Print & Features Editor Ash Sutton review’s the TV adaptation of A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder finding it to be another failed book-to-screen translation
A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder made my 2022. It got me through my A-Levels, it was my reading list through one of the best summers of my life, and one of the most difficult autumns. I fell head over heels in love with Pip Fitz-Amobi and Ravi Singh. I was enamoured by the case of Andie Bell. Within the year, Holly Jackson took top spot for my favourite author of all time.
I was beyond ecstatic at the news of the TV adaptation. A book series that holds so much emotional weight and a chest-full of memories, I could not wait to see it on screen. The marketing started, the characters were cast, and still I was excited. Emma Meyers wasn’t how I imagined Pip, and the fact she was American put doubt in my mind, but the rest of the cast were perfect.
The trailers dropped, I ate them up
The trailers dropped. I ate them up. Meyers’ attempt at a British accent was concerning but I could let it slide. I made my brother and my mother read the books to be able to enjoy the plot authentically as we watched the show.
July 1st, BBC iPlayer released A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder. July 1st, I sat with my family and turned on the first episode. July 1st, my favourite series was butchered by cinema.
It’s been two months now since the show aired. I’ve had two months to mull it over, to try and convince myself it wasn’t that bad, that I was just being too critical. It’s still terrible.
A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder introduces Pip Fitz-Amobi, a sixth-form student currently completing her EPQ. The topic of her project piece was a cold case that took place in her very town of Little Kilton only 5 years before. Pip takes it upon herself to investigate the disappearance of Andie Bell and the death of Sal Singh.With the help of Sal’s mourning little brother Ravi, she finds the case is not quite as the cops believed.
It was like watching a dull amalgamation of murder mystery tropes
The plot sounds fascinating, right? It was one of the most addictive plots of a book I had ever read, and yet somehow BBC managed to make it incredibly boring. Maybe, you could put it down to the fact that I knew the twists, I knew the turns, I knew what happened. However, with the drastic alterations made between the books and the show, it was like watching a dull amalgamation of murder mystery tropes thrown together in hopes to resemble the original material.
I’ve always been the worst critic for adaptations. As both a book-lover and a television-addict with a passion for media and communications, it’s hard not to be. From a fan point of view, this excessive need to change plot points infuriates me to no end. But from a writer and a critic’s perspective , I do understand that adaptations are merely a visual representation of another’s perception. What I don’t understand is the need to change integral yet quite small plot details like how someone is killed, where a body is hidden, and remove the entire scene that leads to the main characters’ cracking the case.
It is these changes that make the show as anticlimactic as it is. Every single gasp-worthy plot point was altered to be more palatable or removed entirely. It resulted in a very slow, very angering experience.
It was a very slow, very angering experience
There were a few positives, Ravi was still an adorable love interest and it was nice to see their relationship start to blossom in the first season. The characters weren’t entirely insufferable, and I think a lot of the cast has great potential to flourish in the rest of the industry. The biggest thing was that watching Matthew Baynton as Elliot Ward led me to actually put on Ghosts for the first time, so maybe it was a blessing in disguise.
I know I have sat here and slated A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, but if it was to get renewed, which it hasn’t yet, I probably would continue to watch it. I will continue to hold out hope and put it down to the difficulty in translation and the wrong showrunner. I will continue to wonder if I am just too quick to jump the gun with my opinions. If you’re still intrigued, as my take doesn’t seem to be the one shared by the internet, it is currently streaming on BBC iPlayer in the UK and on Netflix everywhere else.
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