A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder is a darker version of Nancy Drew. 

“I’m not sure I’m the good girl I once was. I’ve lost her along the way.”

Holly Jackson’s 2019 debut book, A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder has been adapted by creator Poppy Cogan into a 6 episode limited series which was directed by Dolly Wells. 

Pip Fitz-Amobi (Emma Myers) a 17-year-old teenager decides to investigate the suspected murder of school colleague, Andie Bell as the subject for her EPQ (Extended Project Qualification). 

Andie Bell (India Lillie Davies) went missing five years ago. Her boyfriend Sal Singh (Rahul Pattni) confessed to killing her, but her body was never found, and he took a fatal overdose before the trial even came into intuition. Pip has another idea, and she feels uncomfortable with the events from the beginning, partly because as she says, ‘he was always nice to her’ and felt that he was innocent. 

When first watching the first episode, my perception was that it was a cross between Nancy Drew and Enola Holmes. This modern Nancy Drew looks for clues through social media and pieces together timelines and interviews people who were close to Andie and who were among the last to see her. She explores the inconsistencies in the suspects stories which the police failed to investigate properly.

The suspects keep the audience and our intrepid investigator guessing on who killed Andie Bell. 

She becomes friendly with Sal’s sweet brother Ravi (Zain Iqbal), who becomes the Watson to her Sherlock.

There are darker themes which include leaked nudes, Ouija boards, drugs and sex which aren’t Nancy Drew vibes and subplots that evolve friendships which gives the storyline more depth. 

The young cast are brilliant, helped by the parents (Matthew Baynton, Anna Maxwell Martin, and Gary Beadle). They all had amazing chemistry with each other, but Myers English accent was somewhat askew. 

The script is bright and there is no time to be bored in this new murder mystery. 

This young adult thriller is not one to miss! It is old fashioned TV where you get to be involved with all the characters, which is delightful and most importantly, fun. 

I am hoping that this becomes a huge hit, but if it just a one off it is still a breath of fresh air. 

One Comment

  1. Technoob said:

    Technoob I appreciate you sharing this blog post. Thanks Again. Cool.

    October 14, 2024
    Reply

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