Good Girl, Bad Blood

Name: Good Girl, Bad Blood (A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, #2)
Author: Holly Jackson

by Holly Jackson

Genre

Young Adult, Mystery, Crime, Thriller

Pages

416

Contents

Overview

Holly Jackson’s Good Girl, Bad Blood follows Pippa Fitz-Amobi after the success of her true-crime podcast, A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder. Pip insists she is finished investigating after the danger and trauma of the Andie Bell case, while Ravi Singh remains her closest partner and emotional anchor as their town continues to live with the consequences of past crimes.

That resolve is tested when Jamie Reynolds, the older brother of Pip’s friend Connor, disappears after a public memorial. The police treat Jamie as low risk, but Connor believes something is wrong, and Pip is pulled back into detective work despite her fear of what another case could cost.

The novel centers on guilt, public judgment, failed institutions, and the blurry line between justice and revenge. As Pip’s podcast audience grows and online scrutiny turns against her, she must decide how far she is willing to go when truth alone no longer seems enough.

Plot Summary ⚠️ Spoilers

After exposing the truth behind the Andie Bell and Sal Singh case, Pippa Fitz-Amobi releases her completed podcast, A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, with Ravi Singh’s help. The podcast recaps how Elliot Ward murdered Sal and how Becca Bell caused Andie’s death, while also implicating Max Hastings in drugging and assault. Pip publicly says she will not make a second season, though she continues posting trial updates as Max faces court. The trial unsettles her: Natalie da Silva testifies about being drugged and assaulted, but Max’s solicitor attacks her credibility, and Pip sees how easily truth can be distorted.

At a memorial vigil for Sal and Andie, Pip supports Ravi through his grief. She notices Jamie Reynolds behaving oddly in the crowd, focused and distant. The next day, Jamie’s younger brother Connor arrives at Pip’s house in panic: Jamie has vanished. Police classify him as low risk because he is an adult with a history of disappearances. Pip initially refuses to investigate, still traumatized by the danger of her previous case, but after DI Richard Hawkins refuses to escalate the search, she agrees to help Connor.

Pip interviews Jamie’s family and builds a timeline. Jamie had recently become moody, secretive, and desperate for money. He argued bitterly with his father, Arthur Reynolds, and had been fired from Pip’s mother’s estate agency after trying to take a company credit card, saying the need was life or death. Pip finds strange clues in Jamie’s room: a note about Hillary F. Weiseman, a rose-gold women’s watch, and later a missing yellow-banded kitchen knife from the Reynolds kitchen. Jamie’s laptop eventually reveals searches about assault, brain cancer, clinical trials, and making money quickly. His Fitbit data shows movement after his last known sighting and a sharp heart-rate spike before the data stops near 12:30 a.m.

Pip launches a second podcast season and crowdsources evidence. Photos and videos place Jamie at a calamity party after the memorial, where he appears to be watching someone. A video shows him approaching Stella Chapman and calling her Layla, leading Pip to believe Jamie was catfished by someone using Stella’s edited photos. Pip, Ravi, and Connor find the online persona Layla Mead, who appears to have targeted local men. When they message her, Layla immediately identifies Pip and taunts her before deleting her accounts.

More leads complicate the case. Charlie and Flora Green show doorbell footage of Jamie breaking into their house days earlier and apparently stealing Flora’s watch, the same watch Pip found in his room. Mr Clark admits Layla contacted him and asked probing personal questions before disappearing. A volunteer search leads Pip to the abandoned Sycamore Road farmhouse, exactly where Jamie’s Fitbit trail appears to end; in the grass they find the missing Reynolds knife. The farmhouse shows signs of late-night drug use. During a stakeout, Pip, Ravi, Connor, and Cara find Robin Caine using the place for cannabis pickups, then chase a fleeing white BMW they suspect is connected to Nat da Silva’s boyfriend, Luke Eaton.

Max Hastings is acquitted of all charges, devastating Pip and Nat and intensifying Pip’s anger. Online suspicion also turns against Pip after an article claims she staged Jamie’s disappearance for podcast attention. Under pressure, she publicly humiliates Tom Nowak for inventing a false sighting, finds a threatening note in her locker, assaults Ant Lowe after he calls her a liar, and is suspended. Feeling that the legal system has failed, Pip uploads Max’s recorded admission about drugging Becca and vandalizes the Hastings home, then reconciles with Ravi and admits she loves him.

