Our protagonist Pippa is a little precocious and even eye-rolling for my liking—literally, some of the things she says sound like the script of a teen movie—and I do tend to get annoyed by main characters who "investigate" as if they have the same authority and legitimacy as a CIA officer, but this is YA so I just rolled with it. And you know what, I found a lot of fun here with some truly shocking twists and a great resolution!

A 5-year gap between Andie Bell's disappearance/Sal's apparent confession and suicide and Pippa's report on it does seem a bit close, but I suppose the recency worked for the plot. And the setup was pretty good; not too complicated, but still mysterious enough to invite and hold the reader's interest. And I also thought the ~report~ framework of the book actually worked really well, because it gave us the ability to both hear the facts and interviews but also spend a lot of time with Pippa just thinking through possibilities (rather than doing it on our own as readers).

In addition to being gripped by the mystery and the dark secrets of the town, I was also smitten by the relationship between Pippa and Ravi #sorrynotsorry. They were really cute together, and I absolutely loved how well he understood her. I get so frustrated when characters should just talk something out and tag team but instead one goes with ~~I mUsT hUrT yOu To SaVe YoU~~, but the author actually spared us and had Ravi catch onto Pippa in this instance because he knew her well enough to puzzle our her true feelings.

Finally, the twists are what really made this into a five-star read. They were shocking, darker than expected, and well-executed!

Spoiler

The initial revelation of Elliot Ward as Andie's kidnapper and Sal's killer was a major surprise, and I was happy to learn that Pippa's jump to that conclusion wasn't going to turn out as a major misunderstanding which is where I thought we were going. The further shock that he wasn't actually keeping Andie, but a random girl he'd seen and convinced himself was her to ease his guilt, was a true stunner imo! I was impressed by how well everything came together once we found out that Andie's sister was her true killer, and by how effectively the author wrapped up all the questions and loose ends. Though I will say, I also get annoyed by a protagonist who confronts someone suspecting/knowing that someone is a killer, and just ACCEPTS FOOD/DRINKS FROM THEM?! LIKE THEY'RE NOT GOING TO KILL YOU TOO?????!!!!!

If you're looking for something that'll thrill you in a lot of ways, I highly recommend "A Good Girl's Guide to Murder!" I'm excited to see where the rest of this series goes, but as long as Ravi and Pippa don't break up I'll call it a win.