Well, what a sequel!! Holly Jackson has absolutely knocked it out of the park once again. I LOVED A Good Girls Guide to Murder #1 and to be honest I wondered whether Holly would be able to write a sequel as fantastic as the first book.... well she did, and it is, if not....... dare I say it...... even better.
Good Girl, Bad Blood (A good girls guide to murder #2) by Holly Jackson
If you want to read my review of the first book in the series, A good girls guide to Murder you can do so here.
Blurb
The highly anticipated sequel to the instant New York Timesbestseller, A Good Girl's Guide to Murder! More dark secrets are exposed in this addictive, true-crime fueled mystery.
Pip is not a detective anymore.
With the help of Ravi Singh, she released a true-crime podcast about the murder case they solved together last year. The podcast has gone viral, yet Pip insists her investigating days are behind her.
But she will have to break that promise when someone she knows goes missing. Jamie Reynolds has disappeared, on the very same night the town hosted a memorial for the sixth-year anniversary of the deaths of Andie Bell and Sal Singh.
The police won't do anything about it. And if they won't look for Jamie then Pip will, uncovering more of her town's dark secrets along the way... and this time everyone is listening. But will she find him before it's too late?
My thoughts
This sequel follows on from Pips discovery of the murderer in the first book, and highlights all the issues that come along with digging up secrets and unearthing truths that people don't want uncovered. The reaction she gets from many of the other characters is very believable despite her motives for carrying out her original investigation. Without giving away too many spoilers from the first book, she ruffled many feathers due to the fact that as part of her project most of her town became suspects. This was particularly upsetting for some of the characters and even though she later managed to rule them out, they still hold a pretty big grudge against her for delving a little too deeply into their private lives. Many sins were uncovered that they would have preferred to be kept well and truly hidden.
This book moves into a new investigation, Pip is drawn into another case which requires her sleuth skills. She does not want to go down this road again but is drawn in and as before, nothing is at it seems once she starts to look into the disappearance of her friends brother. She agrees to take on the case but this time, due to her podcast, all her actions are public. Which is very disconcerting for her and her family after the fallout from the first book.
Her relationship with Ravi is lovely. They are a solid couple and work so well together. I love the fact that they are in a relationship, but this isn't a trope within the book. There are no conventionally romantic scenes with them, they are just attuned to each other and completely realistic as a teenage couple.
The story takes us on a darker and more sinister journey than the first book, namely because everyone knows that Pip is involved from the beginning, and we all know how that turned out after the first book. Pips character begins to take a decline towards darker more morally grey aspects, we see a change in her which, considering everything she has been through, is completely believable. There are twists at every corner, shocks and surprises throughout the narrative and an explosive finish that kept me completely hooked. I literally could not put it down and was kept up way past my bedtime inhaling it, hence why I am now in bed writing this review at 8pm!
I loved it that much that I went straight to Waterstones to buy the third and final instalment of the series. As Good as Dead. This book was actually published today (as I write this review), Thursday 5th August. If you, like me, are a fan then I suggest you hightail it to Waterstones ASAP so you to can buy a signed edition with absolutely beautiful sprayed red edges!! You can use the link below to buy your own copy.
Will you be adding this to your TBR? Have you already read it and purchased Hollys next one?? Let me know in the comments.