WARNING: This review contains spoilers. See the review without any spoilers here.

OH BOY, I have a lot to say about this book (all good things), so I apologize in advance if this review is longer than others.

Going into this book I had a theory as to how it would turn out and end up going, considering the ending of Good Girl, Bad Blood.

Trigger warning: As Good As Dead mentions substance use, substance abuse, mentions of rape, PTSD, and violence.

After her last case and Stanley’s death, she’s left dealing with some heavy PTSD and anxiety relating to said events. Her emotional and mental state is dark. She turns to the only option that seems viable to her in that moment, and that’s drugs. Turning to Luke Eaton to give her drugs to help her sleep and calm her anxiety.

As if this isn’t enough, someone is stalking her and trolling her online. At first, she doesn’t think much of it because of her big online presence because of her podcast A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder. However, when the question that she keeps receiving is the same repeating question, “Who will look for you when you’re the one who disappears?”, things get a big more questionable.

However things escalate to a whole new level when Pip realizes things around the house and around the neighborhood that show that she has a stalker. These things being 5 headless stick figures slowly making their way towards her window, and 2 dead pigeons on her driveway, one of which is headless.

Convinced by Ravi, Pip reports it to the police, but once again, they deny looking further into Pip’s suspicions because there is not enough evidence, and they believe Pip is just being superstitious and paranoid, considering everything that’s happened to her in less than a year.

So Pip takes matters into her own hands. And of course she does. She has to do this one last case to save her own life. Yet at the same time, she does this to try to save the last sliver of herself that she has left.

She has to save herself to save herself.

As Pip looks into the information and try to figure out who her stalker is, all roads lead back to a local serial killers case that was reportedly solved six years ago, with the serial killer in jail. However his mother is convinced that he is not the DT killer (the name for the serial killer). This leads Pip to believe that the killer may still be on the loose. And the one that has been stalking her.

One thing that this book did is showcase and Pip’s mental state of mind when dealing with the PTSD and the anxiety left from her previous cases. Usually in novels, the author tends to skip through the healing process and makes the protagonist get over what happened to them.

And just as is seems that Pip is going to crack the case and figure out who the DT killer is, he gets to her before she does.

And let me tell you, it happened much quicker than I thought it was going to.

As the DT killer is revealed to be none other than Jason Bell, the puzzle pieces click into place, and I had to go back to certain pages and re-read some scenes, and then knowing who the DT killer is now, I realize that the clues were all leading up to him, and it was right under my nose.

I’m telling you, not even HALFWAY THROUGH the book, and I’m already punching my pillow and closing the book, putting it down, and taking a few deep breaths.

Jason Bell being the one who killed Barney made sense and made me hate him even more.

And my girl Pip escaped THANKFULLY, thank goodness, but nope, that wasn’t enough for her. She knew that it wouldn’t end there. The cycle wouldn’t end. She had to put an end to the cycle or else nothing would change.

So she did the best thing she could have thought of. And that was to grab a hammer. Smash his skull. And kill him.

Pip went from being a murder detective to being one who commited a murder.

Now, this is where I can categorize Ravi Singh as one of the “best boyfriends of the year” because this man doesn’t just go get her. He helps her hide the body, he helps her come up with a plan, and helps her lay out all the evidence perfectly.

If anyone knew how to get away with a murder, it’d be Pippa Fitz-Amobi.

However, they need a killer. And who better than Max Hastings. The man who was given the verdict of not guilty during his trial case of drug abuse and rape. Pip was never going to let Max Hastings live without suffering the consequences of his actions.

And when there is someone already dead, when there is a fire going on, is when the police decide to investigate.

They follow Pip’s evidence perfectly, finding Max to be the one who killed Jason.

Yet Hawkins utters one phrase that rattles Pip.

“I suppose if you were ever involved in anything like this, you’d know exactly how to get away with it”.

And there boom. Pip thinks it’s all over. If Max Hastings is proven not-guilty once again, then the police would be coming to her next and all roads would lead to her.

So she has to better choice, but to isolate herself from everyone she once knew. So that in the case that she is convicted, it’s just her. No one else gets hurt. Not her family, not her friends, and not Ravi.

Pip and Ravi heartbreakingly break-up, with the promise that if Max Hastings is proven guilty and he goes to jail, then Pip and Ravi can be back together.

Almost two years passes.

And the last page, the last thing we know, is that Ravi Singh texted Pippa Fitz-Amobi:

“Hey Sarge, remember me?”

3 minutes after the verdict was read in the Max Hastings vs. Connecticut case.

To say the least, by the time that Pip and Ravi had “broken up” my feelings were all over the place and I didn’t quite know how to feel. Everything had been going right until it didn’t.

And then we get to the last page and it’s no more than four words, but it broke me and I started bawling my eyes out.

This book was more devastating and heart-wrenching than either the first or second book. And I must say that it was a satisfying conclusion to A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder series. No dragging it out, no for sure end, just room left for reader’s interpretation.

Authors tend to give a book series it’s “happy ending” and satisfying, concrete ending, yet I commend Holly Jackson on giving this book a happy yet non-concrete ending, allowing for reader’s imaginations to run wild. And also for not leaving the characters being perfect characters with no mistakes, but being these characters who deal with real-life issues such as PTSD and anxiety, something that many readers can relate to.

Age Range

I personally DO NOT recommend this book or book series to elementary or middle school readers. This is me personally, but not even a 9th grader. Perhaps a 10th grader. But no younger. This book deals with foul language not suitable for young people, heavy mentions of drug use, drug abuse, mentions of rape, serial killers, extreme violence, and gore.