Good Girl, Bad Blood ~ Holly Jackson

Good Girl, Bad Blood is the sequel to Holly Jackson’s debut novel A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder. I loved AGGGTM and was on the edge of my seat whilst reading it. As soon as it was announced, I was eagerly awaiting Good Girl, Bad Blood. 

Good Girl, Bad Blood followed on from AGGGTM, picking up during the trial of Max Hastings, where Pip has expanded on her EPQ by producing a podcast where she uploaded updates on the trial. Pip is then approached by family friends who ask for her help finding their missing son/older brother. To start with, Pip refuses, wary of how obsessed she got whilst investigating Andie Bell’s murder case, but eventually relents and once again starts sleuthing.

I found that this story started a lot slower than the previous one and I was a little confused about how a missing person’s case could be quite as gripping as the murder case from the first book. However, when it picked up, I couldn’t put it down. For some reason, I was convinced the investigation would discover a conspiracy that half of the adults in Little Kilton were involved in and I kept waiting for the story to go in that direction. I was proven wrong very quickly. 

As much as I loved it and was surprised at every turn, this book, unfortunately, isn’t perfect. There were many threads picked up and left a little unsatisfactorily. The trial of Max Hastings was carried through the book but as second-hand information from Ravi. Whilst I didn’t want a huge amount of court case stuff, it would’ve been nice to have a little more information as to how the verdict came to be the way it was and what’s going to happen to Max Hastings next (even as I despise the character). 

At one point, Pip was accused of making up the missing person’s case to get more followers and attention. This development seemed to be dropped as quickly as it was brought up. I would’ve loved to see more people doubting her and her investigation. 

Maybe these will be brought up in the next book which I am eagerly awaiting. I don’t know how much more crime there can be in a tiny little town like Little Kilton, but if it follows the quality of the first two, I will love it.

Overall, Good Girl, Bad Blood is a four-star read and I look forward to continuing to read Holly Jackson’s work.

C🌙