One of my favourite discoveries of 2020 was the, 'A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder' series by Holly Jackson, the first book by the same name was incredible, with the sequel Good Girl Bad Blood further building on the little village world that Jackson had created. Now, we return for the novella and prequel to the first book, which also serves as the explanation for why the series came to be.
In Kill Joy, we follow Pip and her friends as they gather to take part in a murder mystery game (very Agatha Christie-esque) hosted by one Jamie Reynolds (you’ll remember him if you’ve read Good Girl Bad Blood). That is pretty much the plot of the book. You follow Pip as she plays the game and discover the clues – of course you find yourself playing along with her. Of course I can’t really go much further into the plot and my feelings on it because of the nature of the ‘murder mystery’ plot - I wouldn’t want to ruin anything.
While it isn’t the most plot rich book I’ve ever read, consider its 120 page length, I think the idea is rather ingenious. Now, stay with me on this, but if you’ve seen the Star Wars films, you’ll know that they released Rogue One to explain only one line of the starting credits of the first Star Wars film (also known as A New Hope). Well, this book kind of reminds me of that. While it is a fun filled adventure where we get to spend more time with some characters we don’t necessarily see as much in A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder, the book also acts as an explanation as to why Pip decided to investigate the missing persons case of Andie Bell (which is the plot of the first book).
Kill Joy is crammed full of Easter eggs and foreshadowing relating to the rest of the series. If you’ve read the other books first then you’ll love and understand all the hints that Kill Joy gives you. Alternatively, you could read Kill Joy first as an interlude to the rest of the series. Overall, the book is just absolutely genius when you consider the plot and length of the novella. I really enjoyed seeing the character progression of Pip and her friends from where they are in this book compared to Good Girl Bad Blood.
Thanks for reading, Rhi x.
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