Nat later gives Pip screenshots proving Luke arranged to meet Layla in Lodge Wood on the night Jamie vanished. Pip and Ravi confront Luke, who confirms Jamie owed him £900 but reveals the crucial twist: Layla Mead was not simply catfishing Jamie. Jamie himself had been using the Layla persona to test men. Luke says Jamie met him in the woods, nervously uttered a phrase that sounded like Child Brunswick, then ran when Luke did not react. Pip realizes Layla’s targets were white local men around age twenty-nine or thirty, suggesting someone was searching for the hidden identity of Child Brunswick, the protected son of serial killer Scott Brunswick.

Research leads Pip, Ravi, and Connor to a 4chan rumor from Grendon Prison and to Howie Bowers, who once blackmailed local journalist Stanley Forbes. Pip concludes that Stanley is Child Brunswick. Believing Jamie must have confronted Stanley at the farmhouse, the three devise a risky plan: impersonate Layla to lure Stanley away while Ravi and Connor break into his house. The plan works, and Ravi and Connor find Jamie alive but padlocked in Stanley’s downstairs toilet. Jamie insists they must leave because he and Stanley made a deal.

At the farmhouse, Pip confronts Stanley. He explains that the real Layla manipulated both him and Jamie. Layla contacted Stanley and arranged a meeting; Jamie arrived, said Child Brunswick, and attacked him with the Reynolds knife because Layla had convinced him Stanley was a dangerous stalker. Stanley disarmed Jamie, injured him in the struggle, panicked about losing his protected identity, and locked Jamie up. While Jamie recovered, the two realized they had both been used and tried to identify Layla together. Stanley admits his fear and wrongdoing but insists he did not intend to kill Jamie.

Then Charlie Green arrives, takes Pip’s and Stanley’s phones, and reveals he is Layla Mead. His real name is Charlie Nowell, brother of Emily Nowell, one of the victims connected to Scott Brunswick and his son. With Flora’s help, he created Layla to hunt Child Brunswick and used Pip’s investigation to confirm Stanley’s identity. Pip begs him to stop, but Charlie shoots Stanley multiple times and sets the farmhouse on fire before escaping with Flora. Pip drags Stanley outside and performs CPR until police and paramedics arrive, but Stanley dies.

Sixteen days later, Pip arranges Stanley’s funeral because no family claims him and many townspeople condemn him. Protesters interrupt the burial, calling him a murderer and praising Charlie, and Pip breaks down in rage. Later, at a gathering celebrating Jamie’s return, Jamie and Pip discuss survivor’s guilt and promise to live well for Stanley. Jamie plans to become a trainee paramedic and to be honest with Nat about his feelings. Yet Pip remains haunted. Charlie and Flora are still at large, and Pip obsessively searches for sightings of them, aware that the trauma of the gunshots now lives inside her.

Characters

Pippa Fitz-Amobi

Pip is the protagonist and podcast investigator who is drawn back into detective work when Jamie Reynolds disappears. Her search exposes both the truth of Jamie’s case and her own growing anger at failed justice, public scrutiny, and the personal cost of pursuing the truth.
Ravi Singh

Ravi is Pip’s boyfriend and investigative partner, supporting her emotionally and practically throughout Jamie’s disappearance. His grief for Sal gives him a personal stake in finding Jamie alive and in helping Pip hold herself together.
Jamie Reynolds

Jamie is Connor’s missing older brother, whose strange behavior, debts, online activity, and final movements drive the central mystery. He is revealed to have been manipulated by Layla into confronting suspected versions of Child Brunswick.
Connor Reynolds

Connor is Jamie’s younger brother and the person who begs Pip to investigate after police dismiss the disappearance as low risk. His fear and loyalty keep the search urgent, and he helps Pip and Ravi uncover key evidence.
Joanna Reynolds

Joanna is Jamie and Connor’s mother, who consents to Pip’s public investigation and provides crucial details about Jamie’s behavior, clothing, laptop, and Fitbit. Her distress anchors the emotional stakes of the search.
Arthur Reynolds

Arthur is Jamie’s father, whose harsh argument with Jamie and initial refusal to engage complicate the timeline. He later reveals Jamie asked him for exactly £900 and expresses guilt over their final exchange.
Natalie da Silva

Nat is Jamie’s close friend and one of Max Hastings’s accusers. Her guarded responses initially obstruct Pip’s investigation, but she later provides the screenshots linking Luke Eaton to Layla Mead.
Luke Eaton

