Tag: cold case

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson

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“What’s wrong with me? … I might seem like the ideal student: homework always in early, every extra credit and extra curricular I can get my hands on, the good girl and the high achiever. But I realized something just now: it’s not ambition, not entirely. It’s fear. Because I don’t know who I am when I’m not working, when I’m not focused on or totally consumed by a task. Who am I between the projects and the assignments, when there’s nothing to do? I haven’t found her yet and it scares me. Maybe that’s why, for my senior capstone project this year, I decided to solve a murder.”
― Holly Jackson, A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder

Every community has a story that haunts the residents. The town of Fairview is not exception to this. Five years ago, popular high school senior Andie Bell went missing and her boyfriend, Sal Singh, was accused of her murder. Not long after Andie went missing, Sal killed himself, leaving the community bereft with questions and her family without a body. It was all anyone could talk about for years. Now five years later, senior Pippa Fitz-Amobi has decided to reopen the Andie Bell case as her senior capstone project. Pip believes that Sal was innocent and that the only way to find the real killer is to do her own investigation. This means digging for answers to a case that everyone else believes is closed. With the help of Sal’s younger brother, Pip reexamines this closed case. It doesn’t take long before Pip ruffles someone’s feathers enough that they start threatening her. This case takes a dangerous turn for all those involved.

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder is the first book in the series of the same name by Holly Jackson. This series debut was intriguing from the start. Pip is smart and driven to solve this case, sometimes to the detriment of her own safety. Each character in this story is well-developed, while the plot wasn’t too predictable. The plot twists were unexpected. I also enjoyed that the author was able to weave in multiple storylines without it becoming too convoluted and confusing. All in all, a great read for both teens and adults.

Good Girl’s Guide to Murder series

  1. A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder (2019)
  2. Good Girl, Bad Blood (2020)
  3. As Good as Dead (2021)

Interested in this book? A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder is the October See YA Book Club pick (it was also made into a series on Netflix!). We will be discussing this book on Wednesday, October 1st at 6:30pm at our Eastern Avenue branch. For more information about future See YA book picks, visit our website.

See YA Book Club

Join our adult book club with a teen book twist. See why so many teen books are being turned into movies and are taking over the best seller lists.

Registration is not required. Books are available on a first-come, first-serve basis at the Eastern Avenue library. We meet the first Wednesday of the month at Eastern at 6:30pm. Stop by the service desk for more information.

October 1 – A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson

November 5 – Rez Ball by Byron Graves

December 3 – Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

The It Girl by Ruth Ware

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“Don’t let yourself get caught up in what-ifs. That way madness lies.”
― Ruth Ware, The It Girl

Ruth Ware has crafted another page-turning mystery thriller in her latest novel, The It Girl.  This book follows a young woman’s search for answers a decade after her friend’s murder.

Hannah Jones was elated when she got into Oxford. Discovering she had a roommate was a shock, but April Clarke-Cliveden was incredibly bright and vivacious. She could also be vindictive and vicious, but her status as an It Girl pulled people into her orbit whether they wanted to be there or not. April quickly pulls Hannah, Will, Hugh, Ryan, and Emily close. By the end of their first term, they are inseparable and quick friends. By the end of their first year, April will be dead.

Flash forward a decade and Hannah is trying to move on. She and Will are married and are expecting their first child together. Her world is rocked when she learns that the man convicted of killing April has died in prison. Hannah feels both relief at the news of his death, but that soon changes to anxiety when a journalist pops into her life with evidence that the man convicted of April’s murder may in fact have been innocent. This is troublesome as Hannah’s testimony was critical to putting away the convicted murderer. In order to get closure, Hannah starts reconnecting with her old friends and examining the mystery surrounding April’s death. As Hannah begins to talk to them, she realizes that her friends are hiding secrets possibly related to the murder. Increasingly concerned, Hannah keeps pressing for answers, unwittingly putting herself right in the killer’s path.

This book is also available in the following formats:

The Child by Fiona Barton

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In The Child by Fiona Barton, Barton weaves a twisting tale of psychological suspense that will rip through your senses as you try to figure out what is happening. Have you ever wondered what happens when old houses are demolished? What if they discover something hidden in the ground? Hidden in the walls? What of the secrets that are uncovered?

The Child begins with the discovery of a tiny skeleton during the demolition of an old house in London. Journalist Kate Waters stumbles upon this story and decides to dig deeper into what happened to the child. Piecing together what information she can gather, Waters is continuously left with more and more questions with the chief one being: who is the building site baby? Forced to work with a young male intern, Kate is able to convince her boss, Terry, that she needs to investigate.

Angela is a grieving mother who is struggling to comes to terms with a devastating event that tore her family apart almost forty years ago. Her family is trying to help Angela move on with her life, but they are just as torn up as she is.

Emma is a young wife who is going through some major anxiety. She is having trouble just living her life, much to the chagrin of her husband who is trying to help her however he can. Emma’s issues seem to stem from her past. She was raised by her single mother, Jude. The two have a strained relationship that will leave readers wondering what exactly happened between the two to cause such dislike.

Angela, Emma, and Jude all have some interest in the building site baby. Kate’s investigation into what happened to the baby elicits a different reaction from each woman. Kate finds herself going back to the building site and visiting each house to try to track down someone who knows something about the baby. The more she investigates, the more secrets and connections Kate digs up. Kate finds herself becoming a keeper of Angela, Emma, and Jude’s secrets. Her journey to find out what happened to the building site baby evolves into a much larger conspiracy that consumes Kate’s life, but leaves her hesitant about what she can and cannot disclose to the authorities.

This book is also available in the following formats: