Lost in a Good Book

Published: 2 May 2019 (print)/5th Aug 2021 (audio)
Publisher: Farshore/Electric Monkey
Pages: 432/12 hrs and 56 mins
Narrator: Jot Davies, Clare Corbett, Kristin Atherton, Olivia Forrest, Luke Poli
Format: Audiobook
Genre: Young Adult
★   ★   ★   ★  – 4 Stars

The case is closed. Five years ago, schoolgirl Andie Bell was murdered by Sal Singh. The police know he did it. Everyone in town knows he did it.

But having grown up in the same small town that was consumed by the murder, Pippa Fitz-Amobi isn’t so sure. When she chooses the case as the topic for her final year project, she starts to uncover secrets that someone in town desperately wants to stay hidden. And if the real killer is still out there, how far will they go to keep Pip from the truth?

I have been eyeing off this book for years and I finally started reading it and I’m so glad. It is captivating and draws you in fairly quickly and never quite lets go. Who can resist the allure of a possible mistake in a closed case and a town so ready to condemn an apparent murder? The further you go the more doubt is cast. There are hints and clues that don’t connect, the misdirection and hidden secrets from people in town and a cast of characters to keep you guessing.

Jackson has written a story that starts off so simple and yet as each chapter goes on, and Pip gets further information from the people in her tiny village, the stakes are raised and threats come from all sides. I loved the numerous angles and there’s tension and mind games that even as readers you get embroiled in.

As with a lot of things in a small town, secrets are unearthed and things that have been kept hidden come to the surface, affecting more than just one person’s life. It never felt sensationalised, but the knock on effect is clear. Pip’s innocent investigation for a school project never leads her astray from her capabilities, but at the same time her own personality latches on and her consumption of the case and the need for answers brings danger.

Pip is a great character. Her passion and dedication grows from an interest for a school project to something of an obsession as she uncovers more and more secrets and unanswered questions. Her focus and her determination to get to the bottom of this crime is something I think you can achieve with her approach to her investigation, especially as so many people think there has already been a culprit named.

Jackson is great at balancing Pip’s access to information and the reasonable assumption no one would talk to a teenager about certain things. Small town gossip and prejudice is a wonderful tool too and it works in sync with Pip’s perseverance.

Each character felt real too, which is important when creating a community. No one felt one dimensional even the red herrings all had full lives and stories, making them as likely as the next to be suspects. The realness of characters is important too if readers are meant to believe they could hide things, deceive, or have more depth than it first appears. Jackson does this well as everyone Pip interviews, helps, or is hindered by bring their own lives to the page and it is definitely a strength of the book.

I know the book is filled with great formatting around transcripts, emails and Pip’s notes, but I loved the audio version of this so much. It was a mix between an audiobook and a radio drama. The phone conversations sound like phone conversations, the recordings Pip references sound like conversations on tape recordings being played back, and the different voices bring in another great element.

I initially thought it would be a weird, off putting things to have it cut from clear narration to audio that replicated being recorded in a room but it worked remarkably well and helps place you in the scene immediately. It is definitely a bonus instead of having the poor narrators read out transcripts verbatim, having to name each character who speaks before reading their lines for page after page.

It isn’t entirely like a radio drama, there is regular narration as well which help break up Pip’s research and the outside story. It was a clever way to lay out how she was conducting her research and piecing it all together, plus those listening to the book don’t miss out on the creative storytelling Jackson has designed.

I didn’t realise just how long I had been planning to read this until I looked for the sequel and saw there was not one, but two I could get my hands on. So my bad for the delay but it is a seriously good story and one you should definitely pick up if you haven’t.

This is one you should read in order, not only because the second book spoils practically everything from book one fairly soon, but there is something wonderful about seeing Pip’s growth and her determination as she investigates.

You can purchase A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder via the following

QBD | Booktopia | Dymocks

Wordery | Angus and Robinson | Blackwell’s

 Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust | Audible