It took me about 10 minutes of watching Episode 1 (of 6) of A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder to recognize Emma Myers, who plays Pippa “Pip” Fitz-Arnobi (aka, Modern Nancy Drew)–the girl who delighted me in her former role as Enid Sinclair, a late-blooming werewolf and roommate of Wednesday Addams in another Netflix series (you can read my review here).
I was faked-out for 10 minutes because Emma Myers is an American actor playing a British nerdy teenager. But, once I got past that and Emma’s British accent, I was ready to plunge into the Netflix series. It’s based on A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, a Young Adult mystery novel by Holly Jackson. The novel is the first in a series of three novels and one novella: A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder (2019); Good Girl, Bad Blood (2020); As Good As Dead (2021); and Kill Joy (2022).
Five years after the murder of a well-liked, attractive 17-year-old girl, Andrea ‘Andie’ Bell, in the sleepy English town of Little Kilton, Buckinghamshire, Pip is determined to uncover the facts and find the real killer. Pip’s investigation, hampered by her high school commitments and college prep, includes the suspicious suicide of the perpetrator, Salil ‘Sal’ Singh. Pip enlists the assistance of Sal Singh’s brother, Ravi, to help crack the case.
I know I’m not the target teen audience for A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder but the characters involved me in Pip’s sometimes hapless investigation where she takes far too many risks. Pip is a Good Girl with a strong motivation to solve puzzles and find the truth. And the murder/suicide of two people she knew drives Pip to some extreme actions in the four episodes I’ve watched so far. I can’t wait to watch the other two! GRADE: INCOMPLETE, but trending towards a B+
Not sure about this, as far from the teen girl target audience. Will let Jackie decide if she is interested. So far, she hasn’t said she is.
Jeff, if Jackie can put up with some teen-age angst, she’ll enjoy A GOOD GIRL’S GUIDE TO MURDER. I really like Emma Myers!
Jackie said “no teen angst” for her.
Jeff, there’s a lot of angst out there for all of us to contend with…
At least, it sounds better than that terrible CW Nancy Drew retread from a couple of years ago. Unfortunately, my YA credentials expired a long time ago.
Fred, I’m with you on the CW (aka, Can’t Watch) NANCY DREW. What a debacle! A GOOD GIRL’S GUIDE TO MURDER has many teenage tropes but at its heart, it’s still a murder mystery.
If you want an unusual murder mystery, I recommend TRIB: MURDER IN THE END TIMES, by Jan Strnad! Available on Kindle!
Bob, thanks for the recommendation…I’ll check it out.