Welcome dear readers! If you’re not new here, then welcome back!! (okay, I finally changed my introduction a little. Achievement unlocked!)
As you know, (if you didn’t, then you will now) there are two more books to the ‘Good Girl’s Guide to murder’ series, and I’ve read both. If you haven’t read the first review yet, go read it before starting this one, or else you won’t understand half the things it’s related to.
Let’s start with the second one.
I present to you my latest book of interest: Good Girl, Bad Blood, also by Holly Jackson
Here we can see Pippa continuing her investigations, however, with a different case this time. Connor was one of her friends, in the previous books, right? Now his brother has gone missing, and the police yet again refuse to do anything as he seems a low-risk case. (Very typical of the police, as far as I’ve read in books.)
Pip had decided to start a podcast, to tell everyone how Andie Bell had really died. And she named it “A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder” podcast…how oddly fitting, huh? There she starts getting a lot of troll comments, since it’s obvious people don’t like how she seems to find out the truth about mysteries they want to cover up.
Of course, the only person who will take up the case is Pip, and she tries to investigate it as non-problematically as possible. Also, now there is the trial of Max Hasting in court for Nat D’Silva’s case against him. His lawyer keeps trying to impose large fines on Pip, and this keeps fueling her annoyance.
The real person behind Jamie’s disappearance is very near and close at hand, but who is he? Will Pip be able to find out in time, before she ‘disappears’ herself, too?
Overall this book was actually better than the first one in the series, due to obvious reasons. We see how Pip herself is learning that trying to cling to ‘the truth’ in murder cases would get her in a legal case or end up possibly not alive any longer, and decides to hide most of the truth till she has rock-solid evidence. In the first book, Pip’s attitude is more like: “Oh, it’s the truth, obviously they’ll believe it even though it sounds impossible”, and of course that works out in the long run. (that was irony.)
I liked how the plot twists so suddenly and darkly, because while in the middle of the book I felt like the story was not getting anywhere. As I said in my previous review, I felt a few loose threads were never wrapped up, some leads were not followed up. Well, in this book, at least half of it clicks into place. So, if you need to read this series, buy the whole set or you will remain in blissful ignorance.
We can also see how Ravi and Pip’s relationship develops better and they become closer. And Cara and Pip were always together no matter what, so I liked how the wholesome friendship was still there. Slowly, even Nat D’Silva began to warm to her after she showed her the empathy she required, which was nice to read among all the murder cases. (That last part was very out of place, I know, sorry.)
One of the best things about this book series is that we can see how some friendships remain through time, some become on-the-surface relations while some never work out. (The last part was for Lauren and Ant, spoiler alert)
It also depicts how sometimes it’s needed to push some people away to protect yourself and them.
While this book contained less humour than the first one, I couldn’t care less because the intensity of the plot makes up for it. Except for the first bit, before Pip took up the case, where everything seemed a bit more normal.
The plot twist toward the end made my jaw drop to the ground (I know that’s not possible because no one’s jaw muscles are that flexible, but I do know my mouth did open) And the fact that the story focuses on so many modern issues like cat-fishing, hacking, etc is amazing work.
Well, Goodbye for today, readers! I will meet you in another post (which I know will be a book review, because I already started it, but I’m going to pretend it’s not.)
Cheerio 🙂
Lifestyle
Beti Bachao Beti Padhao -A decade of walking the talk
Beti Bachao Beti Padhao -A decade of walking the talk.Save the Girl Child and Educate her.It was launched in 22nd January 2015 by Government of India.Today marks a decade of making the girl child become the symbol of change in India.
It’s not easy.There’s still a lot to achieve. But a few of our favourite schemes have helped this project of GOI become a beacon of hope.
Sukanya Samriddhi
Sainik School for women
Kanyashree by the Government of West Bengal
Swach Bharat
Women entrepreneur support. All aim to help women do more .
Mandatory Maternity leave.
Ujjala scheme
Support from the womb and the life beyond is a big responsibility.The Government is doing it’s part ,as a society we must do ours.The RG Kar doctor’s death is the point we must remember which needs work.Not only we need to train girls in self defence but also make workplaces safer and help raise sons who understand the value of supporting and strengthening their women partner.
Weed out the predators and evil amongst humans and women will rise higher.Saving the girl child is a good start.Now make them unstoppable warriors like Maa Durga.
Sharing is good Karma!
Do you know me?
