Book Review: As Good As Dead by Holly Jackson

‘As Good As Dead’ by Holly Jackson is the last book in her ‘A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder’ trilogy, preceded by ‘A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder’ and ‘Good Girl, Bad Blood’. I reviewed each book individually and the reviews went live in January and April respectively.

This book has a significantly shorter time jump compared to book two in the series, following on just a handful of months on from when Pip watched Stanley Forbes die in her arms.

The book opens with the consequences of her releasing an admissable piece of evidence that was unable to be used in Max Hastings’ rape trial, where he admits to raping Becca Bell on video. Enraged by the verdict of ‘not guilty’, Pip released the tape and is now being sued for defamation and slander.

As a reader, knowing just as well as Pip that Max Hastings is a liar and a rapist means that you are very much on her side as she refuses to apologise and lie to her followers, sayings he tampered with the audio to make it sound like Max Hastings was admitting to rape, despite both Pip and Max knowing that that audio is untampered with.

However, in the fall out of the lawsuit against Pip, she didn’t notice someone else in the wings who was closing their own net around her. A stalker.

I really enjoyed ‘As Good As Dead’, the pacing and ultimatum that comes along with being stalked, unravelling the secrets and finding clues related to said stalker, leaves readers with baited breath, wondering what will happen and whether anyone would look for her if she disappeared.

The character development for Pip specifically was incredibly compelling and nuanced. Readers can understand why she reacts the way she does. I personally found myself incredibly frustrated with her neglecting her own health and choosing the wrong ways to work through her trauma. However, Jackson, as always, highlighted intrinsic issues with the systems in place to support people – such as Pip being told she can no longer have Xanax to help her sleep after experiencing intense trauma, and, of course, immense anger toward the police system again. Jackson doesn’t hestiate to indicate that there are some serious problems in the way these systems work.

I will argue that the fallout at the end of the novel was a bit convenient, the last ten pages cover so much times and felt a bit like Jackson had had to condense it all to tie the ending up in a bow – I personally wouldn’t have uttered a single complaint had the book been longer, and really pillaged the themes of loneliness and guilt Pip feels at the end of the book, and offering that last page as a sliver of hope.

This series was absolutely fantastic – for me, thrillers are a bit of a marmite genre, but I’m always willing to give it a go – Holly Jackson certainly encapsulates why. I loved this book, and this series, and can’t wait to read more books by her in the future.