The Big Picture

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder
is a short and suspenseful six-episode series that stays faithful to the books it is based on.
The characters can feel dull at times, lacking depth and personality apart from the main character, Pip.
The mystery in the series is a slow burn but delivers satisfying plot twists and a proper conclusion with no loose ends.

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder is Netflix’s hottest and highly anticipated new arrival. The teen thriller series is based on the popular book series of the same name by Holly Jackson, meaning any sort of adaptation was going to be looked at with a much more critical eye than if it had just been a Netflix original. The series follows Pip (Emma Myers), a teenage girl who decides to investigate a murder case that has plagued both her and her town for years. Five years ago, Andie Bell (India Lillie Davies) was murdered, and her boyfriend Sal Singh (Rahul Pattni) confessed to it. Everyone in town believed that was the end of the case, despite Andie’s body never being found. But Pip isn’t quite as certain, so she decides to dig into it, and discovers a plethora of secrets that may have been better left hidden — especially when Andie’s real killer starts going to lengths to ensure Pip never finds out the truth.

Diehard fans of the book will likely either love it or hate it, as the show is missing some crucial details from the book and even adds in new plotlines altogether that don’t do much to further the story in terms of the overarching plot. This isn’t meant to be a book to show comparison, but it can’t go without being mentioned as, for the most part, the show does stay faithful to its literary counterpart. Unfortunately, it does lack the signature charm of Holly Jackson’s writing that made the novels so good, because the downside of putting a book to screen is that we are unable to be inside the main character’s head. Still, the show makes do, managing to keep up the suspense for all of its six episodes.

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder (2024) A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder follows Pip Fitz-Amobi, a determined teenager investigating a five-year-old murder case that everyone in her town believes is solved. Schoolgirl Andie Bell was allegedly killed by her boyfriend Sal Singh, who later died by suicide. Pip, convinced of Sal’s innocence, reopens the case for her final year project, uncovering dark secrets and endangering herself in the process.Release Date August 1, 2024 Cast Emma Myers , Asha Banks , Raiko Gohara , Zain Iqbal , Jude Morgan-Collie , Yali Topol Margalith , Yasmin Al-Khudhairi , Carla Woodcock Main Genre Mystery Seasons 1 Creator(s) Poppy Cogan

‘A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder’ Is Short and Sweet
Possibly the best thing about A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder is that it’s short, with each of its six episodes clocking in at under 50 minutes. With any other show that may be a complaint, as recently, television has swapped to an 8-10 episode format, but in the case of A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, this choice is smart, and it works.

The mystery of the show is juicy enough that it very easily could’ve been stretched out into a longer season, but since it’s based on a book, there is a very distinct set of events that need to be followed and fleshed out. Having too many episodes would require adding moments that aren’t in the book, thus making the series less faithful, but six episodes here feel just right. The series could have potentially squeezed in one more installment, to avoid the ending feeling a bit jumbled, but the pacing isn’t bad, all things considered, and it’s far better than having filler episodes that drag the plot out with scenes that contribute little and only serve to waste time. A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder makes good use of its time, though, and utilizes every second it can.

‘A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder’ Is Less Interesting Beyond Its Main Character

Overall, the series’ biggest issue is how lifeless its world feels, especially considering how the first episode begins, with Pip being used as a decoy so her friends can use a fake ID to purchase alcohol. She fails almost instantly and makes a run for it with her friends, and this moment provides our first glimpse of the colorful group of characters we’ll be following for the rest of the series. Only, that’s the last time we see any character, aside from Pip, have any real personality. In fact, everyone after the first episode becomes nothing but background noise aside from Pip, and even Pip herself isn’t as magnetic as she should be, considering she’s the main character.

The book had the benefit of being right inside Pip’s head, so she didn’t need to try and win us over, we were already hooked, because she was our narrator. The series doesn’t have that same advantage — meaning that any opportunity to know her equals getting to know the people around her, but the story doesn’t really provide that chance. (However, the show’s best character by a mile is Barney the dog, the goodest good boy in town.)

That’s not to say that any of Pip’s friends or family are particularly bad or boring; we just don’t see enough of them to truly connect. This is most obvious with Pip’s stepdad, Victor (Gary Beadle). In the book, he and Pip have one of the most charming relationships; he even calls her “Pickle” as an endearing nickname. Yet nothing about their dynamic in the show feels particularly special or even important, which is especially disappointing. Everyone apart from Pip and Ravi (Zain Iqbal) ends up left in the dust throughout the investigation — which could be the point, as the Andie Bell case slowly begins to consume Pip’s life. But considering that even Ravi feels a bit underdeveloped by the season’s end, it feels simply like an oversight on the show’s part. It’s not enough to completely deter, but it does make the show feel a lot duller, and not as fun of a teen mystery as it had the potential to be.

‘A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder’s Mystery Takes a Minute to Get Going

If you’ve read the books, or even know what they’re about, you have an idea of what you’re getting yourself into when starting A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, but if you’re going in blind, it might take a minute for you to get hooked into the mystery. Even if you do know what’s coming, you might feel that way, because the way the show sets it up is a bit odd. Perhaps the creators assumed everyone watching would be familiar with the books and thus thought there wasn’t much need for a big set-up for the mystery. But in terms of gripping the viewer and getting them invested in the mystery, the initial setup is rather lackluster, so much so that it’s difficult to say whether there’s even a setup at all.

The same flashback occurs multiple times throughout the show — a young Pip sees a crying Andie walking down the hallway. She’s then approached by Sal, who asks where Andie went, and we later learn that Pip told the truth despite Andie telling her to be quiet about having seen her. This does build some interest, because, of course, we want to know why Andie was crying, why Sal was looking for her, and, if this was all the catalyst to him killing her, if he really was the one who killed her. But in terms of kicking off a show all about a murder investigation, into one that was deemed closed and solved, no less, it could have used a little more fanfare to juice it up for the small screen.

That said, when the series finally gets into the mystery, it really gets into it, and A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder knows how to pull off its plot twists. Yes, it is working from the source material, but it can still be difficult to properly pay off those reveals on-screen, and the show does a good job at throwing us off just long enough to surprise us with the next twist. When the reveals finally drop, they come paired with a rollercoaster of emotions, and it’s hard to guess what will come next (unless, of course, you’ve read the books). Most impressive of all is that everything is inevitably tied up into a bow, per the source material, and there are no loose ends left unanswered; the season doesn’t end on a cliffhanger despite there being two more novels. There are still two more books that can and will continue Pip’s story if the show gets renewed, but for now, A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder is a decently good and suspenseful adaptation.

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder (2024) A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder has plenty of twists but lacks the usual excitement of the mystery genre.ProsEmma Myers gives a standout performance as Pip.The show is a faithful adaptation of the novel, aside from a few minor changes. ConsThe rest of the characters, outside of Pip, aren’t given much development.The setup of the mystery is slow and subtle and doesn’t bring much excitement until a few episodes in.

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder premieres August 1 on Netflix in the U.S.

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