Good Girl, Bad Blood

Unusually for me, I came to this book via television, after watching A Good Girl's Guide to Murder on Netflix. A few days later I came across the next two volumes in Holly Jackson's bestselling series, Good Girl, Bad Blood and As Good As Dead, in a local street library. I left volume three there, but I took Good Girl, Bad Blood because I had seen on Reddit (yeah, yeah, I know) that people adored the books and some felt the TV version was disappointing.

Having now read volume two, I can understand the love for the book character of Pip Fitz-Amobi, though I think Emma Myers did an excellent job of portraying her. She is a dogged, feisty and intelligent sleuth, and if she's rash at times, it just makes the story better. It might stretch credulity that the same village that was the site of two murders five before is currently also home to a serial killer's accomplice, but hey, good girls can't go searching too far for mysteries to solve and it helps if the mystery comes to Pip. Ravi, Pip's boyfriend, and her best friend Cara, are excellent foils, and Pip's parents are remarkably understanding and sympathetic in the circumstances.

I admired Pip's very plausible wrestling with the aftermath of the previous crimes, including the justice system falling short, and her temptation to take matters into her own hands and become some kind of avenging angel. The formatting of the text is a lot of fun, with podcast interviews and text messages woven into the narrative. I can see exactly what the fuss is about, and though I'd half decided not to watch season 2 of the TV version, I just might take a peek after all.