It’s certainly not a secret that I wasn’t a fan of the final book in the A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder series, but I really enjoyed this prequel throwback! This book was released in 2021 in the UK, but just got its US release this week.

Pippa Fitz-Amobi isn’t quite researching cold cases yet, but her detective skills are developing at a murder mystery dinner party hosted by her good friend Connor. Pretending to be a 1920s caricature solving a murder on a remote British island is a little silly for Pip’s more logical disposition, but soon she’s sucked into the twists and turns of the case. Of course, any talk of murder— even the fictional kind— leads to Pip and her friends referencing the Andie Bell case. As the mystery goes on, it becomes clear that a fake murder investigation is about to have a major influence on how Pip sets her sights on the capstone project that changes her life forever.

For obvious reasons, the tone of this short is a lot lighter than most of the original series. It had the same energy as the first book in the series, which I adored. The little moments where Pip and her friends “broke character” during the game were easily the best bits. I really loved Pip’s big revelation in the end (and the direct aftermath) as it showed just how much of a true crime obsessive she really is.

Good, snarky fun all around! If anything, it left me even more disappointed in the final book, because it reminded me how charming and interesting these characters are and how much common sense they started out with.

This was a short little intro to Pip before the first book in the series. I didn't love this, but i think my expectations were too high since I love the Good Girls books so much.

Oh my gosh. What fun it was to be back in the world of Pippa! This book is set just before a Good Girls Guide to Murder and shows Pippa at a murder mystery party with her and her friends. Just who is the murder and why did they decide to do it?

I loved AGGGTM so much and it was so fun to get a small glimpse of Pip and the gang before it all began. Also I am a huge Holly Jackson fan because no one does YA thrillers like her and was so excited to get to read this one early!

Go grab this one, you will have so much fun reading it!

Thank you NetGalley for this fantastic ARC! I thoroughly enjoyed this prequel to the Good Girl's Guide to Murder series. It was a great look into the phenomenal mind of Pip and it provided a great lead into what started it all. This book could stand alone but is also a great intro to the series. Pip finds herself invited to a murder mystery party and we get another look at how her mind works as she tries to solve this who-done-it. I would highly recommend this book to any fan of this series.

This is a fun prequel novella for the Good Girls Guide to Murder. I'm sure we'll purchase it for our patrons as this is a very popular series at our school. I would advise readers to read the series BEFORE the prequel so they are familiar with the characters included in the story. It's definitely not a stand alone nor the best place to enter Pip's world. I'd consider this a 'bonus' read.
Thank you so much for the ARC!

A cute novella that lets us back into the world of A Good Girls Guide to Murder. It was fun to go back inside Pip's brain and see how she works out the mysteries. This novella also made me really want to have my own murder mystery party. Overall a fun, fast paced novella.

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder is one of my all time favorite mystery series, so I was beyond excited to get to read this. It was so fun to get to return to Pip’s story and get a glimpse of her detective skills before the original Andie case.

This prequel is purely for the cultish lovers of A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder series. It was a very quick read and if you can’t get enough of the book series, please read this origin story! This is the answer to all of Pip’s interests in solving mysteries and her quirks. Holly has done a great job with the character background. But I don’t think this prequel would be very likeable if read first before reading the series.

I honestly didn’t know this book was coming until I saw this listed on Netgalley!! Super thanks to the publisher.

3⭐ for the average reader, 4.5⭐ for the super fans.

This is a book for the super fans of A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, not a book to begin your dive into the series.

It's the basis for why Pip decides to investigate the case from A Good Girl's Guide to Murder and is basically a narrated mystery dinner party.

Pip and her friends are all part of a murder mystery party and she loves solving problems. Each of them plays a role and they get clues throughout the night that reveal more about each of their characters, but in the end, there can only be one killer.

When Pip realizes that the "infamous case" in their town seems a little too tidy, she knows exactly what she will.do her upcoming project on.

Worth a read if you love the series and need more, but I probably wouldn't recommend it otherwise.

Thank you to netgalley for an eARC to review.

