A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, #3
As Good As Dead
by Holly Jackson
Contents
Seven
Overview
Pip returns from a run to find fresh, headless chalk stick figures shifted closer to the house and a second headless pigeon placed by the door. Her mother dismisses them as cats and tire marks, intensifying Pip’s self-doubt. A new anonymous email echoes the scene—“kill two birds with one stone”—confirming a targeted threat and escalating the stalking.
Summary
After pushing herself on a run, Pip returns home scanning for Max but doesn’t see him. At her driveway she finds five new headless chalk stick figures that have appeared and shifted closer to the house since she left, despite heavy rain the day before.
Near the front door, Pip discovers another dead pigeon placed exactly where one was found last week—this time headless, with minimal blood. She suspects deliberate placement and connects it to the figures, but fears she’s spiraling.
Pip brings her mother outside. Her mum attributes the pigeon to neighborhood cats and the chalk marks to tire treads or brick dust, deflating Pip’s fears and stoking her shame and self-doubt. Pip resolves to act normal for dinner, despite anxiety and the temptation to take a pill.
Back in her room, Pip receives a lighthearted text from Ravi and an email from Roger Turner about mediation, which she internally rejects. Then a new message arrives through her podcast site: “Who will look for you when you’re the one who disappears?” with a postscript, “Remember to always kill two birds with one stone.”
The phrasing directly mirrors the two dead pigeons and the headless chalk figures, confirming that someone is intentionally staging threats at Pip’s home and watching her movements, escalating the stakes of the stalking.
Who Appears
- Pip Fitz-AmobiProtagonist; finds new headless chalk figures and a second headless pigeon, battles doubt, receives a chilling anon email linking the threats.
- Pip’s mumDismisses the chalk figures as tire marks and the pigeon as a cat kill, unintentionally undermining Pip’s fears.
- JoshPip’s younger brother; eavesdrops and asks about the pigeon, a background presence at home.
- Ravi SinghPip’s boyfriend; sends a lighthearted text, a brief moment of normalcy amid tension.
- Roger TurnerMediator; emails about revisiting the mediation offer Pip still refuses.
- Anonymous senderStalker; sends message echoing the staged scene, escalating threat with “kill two birds with one stone.”