Nyla Jessup

When books are translated into movies and television shows, they have a reputation for being frightfully inaccurate, with films such as “Percy Jackson” and “The Giver” not living up to the high standards set by their literary bestsellers. We had high hopes that “A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder” would be different, but we were sorely disappointed.

“A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder” is based off of the original bestselling series by author Holly Jackson. The first book in the trilogy was originally released in 2019 and follows main character Pippa Fitz-Amobi and her cohort Ravi Singh as they seek to prove the notorious murder in her hometown five years earlier was incorrectly solved. This debut series from Jackson was a major hit among readers for its engaging storyline and meticulous detailing.

In the book, Jackson engrosses readers with her suspenseful descriptions of Pip’s carefully thought out investigation process, making them feel as if they are solving the case alongside her. The show did an inadequate job of executing this important element. A key detail that we both found ourselves missing was the scene in which Pip and Ravi reenact Sal Singh’s alleged murder of Andie Bell to prove his innocence. The pair trace Sal’s steps, giving him a minimal amount of time to complete the murder and make it back home. The tension and suspense as the two follow Sal’s supposed trail keeps readers on the edge of their seats, dying to know whether the presumed murderer is as innocent as Pip believes. This entertaining part of the book was one of many that were sadly removed from the television series altogether. Without scenes such as these, viewers feel like they are watching the investigation from the sidelines rather than being a part of it themselves.

Pip’s investigation process in the show also failed to match up with the book in that it was nowhere near as extensive. Jackson has Pip conducting long, detailed interviews, putting in considerable research and even going so far as to break the law. The show did a terrible job of showing Pip’s dedication and effort to the case. Any facts she learned were easily handed to her instead of requiring the immense amount of digging-up the book indicated, and she received most of the key information at the end instead of throughout the process. Jackson pieced everything together throughout the book in a surprising but believable way, whereas the show left viewers wondering how in the world the police were unsuccessful in finding the true culprit if a seventeen-year old solved the case so easily.

Many of the characters in the television series failed to live up to their literary counterparts or were just changed completely, including victim Andie Bell. The series makes Andie out to be a perfect, innocent girl who got forced into mixing with the wrong people. However, Jackson shows in the book just how terrible of a person Andie is through her purposeful engagement in illegal activities and cruel blackmail. The book leaves you hating Andie by the end while the series leads you to feel sorry for her.

Andie Bell was not the only character that was altered in the show. Nat da Silva is a high schooler who was cruelly betrayed and tormented by Andie. In the book, Nat is just a girl at school that Andie sees as competition when it comes to popularity. The show, however, depicts Nat as Andie’s best friend, making the betrayal hurt quite a bit more. Pip’s stepfather Victor also has a role in the case that is not mentioned in the book. There is even a time when Pip suspects Victor of having a hand in Andie’s murder, but the book has none of this family conflict and it did not add any substance into the show. Elliot Ward, the father of Pip’s best friend and teacher at the local high school, is another character who, if you know the plot, has a very significant role. The television series causes Elliot to be creepier, more suspicious and just overall more present than in the book, making shocking realizations much more obvious.

The producers of “A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder” made many unnecessary additions and subtractions in the show. Scenes such as attending the calamity party and breaking into the Bells’ house are completely different from the way they are expressed in the book. Stanley Forbes, a journalist who wrote about the Andie Bell case and became a vital character in later books, was eliminated altogether, which could pose problems if producers decide to make a second season. Minor things of no real importance were changed, such as the members of Pip’s friend group. It led us to wonder why they would spend the time changing such minor details when they could be fixing other inaccuracies instead.

Just to be clear, the show was not all bad. The casting and representation of many of the characters was spot on to how we imagined they would be when reading the book. Emma Myers did a great job playing Pip, as did Zain Iqbal as Ravi. The two very accurately captured the characters and personalities of the main duo and were very fun and entertaining to watch.

Overall, we did not completely hate the show. It was fun to watch the characters we read about come to life in the series, especially because they were so well played. However, the show was nowhere near as good as the book with all the character changes, scene modifications and the elimination of key components. If you are looking for something fun to watch after finishing the book, you would enjoy this, but if you are someone like us who gets annoyed with large divergences from the original plot, you will be sadly disappointed.