{"id":54112,"date":"2024-06-29T09:00:54","date_gmt":"2024-06-29T07:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=2063059"},"modified":"2024-06-29T14:24:55","modified_gmt":"2024-06-29T12:24:55","slug":"a-good-girls-guide-to-murder-review-wednesday-star-leads-slick-atmospheric-teen-whodunnit","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/a-good-girls-guide-to-murder-review-wednesday-star-leads-slick-atmospheric-teen-whodunnit\/","title":{"rendered":"A Good Girl\u2019s Guide to Murder review: Wednesday star leads slick, atmospheric teen whodunnit"},"content":{"rendered":"

Emma Myers takes on Holly Jackson’s smash hit novel. <\/p>

By Abby Robinson\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Saturday, 29 June 2024 at 07:00 AM<\/p>

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<\/div> 4.0 out of 5 star rating<\/span> <\/span> <\/div> <\/div>

Unlike a typical whodunnit, which opens with a fresh kill before following the investigating party as they trace the breadcrumbs to reveal who dealt the fatal hand, A Good Girl\u2019s Guide to Murder<\/a> takes a slightly different approach.<\/p>\n

The six-part BBC series, which is based on Holly Jackson\u2019s hugely popular book of the same name, focuses on a case that was solved five years ago \u2013 or so the police and the people of the fictional town of Little Kilton believe.<\/p>\n

15-year-old Andie Bell (India Lillie Davies) <\/span>was supposedly murdered by her boyfriend Sal Singh (Rahul Pattni), who openly confessed to the crime before taking his own life. <\/span><\/span>But <\/span><\/span>Pip Fitz-Amobi (Emma Myers), who was a few years younger than the victim and her executioner when it happened, firmly believes Sal is innocent \u2013 and that the real killer is still out there, which sparks an idea: the subject of her <\/span>Extended Project Qualification (EPQ), which counts towards her A-Level results, will not be gothic literature, as she first proposed, but Andie Bell.<\/span><\/p>\n

With Sal\u2019s brother Ravi <\/span>(Zain Iqbal) working alongside her <\/span>as <\/span>the Watson to her Holmes \u2013 although he would argue it\u2019s the other way around \u2013 she decides to unearth what really happened to the schoolgirl half a decade ago.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Ravi\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Zain Iqbal as Ravi and Emma Myers as Pip.<\/span><\/figcaption> Moonage Pictures\/Sally Mais<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

It\u2019s a simple premise, but it\u2019s executed beautifully, in large part due to Dolly Wells\u2019s first-rate direction. As someone who also writes and acts, her comprehensive understanding of the many different parts that come together to create a production and <\/span>how to capture them\u00a0are flexed to full effect.<\/span><\/p>\n

Wells looked to Twin Peaks and Lord of the Flies as sources of inspiration, but Agatha Christie<\/a> immediately springs to mind. The author\u2019s knack for taking the English idyll and peeling back the curtain to reveal its vicious underbelly works exceedingly well here in the quaint, picturesque Little Kilton.<\/p>\n

The setting, which has a real sense of time and place, is familiar and cosy, yet mysterious and threatening, lending the show an off-kilter, discombobulating feel that marries with Pip\u2019s emotional state as the case begins to bear down on her.<\/p>\n

Wells also spoke about the importance of the woods which surround Little Kilton, again siting in that dual, conflicted space of\u00a0 beautiful yet sinister. Black ribbons hang from the trees; stray too far from the path and who knows what, or who, you might encounter.<\/p>\n

\"Pip\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Gary Beadle as Victor, Anna Maxwell Martin as Leanne, Kamari Loyd as Josh and Emma Myers as Pip.<\/span><\/figcaption> Moonage Pictures\/Sally Mais<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

The cast, largely led by newcomers and up-and-coming talent, also bring a lot to the table.<\/p>\n

Myers, best known for Netflix\u2019s Wednesday<\/a>, showcases her range by delivering a very different performance here. Pip, so often wrapped up in her own thoughts, is more pared back than Enid, but without losing any of the intensity required for this role. The pacing throughout is propulsive and Myers, who is particularly convincing in moments of danger, seamlessly matches that as the protagonist employs her mettle and mind to uncover Andie\u2019s killer.<\/p>\n

Pip and Ravi\u2019s growing chemistry as they hurtle towards the truth is also incredibly sweet, and again taps into AGGGTM\u2019s fascination with duality. Ravi and his family became the subject of widespread abuse and shunning from the local town after the blame was laid with Sal, but out of that monstrous, desperately sad episode, something beautiful is now flourishing.<\/p>\n

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