A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, #3
As Good As Dead
by Holly Jackson
Contents
Twelve
Overview
Ravi pulls Pip away from obsessive vigilance with a grounding walk, but a hostile encounter with Ant and Lauren rattles her. Returning home, Pip and Ravi discover new chalk figures—three on the drive and two faint, headless figures climbing the wall toward her bedroom window. The timing proves the stalker struck while she was gone, escalating the threat and validating Pip’s fears despite Hawkins’s doubts.
Summary
Pip stakes out her driveway from her bedroom window, fixated on proving DI Hawkins wrong about the dead pigeons. She lays bread and ham as bait to disprove the cat theory, but a magpie interrupts her experiment. Ravi arrives, gently redirects her attention, and insists on taking her out for air, promising he believes her even if Hawkins does not.
On their walk through the woods, Ravi lightens Pip’s mood by recalling their first investigation together and future plans. The respite is broken when they run into Ant and Lauren. The encounter turns hostile—Ant taunts about the dead rapist, and Lauren calls Pip a psycho—forcing Ravi to lead Pip away before she retaliates.
They return to Pip’s house, where Ravi spots three fresh chalk figures on the driveway near the breadcrumbs. The discovery validates Pip’s claims, showing the stalker acted while she was away. Noticing there are only three, Pip searches and finds two faint, headless figures drawn up on the wall, hidden near the mortar.
Following the placement upward toward her bedroom window, Pip realizes the intent: the figures are “climbing” toward her. She concludes the stalker is targeting her directly and escalating, striking in the narrow window of her absence, confirming her danger and undermining Hawkins’s dismissal.
Who Appears
- Pip Fitz-AmobiProtagonist; obsessively watches the driveway, attempts a bait experiment, is grounded by Ravi, confronts Ant and Lauren, and discovers escalating chalk figures aimed at her.
- Ravi SinghPip’s boyfriend; reassures and distracts her with a walk, de-escalates conflict with Ant and Lauren, and helps confirm the new chalk figures’ threat.
- AntFormer friend; hostile in the woods, taunts Pip about the dead rapist, intensifying her anger and distress.
- LaurenAnt’s girlfriend; hostile toward Pip, overprotective of her dog, calls Pip a psycho during the confrontation.
- Pip’s dadProvides a brief, normalizing presence at home; interacts with Ravi and queries missing ham used in Pip’s experiment.