Fans of A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder will eat this one up. Full of Easter eggs, the genesis of Pippa’s project provides the reader with a depth of understanding about many of the loose ends in the trilogy. Even though it is written as a prequel, I would still read it at the end of the series. The background information is interesting, but it doesn’t establish anything that is critical to the understanding of the series! It’s a fun read, and it’s always good to see a protagonist in a different light. This text definitely afforded that opportunity!

I just reviewed Kill Joy by Holly Jackson. #KillJoy #NetGalley

After loving the A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder series last year when I saw this novella was releasing, I just had to get my hands on it! Listed as AGGGTM #0.5, Kill Joy takes place before the events of any of the books in the main series. Our favorite murder investigating and podcast hosting Pip Fitz-Amobi is back and headed to a murder mystery party. Pip is begrudgingly attending (she has homework to do, which would be time better spent!) but in true Pip form, she quickly gets pulled into the game and the need to put her mind to solving the murder (albeit fictional this time!) It was so fun to spend a brief bit of time back with Pip and her friends, all of which are familiar faces. If you’re a AGGGTM fan looking to jump back into the world for a couple of hours, this novella is for you!

I love a good murder mystery party. It was a fun and quick read. Pip was kind of annoying at times though but I loved learning more about the characters.

I loved this short story. This was a great addition to the trilogy. Very entertaining! A nice quick and easy read!

I love Pip and the entire world of this series. However, I just don't think this novella was necessary overall. The series should have ended after the first couple of books. I did think it was interesting to read a bit about how Pip got into solving mysteries, and I thought the idea that a murder mystery party triggered it all was interesting. It just fell flat for me and didn't seem like it added enough to the overall story of the series.

Such a fun, quick read for fans of A Good Girl's Guide to Murder! This novella had me in my feels the entire time because I've already read all 3 books in the series, so it was bittersweet to see an innocent Pip get worked up over a murder mystery game, lol. I loved the series so it was just really great being back with Pip and her friends. Made me want to reread the series!!

This was a delightful prequel to the Good Girl’s Guide to Murder. It definitely had some good foreshadowing and I enjoyed seeing everyone’s relationships.

I absolutely LOVED getting back into this universe. AGGGTM still is my all time favorite YA trilogy. This was such a fun and quick read. I missed Pip so much. I loved how it took place before he trilogy so I know everything but they don't hahah. I wish we had more novellas like this with these characters because I just love them so much. Maybe one like after the trilogy ends... would be very nice! Or more to the universe with the characters in general, I just miss Pip and Ravi so much!!

I'd like to thank Netgalley and Random House Children's, Delacorte Press for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Loved this prequel to A Good Girls Guide to Murder. I was excited to hear from Pippa again and see where it all started. I loved the murder mystery party and it made such a great introduction to how she started on her senior project. Holly Jackson is one of those authors that you are just confident that you will like anything she puts out. It's a real fast read, keeps your interest, and fun seeing her and her friends interacting.

I have heard of the series A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder before and when I saw this book on NetGalley and that it’s a prequel to the first in the series, I figured it would be a good place to start. Boy, was I wrong…
If you decide to start this series, do NOT start with this one. The whole book is a murder mystery party which is great and all but nothing happens aside from a bunch of kids playing a fake murder game. Maybe reading the rest of the series and falling in love with the characters would be great before picking this one up.
I could see that being thrilling for elementary to middle schoolers who don’t want to be too scared, but given all the drinking and swearing from a bunch of kids who can’t even drive yet, I am not completely sure who the audience for this particular book is even supposed to be targeted towards.
The characters and their murder mystery characters were also really tough to keep track of.
This would have been a DNF from me had it not been from NetGalley.
I’m still trying to figure out why this book was even needed.
A big thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a complimentary copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

If you like Pippa and feel the need to get more of her backstory and understand why she specifically chose that case to look into, you’ll absolutely love this book. If you don’t really care too much, I don’t know it it’s worth it. The writing is good and I enjoy Jackson’s murder mysteries pretty well. I enjoyed it.