Author Holly Jackson’s hugely successful YA murder mystery novel, A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, is getting the screen adaptation it deserves. Published in 2019, Jackson’s novel has gone on to sell millions of copies worldwide, and now the BBC is offering up something equally tantalizing.
The BBC has announced that its six-episode adaptation of the first book in Jackson’s A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder trilogy will premiere in the U.K. and Ireland on BBC Three and BBC iPlayer this July. The show will debut on Netflix worldwide later in the year.
Starring Emma Meyers of Wednesday fame in the leading role, A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder follows Pip Fitz-Amobi as she tries to uncover the truth of what happened to Andie Bell. Five years ago, in the quaint region of Fairview, high school senior Andie Bell was murdered by her boyfriend, Sal Singh. The tragic case still haunts the town, and while everyone, including the police, is convinced that Sal—kind, gentle Sal—was the killer, Pip isn’t so sure.
Determined to find out the truth, she begins her own investigation as part of her senior project, hoping to at least cast some doubt on the original case. And yet, the deeper she digs, and the closer she gets to unraveling the events of that night, the more dangerous her senior project becomes. Someone is out to get her. Could it be the real killer?
Starring alongside Meyers are Anna Maxwell Martin (Motherland) as Leanne, Gary Beadle (Rye Lane), Mathew Baynton (Ghosts) as Elliot, and newcomer Zain Iqbal as Ravi Singh, Sal’s brother. Also joining the cast are Asha Banks (The Magic Flute) as Cara, Yali Topol Margalith (The Tattooist of Auschwitz) as Lauren, Jude Morgan-Collie (Here We Go) as Connor, and Raiko Gohara (Get Lost) as Zach.
The show was adapted by Poppy Cogan and directed by Dolly Wells, but while it’s based on such a popular book, Emma Meyers has assured curious audiences that the series will be just as compelling for avid book fans as well as newcomers to the story. When speaking to Tudum, Meyers said: “Whether you’ve read the book or not, A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder is an experience all around. I think people are really going to like it.” Filmed on location in the South West of England, that special atmosphere that permeates the book will undoubtedly be found on the screen as well.
In total, there are three full novels in the A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder series, so if the BBC’s adaptation does well, there could definitely be more on the horizon. A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder was followed by Good Girl, Bad Blood (2020) and As Good as Dead (2021). There’s also a novella, Kill Joy (2021), that will tell you all about Pip’s life before that first fateful investigation.
Make no mistake: this is a show you won’t want to miss.
(featured image: BBC)
