In Holly Jackson's young adult mystery sequel, we revisit the brave, faulted, irresistible character of Pippa Fitz-Amobi, who is drawn back into complex detective work when no one else can or will help her friend whose brother is missing.
Yay, the fantastic character of Pippa Fitz-Amobi is baaaaack!
In Good Girl, Bad Blood, Holly Jackson's sequel to the wonderful young adult mystery A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, Pip has sworn off amateur detective work. After all, last time around, all kinds of horrible things happened as she dug into (and solved, thank you very much) the mystery of the Andie Bell and Sal Singh case.
Now Pip and Ravi are happily dating, her family has stopped worrying about her so much, and Max Hastings is on trial and is almost certainly about to go to jail for the heinous crimes revealed in the last book.
Pip is still producing her popular podcast, but after the trial, she's convinced that she'll be finished with all of it. Really.
That is, until her friend Connor comes to her in a panic. His twenty-four-year-old brother Jamie is missing, the police aren't responding with any urgency, and Connor just knows Pippa is the only one who can help figure out what's going on.
Jackson offers layer upon layer of intrigue and twisty turns in this mystery. Nothing is too easy, but the author doesn't rely on red herrings, merely offering complex, interconnected situations that require Pip, Ravi, Connor, and company to unravel them bit by bit, relying on hunches, dogged detective work, and some lucky breaks.
Pip is as perfectly imperfect a character as ever. In Good Girl, Bad Blood, she reckons with her own dark side and reflects on what she's capable of. She feels outrage at injustice and seeks revenge--and decides she can live with her aggressive actions and with not always being a "good" girl.
I just loved this--I listened to it as an audiobook.
Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book?
A Good Girl's Guide to Murder is Holly Jackson's first book in this series.
Her third book, As Good as Dead, is coming out next month. I can't wait.