A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson is a YA mystery revolving around murder and suicide. This is a highly rated novel that is absolutely worth your time. Why? Because it possesses strong writing, red herrings, secrets, and is easy to read.

This is a novel you will enjoy and for those searching for a female sleuth, this is the novel for you. The novel gave me similar vibes that Truly Devious but with a slightly more intricate twist on the plot.

What can I say, this was great and a novel worth your time.

The plot is told from Pippa's perspective and through Capstone entries. You will appreciate the variation between narrative because the entries provide extremely straightforward explanation to what Pippa is thinking, where she is in the investigation, and her next move.

Pippa herself is predictable, the other characters? Not so much and is why you may think you know what is going to happen and then, the plot takes you somewhere else in quite a wonderful and elaborate way.

The story revolves around Pippa and her desire to solve the murder. Followed closely by Ravi, Sal's younger brother who also vehemently believes his brother didn't kill Andie; they are a dynamic duo with Pippa at the helm. You are exposed to an array of characters involved during Andie's disappearance and Pippa's friends.

What is great about the characters despite there being so many is that you will not be dissatisfied by how this ends for most but will crave more of the ones that were glazed over. I am personally hoping the second installment grants me more insight into who those glazed over characters are. Jackson wrote characters you will want to read more of, they are solid to read.

Okay, okay, okay. I can see why Holly Jackson's debut novel is so highly rated - it's good! It is definitely oriented towards a teen audience with cliche moments and situations but I loved it because of that. And, and! There were so many red herrings that I never knew who the killer was going to be.

But Mr. Ward? Damn, Pip ruined her friend's life but also, it was the Dad's fault. He had sex with a minor and then kidnapped a different minor which are just different shades of wrong. It seems Mr. Ward was a deluded man whose his desire to protect his children and himself from his actions caused him to continue to dig an even greater hole for himself. Oh my goodness, I forget he murdered someone. Add that to the terrible list of things he did. I don't really like how quickly his arrest was glossed over but I am assuming in the second novel it will be discussed in greater detail. He disrupted a community, killed someone, and as a reader I want to know more about that impact.

I am so stoked there is a second and third novel for me to read because I want to explore the world Jackson has created. Holly Jackson writes well and I am glad she has written more for me to devour.

There are so many unanswered questions that further explanation is needed in the sequel. Give it to me! What does Stanley Forbes have to do with things? And Max's buddies? It is all exciting and I cannot wait to read more.