Books Like A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder
If you have just shut A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder and stared at the wall for a minute, this one is for you.
I read the whole thing for this channel, so I know exactly what you’re missing. Below are seven books like A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, picked for what they share with it. Everything is spoiler free, for this book and for every pick. I’ll only recommend books I’m sure about, with the title, the author and the year.
What You Are Chasing
First, what is it about this book that hooks you? I count four things.
One, a school project turned investigation. Pip’s extended project is meant to be a normal essay, and she turns it into a hunt for the truth about a girl who vanished five years earlier. Two, the format. The story is broken up with her production log entries and typed transcripts of her interviews, so you feel like you are reading the case file. Three, the teen detective who is brilliant and a little bit scary, who collects facts the way other people collect stickers. And four, a small town where everyone has a secret and a whole list of people who could have done it.
If a book has two or three of those, it is a good match. Now, the picks.
A Quick Note on Content
Before the list, one honest note. A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder is a young adult book, but it is not light. It involves a missing teenager, drug use, sexual violence, and threats against Pip and the people she loves.
So when I say a book is like it, I mean in structure and feel, not in how gentle it is. I’ll flag the darker picks as we go, and I’ll flag the lighter ones too, because sometimes you want a break from all of that.
One of Us Is Lying
Number one is One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus, from twenty seventeen. Five students walk into detention, and only four of them walk out alive. The police decide it was no accident, and all four survivors are suspects, each with a secret that someone is about to expose.
It is the closest match for the whodunnit feel. You get several narrators, a lot of red herrings, and the same pull to guess who it is before the last chapters.
It has more romance and less research than Pip’s project, but it is a very fast read. Check content notes first, because it touches on bullying and some heavy family issues.
Truly Devious
Number two is Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson, from twenty eighteen. Stevie Bell is an aspiring detective who arrives at Ellingham Academy, a school for brilliant students in Vermont. Decades ago, a famous kidnapping happened there and was never solved, and Stevie wants to solve it.
If you loved Pip’s obsession with a cold case, this is your book. It jumps between the old crime and the present day, and Stevie is every bit as stubborn as Pip.
One thing to know before you start: the mystery runs across more than one book, so be ready to keep going.
We Were Liars
Number three is We Were Liars by E. Lockhart, from twenty fourteen. Cadence Sinclair belongs to a rich family that spends every summer on a private island. After an accident two summers ago, she cannot remember what happened, and she has terrible headaches.
It is much more literary and moody than Holly Jackson’s book, and short. But it has the same itch of a girl trying to piece together a night she cannot fully recall, and an ending that people still argue about.
It is a good choice if you liked the atmosphere more than the procedure. Go in knowing as little as possible, because the less you know about it, the better it works.
The Inheritance Games
Number four is The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, from twenty twenty. Avery Grambs is a teenager with very little money, and one day she learns that a billionaire she has never met has left her almost his entire fortune.
This is a puzzle book rather than a murder case. Avery has to work out why she was chosen, and the house is full of riddles and a family who are not happy about it.
If your favourite part of Pip’s story was the clever solving, this one gives you that, with a fast pace and a lot of banter.
Sadie
Number five is Sadie by Courtney Summers, from twenty eighteen. A girl named Sadie goes looking for the person who killed her younger sister, and a radio host follows her trail in a podcast style.
It is the pick for readers who liked the transcript format, because you hear the case told through episodes as well as Sadie’s own voice.
But I want to be honest: it is much darker than A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder. It deals with abuse and the loss of a child, so please check content warnings first. It is a powerful book, and not a gentle one.
A Study in Charlotte
Number six is A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro, from twenty sixteen. Jamie Watson and Charlotte Holmes are the descendants of the famous detective and his friend, and they meet at a boarding school in Connecticut. When a student is killed, they are the obvious suspects, and they have to clear their own names.
It is a clever, banter-heavy mystery with a lot of Sherlock Holmes in it. Charlotte is as sharp as Pip, and just as hard to read.
It suits you if you loved the partnership between Pip and Ravi, because the friendship at the centre is the best part.
The Thursday Murder Club
Number seven steps out of the YA shelf. The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman, from twenty twenty, is about four friends in a retirement village who meet every week to look into old unsolved cases. Then a real murder happens on their doorstep.
It is warm and funny, with a gentler tone, but the heart is the same: ordinary people with a lot of curiosity and no official power, working out what the police missed.
If you want a cosy kind of mystery after a heavy one, start here.
The Rest of the Series
Now, the obvious question: what about more from Holly Jackson? As of November twenty twenty-six, reports say the series is a trilogy. After A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, which came out in twenty nineteen, comes Good Girl, Bad Blood in twenty twenty, and then As Good as Dead in twenty twenty-one.
There is also a prequel novella called Kill Joy, and sources disagree about where to read it. Because later books can spoil earlier reveals, I would read the three main books in order and treat Kill Joy as a bonus.
Where to Start
So, where should you start? If you want the closest match, pick One of Us Is Lying. If you want a cold case and a stubborn girl detective, read Truly Devious. If you want something quieter and stranger, try We Were Liars. And if you want a puzzle and a laugh, The Inheritance Games.
And if you only have time for one, pick by mood. Want to guess the culprit along with the characters, read One of Us Is Lying. Want to feel clever, read The Inheritance Games. Want to be moved, read Sadie, when you are ready for it.
One last tip: if a book on this list ends up too dark or too light for you, put it down and try the next one. There is no prize for finishing a mystery that is not working for you, and every one of these is worth a second look later.
Tell me in the comments which one you pick, and which one I should read next. The full guide to every book is at book explained dot com. Thanks for watching, and I’ll see you next time.