Luke is Nat’s boyfriend, an illicit lender, and a man targeted through Layla Mead. He reveals that Jamie borrowed £900 from him and that Jamie, not an unknown woman, appeared at the Lodge Wood meeting.
Stanley Forbes

Stanley is the Kilton Mail editor who helps publicize Jamie’s disappearance while hiding his protected identity as Child Brunswick. His fear of exposure leads him to imprison Jamie, but he later tries to identify Layla before Charlie kills him.
Charlie Green

Charlie is Pip’s neighbor, later revealed as Charlie Nowell and the person behind Layla Mead. Seeking revenge for his sister Emily Nowell, he manipulates Jamie and Stanley, kills Stanley, and flees.
Flora Green

Flora is Charlie’s partner and neighbor to Pip, whose missing watch becomes an early clue to Jamie’s desperation. She helps Charlie with the Layla deception and flees with him after Stanley’s murder.
Layla Mead

Layla Mead is the fabricated online identity used in the plot to target local men and locate Child Brunswick. The persona manipulates Jamie, Luke, Mr Clark, and Stanley, ultimately serving Charlie Green’s revenge scheme.
Max Hastings

Max is on trial for drugging and assaulting women connected to the earlier case. His acquittal enrages Pip and Nat, pushes Pip toward vigilantism, and shapes the book’s conflict over legal versus personal justice.
Cara Ward

Cara is Pip’s best friend, still coping with the fallout of her father’s crimes. She supports Pip and Connor during the search and helps find the knife at the Sycamore Road farmhouse.
Naomi Ward

Naomi is Cara’s sister and a friend connected to the aftermath of the first investigation. She supports the search and later sends Pip the image of Max celebrating, which helps trigger Pip’s renewed anger.
Leanne Fitz-Amobi

Leanne is Pip’s mother, who worries about the danger and consequences of Pip’s renewed investigation. She also reveals that Jamie was fired after trying to take the company credit card, a key clue to his desperation.
Victor Fitz-Amobi

Victor is Pip’s father, who tries to balance concern for Pip with trust in her choices. He supports her at home and later restrains her when she confronts protesters at Stanley’s funeral.
Josh Fitz-Amobi

Josh is Pip’s younger brother, whose attempts to imitate detective work remind Pip of the harm investigations can cause. His innocence contrasts with the violence and trauma surrounding Pip’s case.
DI Richard Hawkins

DI Hawkins is the detective who refuses to escalate Jamie’s case early on, forcing Pip to investigate herself. He later handles the aftermath of Stanley’s shooting and confirms Charlie and Flora have fled.
Daniel da Silva

Daniel is a police officer who initially takes Jamie’s missing-person report and resists Pip’s involvement. His reaction to Layla suggests he too had contact with the catfish persona.
Soraya Bouzidi

Soraya is a police officer who responds to the farmhouse evidence and treats Pip more constructively than Daniel. She collects the knife and later helps manage the scene after Stanley is shot.
Mr Clark

Mr Clark is Pip’s history teacher and one of Layla’s targets. His anonymous interview reveals Layla’s method of asking personal questions while posing as a local young woman.
Stella Chapman

Stella is the student whose photos are edited and used for the Layla Mead profiles. Jamie mistakes her for Layla at the calamity party, allowing Pip to uncover the catfish angle.
Tom Nowak

Tom is a student who falsely claims he saw Jamie enter Nat’s house, briefly redirecting the investigation. Pip later exposes and humiliates him, showing how public attention corrupts the search.
Ant Lowe

Ant is one of Pip’s friends who becomes skeptical and dismissive during the investigation. His taunts help trigger Pip’s loss of control at school and her suspension.
Lauren Gibson

Lauren is part of Pip’s friend group and echoes doubts about the Jamie case after online rumors spread. Her skepticism contributes to Pip’s sense of isolation.
Zach Chen

Zach is a friend in Pip’s wider group who helps during the search and later supports Pip’s account after her confrontation with Ant. His presence marks the strain on Pip’s friendships.
Robin Caine

Robin is found at the abandoned farmhouse using it as a drug pickup site. His admission about cannabis muling and a £900 loss helps connect Jamie’s debt, Luke, and the farmhouse.
Harry Scythe

Harry is a Book Cellar employee who reports seeing Jamie on Wyvil Road around 11:40 p.m. His family connection to Hillary Weiseman’s grave also makes him part of one of Pip’s investigative threads.
Mary Scythe

Mary is a Kilton Mail volunteer and Harry’s mother, linked to Hillary Weiseman through the grave card. She later appears among the protesters at Stanley’s funeral.
Stephen Thompson

