I read this young adult mystery in a day, it was so good. I loved Pippa and Ravi, and I'll definitely read the three other books planned for the series.
It's been five years since a local young woman, Andie Bell, was murdered by her boyfriend, Sal Singh. Andie has been well established as the martyred victim; Sal was the villain. His family is ostracized; their home is regularly vandalized.
But high school senior Pippa Fitz-Amobi, an excellent student, workaholic, and perfectionist, has been wondering whether Sal killed Andie after all. A little digging shows that Andie wasn't the saint she is painted as, and Sal knew something about her secret life that he refused tell the police. Someone was lying about the details of Sal's alibi, and was the search of Andie's house conducted correctly? Everything doesn't add up, and Pippa becomes determined to find out if the killer is still on the loose. But what if the real murderer finds out Pippa is stirring up suspicion about what really happened?
Pippa is gloriously and unapologetically nerdy and relentless in her search. She really needs to be writing her college application essays, but she is doggedly determined to get to the bottom of this mystery. Author Holly Jackson lays out the many possibilities before Pippa and takes us realistically through her thought process as she considers anyone and everyone, sometimes backtracking and often pushing the limits of legality and safety in order to dig up more information. Oh, and it's probably unwise, but she's got Sal's brother helping her with her murder board, clues, and research.
I wondered if this would be a sort of young adult fiction version of the Serial podcast, and it IS, in all the best ways. I accidentally let this go back to the library before I had read it, but when I checked it out again I read the whole thing in a day. It's so good.
What did you think?
I mentioned this book in the Greedy Reading List Six Newish Young Adult Mysteries I Want to Read as well as in Three Wackily Different Books I'm Reading Now, 9/3/20 Edition.
I love Jackson's writing and the characters of Pippa and Ravi, and I'll definitely read the sequel, Good Girl, Bad Girl (and the two additional books planned for the series as well).
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