Good Girl, Bad Blood: the clock is ticking when a local man goes missing

Good Girl, Bad Blood is the second book in the A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder trilogy by Holly Jackson. With the help of Ravi Singh, Pippa “Pip” Fitz-Amobi released a true crime podcast detailing their investigation into the disappearance of Andie Bell and the death of Sal Singh. As the podcast has gone viral, she makes a promise: no more investigations. However, she is about to break that promise. On the night of the memorial for the sixth year anniversary of the case, Jamie Reynolds disappears. The police won’t take his family’s pleas for an investigation, Connor, Jamie’s brother, turns to Pip. As she starts her investigation, she begins to uncover more of the town’s dark secrets but this time, everyone is listening. Can she find Jamie before it’s too late? 

Good Girl, Bad Blood opens as the trial begins on the Bell-Singh case. From the opening chapter to the closing epilogue, this case was a fast paced race against time as Pip knows every minute counts in a missing person case. I found Good Girl, Bad Blood to be much more engaging than the first book. Pip is my favorite character and loved her vulnerability and dogged determination to see a positive outcome to this case, even though logic and statistics would tell her otherwise. I also enjoyed Ravi, her boyfriend, as the calm to her storm. They are a great team. Overall, I enjoyed this story and I am jumping into the third book soon. If you enjoy a young adult detective story, I highly recommend A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder. If you enjoyed the first book, I highly recommend Good Girl, Bad Blood. 

Good Girl, Bad Blood is available in paperback, eBook and audiobook

Sunset Beach: a quick summer read

Sunset Beach by Mary Kay Andrews is the story of Drue Campbell, a 36-year-old woman who is forced to take a job with her estranged father’s law firm. While she is battling her father and stepmother every step, she comes across a case she feels the firm dropped the ball on. She takes it upon herself to investigate and find justice for a young woman, Jazmin Hayes, that everyone has seemed to have forgotten. Has she gets closer to the truth, a series of events occur which seem to be a warning to stay away. However, Drue is determined to see it through regardless of the danger. At the same time, she is dealing with her mother’s death, moving into her grandparents’ beach cottage where she finds information to a 40-year-old case involving missing woman, Colleen Broadman Hicks. Will she find the truth? Will she convince the authorities of her findings? What is the link between the missing person and her family?

I wanted to really enjoy Sunset Beach and when I finished, I had mixed feelings. At first, I didn’t care for any of the characters, especially Drue. I only continued to find out what really happened to Jazmin and Colleen and how the cases connected to Drue and her family. The first half was very slow with the second half being very fast paced. I liked the resolution with the Jazmin Hayes case; however, the Colleen Broadman Hicks case was a little flat. Overall, it was an ok book. Nothing too great but it wasn’t horrible either. If you are a fan of Mary Kay Andrews, then you may enjoy Sunset Beach.

Sunset Beach

will be available May 7, 2019

in hardcover, eBook, and Audiobook