Stephen hosts the calamity party where Jamie is seen after the memorial. His account helps establish Jamie’s post-memorial movements and confirms Jamie was watching someone at the party.
Chris Marshall

Chris provides a party video that captures Jamie moving through the hallway at a key time. The footage helps Pip map Jamie’s movements and determine when he left the party.
Howie Bowers

Howie is an imprisoned figure from the earlier case whose connection to Stanley becomes crucial. Pip links a prison rumor and old blackmail evidence through Howie to identify Stanley as Child Brunswick.
Becca Bell

Becca is Andie Bell’s sister, whose case remains central through Max Hastings’s trial and Pip’s posted recording. Max’s admission about drugging Becca becomes the evidence Pip releases after his acquittal.
Andie Bell

Andie is the victim from Pip’s previous investigation, remembered at the memorial that precedes Jamie’s disappearance. Her case continues to shape Little Kilton’s public grief and suspicion.
Sal Singh

Sal is Ravi’s brother, wrongly accused in the earlier case and honored at the memorial. Ravi’s grief for Sal informs his determination to help save Jamie.
Elliot Ward

Elliot is the exposed killer from Pip’s earlier investigation and Cara’s father. His crimes continue to affect Cara, Naomi, and Pip’s sense of responsibility for the damage investigations can leave behind.
Scott Brunswick

Scott Brunswick is the serial killer whose hidden son becomes the target of Layla’s hunt. His crimes create the buried identity that draws Stanley, Jamie, and Charlie into the final conflict.
Emily Nowell

Emily is Charlie Nowell’s murdered sister and the reason Charlie seeks revenge on Child Brunswick. Her death motivates the Layla Mead scheme and Charlie’s murder of Stanley.
Nisha Singh

Nisha is Ravi’s mother, present at the memorial and in the community gatherings that frame Ravi’s grief. Her presence helps show the Singh family’s continuing recovery after Sal’s exoneration.
Mohan Singh

Mohan is Ravi’s father, who gives the emotional memorial speech for Sal. His tribute provides one of the book’s clearest moments of communal grief before Jamie’s disappearance begins.

Themes

Holly Jackson’s Good Girl, Bad Blood deepens the series’ central question: what happens when a teenage investigator discovers that truth is not the same as justice? Across Jamie Reynolds’s disappearance, Max Hastings’s trial, and Stanley Forbes’s hidden past, the novel repeatedly shows that facts can be found, recorded, and broadcast—and still fail to heal anyone.

The failure of institutions: Police, courts, and media are shown as limited or compromised. DI Hawkins refuses to treat Jamie as high risk, forcing Pip back into investigation despite her trauma. Max’s acquittal, after Natalie and Becca’s painful testimony, becomes the book’s clearest wound: the legal system produces a verdict, but not moral truth. Even Stanley’s funeral is deemed too “political” for police attendance, leaving private citizens to carry public grief.
The dangerous power of public storytelling: Pip’s podcast can mobilize searches, collect photos, and pressure authorities, but it also attracts trolls, conspiracy theories, and accusations that she staged Jamie’s disappearance. The same digital crowd that helps reconstruct Jamie’s movements can turn viciously against her. “Layla Mead” weaponizes online intimacy even more chillingly, manipulating lonely men through stolen images, false vulnerability, and targeted secrets.
Justice, revenge, and moral compromise: Pip’s anger after Max walks free pushes her beyond lawful boundaries: she releases his confession, vandalizes his house, and begins to accept that being “good” may not be enough. Charlie Green represents the terrifying endpoint of that logic. His grief over his sister’s murder curdles into a years-long revenge mission, grooming Jamie and murdering Stanley. The novel refuses to make this simple: Charlie’s pain is real, but his justice destroys the innocent.
Trauma as an inheritance: Nearly every major character lives in the aftermath of violence. Ravi still mourns Sal; Cara and Naomi live with their father’s crimes; Nat is retraumatized by Max’s trial; Jamie returns alive but burdened by guilt; Pip ends the book with the “gun” inside her, a symbol of permanent vigilance. Survival is not resolution.
Identity and the possibility of becoming better: Stanley Forbes, revealed as Child Brunswick, embodies the novel’s most difficult compassion. His epitaph, “You Were Better,” argues that a person’s past can be true without being the whole truth. In asking Jamie—and herself—to “live well,” Pip reaches for a fragile form of justice rooted not in punishment, but in responsibility.