deal with trolls and the online death threats that accompany her true crime podcast. One anonymous poster, in particular, stands out to Pip, however, and soon enough, she realizes she’s being followed by someone who’s threatening to make her disappear. Is her stalker connected to her previous cases? And will she be able to unravel the truth before another person disappears from Fairview forever? You’ll have to read the books to find out.
Kill Joy
Even before Pip decided to investigate the deaths of Andie Bell and Sal Singh, her detective skills were obvious.
When Pip is invited to a 1920s-themed murder mystery party, she’s reluctant to attend, until she gets drawn into a web of lies, deception, and murder. Clue by clue, Pip unravels the fictional mystery, but in the back of her mind, she’s thinking of a very different case, too.
