TV review: A Good Girl's Guide to Murder is peppy young-adult crime fare

Emma Myers stars as Pip in the TV adaption of Holly Jackson’s YA bestseller The Good Girl’s Guide To Murder. Picture: BBC

Cosy crime and YA fiction are two of the big blockbuster genres of our time — so why not cross the streams and enjoy the mega-ratings sure to ensue? 

That’s the logic at play with A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder (BBC Two, Thursday) — a peppy adaptation of the bestselling Holly Jackson novels that sees a pesky teen solving crimes in a small English town. 

It’s Miss Marple for Generation TikTok — an ABC Murders for viewers who know all the words to ‘Cruel Summer’.

Emma Myers is Pip, a curious teenager living in postcard- perfect Little Kilton.

School holidays have just begun, and Pip has time on her hands. What better moment to investigate the cold (ish) case of the murder of a 17-year-old schoolgirl by her boyfriend, who confessed to the crime before taking his own life? 

This happened five years ago, and the entire town believes the matter is in the past. However, Pip isn’t sure and is convinced Sal (Rahul Pattni), the accused, is innocent.

Pip isn’t acting entirely out of altruism. She hopes to get into Cambridge and, as part of a school project, has decided to unmask the true culprit. She ropes in Sal’s brother Ravi (Zain Iqbal) and gets stuck retracing the steps of the murdered Andie Bell (India Lillie Davies).

Myers is American — though her English accent more than passes muster. She is also sure to bring with her a huge audience as a star of Netflix’s Wednesday (she played the room-mate of Jenna Ortega’s titular teen-goth). Backed by the likeable Iqbal, Pip makes an enduring protagonist while the script skilfully blends whodunit and folk horror.

Teens may already be familiar with A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder — but the real twist is that this delicious thriller is for everyone.