So Richa Singh of my favourite Blogchatter asked us to share a few things on LinkedIn as a part of getting to know us a little better in 2025.
I know Richa and Blogchatter since 2017 as a newbie blogger.I grew as a blogger ,making many blogger friends ,while Blogchatter helped me start earning blogging,writing and more.
My first job:
I tutored my sister’s friends .
A secret super power:I have a Martha Stewart gene.I cook well,bake bread and have a very green thumb!
A year you can’t forget
2000 :I entered Calcutta Medical College as an undergraduate.
An achievement you are super proud of
Becoming a doctor.
An Elevator pitch of introduction to me:
Hi, I am Dr.Amrita Basu.I am an ENT and Head-Neck surgeon with a very green thumb,a colourful imagination and I moonlight as a Creative writer sharing brand stories both through my blog and books.2025 marks a decade of writing online and you can find my work at https://lnkd.in/d8zA2J4G
#Doctor #Healthwealthbridge #Writing #Blogger #Health #Wellness
Sharing is good Karma!
How To Know Whether You Can Be A Chef Full Time?
How to know whether you can be a chef full time?You can’t until you actually become a chef plus there’s no simple answer.
Just like I now know, I don’t want to work at anything 24×7×365 .Luckily I enjoy being a doctor but not the unnatural unhealthy workload the Government hospitals and Medical Colleges have .Doctor heal thyself made me step back. I couldn’t cope.
I was asked “didn’t you know ,you would have to do this?”.
Honestly at the premium colleges I studied in ,there were many teachers and there was no dearth of faculty .There was a division between the hospital and the medical education side,which is required, as patient care is impossible to juggle with anything else.But I digress I wanted to share about the site culinaryschool.org which gives a very interesting list of culinary schools.
A very close relative ,who was passionate about cooking , wanted to study hotel management and a weird older sister told her that it was too much work since the training starts at the bottom.
If there were sites like the culinaryschools.org it would help.Maybe all career options should have online and offline try-it-out or internship options too ,before you make the choice which can make or break you.
While real life is always better ,sometimes we don’t ever want to try dangerous things,unsuitable or unsustainable carrers,harmful food and that’s why knowing what works for you,what’s junk and what’s not must start early.Good food and junk needs to be strictly separated and kids do learn great with play.
The many games on the culinary schools site are fun ,entertaining and informative,while the extensive Directory of schools are a treasure trove.
Fitness Food run is one such game ,which I played to check whether it actually made sense.I also liked Fast food combat .It was easy to understand and kids will understand that free fruits and veggies are better than frozen and stale ones.
Sometimes interactive games serve a purpose.That’s why I played the recycling games where Tom and Jerry show river recycle game shows us how Tom and Jerry are cleaning up the river.I am a passionate advocate of environmental health and choosing to keep nature clean is our way of growing food rich in nutrients.
In case of online games ,be careful about how long you spend time on sites and kids must always be under supervision.
This is a partnered post .Kindly read my disclosure .
Sharing is good Karma!
A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder (Review)
Hello dear readers!! I am back at it after quite some time with another book review. I’m quite sure you have heard it before. It’s one of the most famous Y/A, or, a ‘young adult’ fiction book. Written by Holly Jackson, I present to you- ‘A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder’’s review.
Firstly, let me just give a disclaimer that Young adult books refer to books read by people between the age groups of 12 and 18, but of course, older people can read them too. However, children younger than this age will have difficulty reading and understanding such books because they contain more mature content they wouldn’t understand.
A Good Girl’s guide to Murder- you know what, let’s just call it AGGGTM (partly because of convenience and partly since the internet calls it that and I want to be ‘#relateble’) tells us a story of a teenage girl, Pippa Fitz-Amobi who is investigating a cold case murder for her final year report.
Five years ago in the town of Little Kilton, Salil ‘sal’ Singh had allegedly killed Andrea ‘Andie’ Bell for reasons unknown. Why the ‘reasons unknown’ part? Because when Andie Bell went missing, a few days later the police claimed she was dead, as they found a supposed confession note in Salil Singh’s phone.
They closed the case.
Why?
Because Sal Singh was dead. He had killed himself.
And Andie Bell, after her death, was believed to be a Martyr, an ‘angel taken too soon’.
Or that’s what they thought.
Pippa believes Salil is innocent and wants to prove it. She, along with Ravi, Sal’s brother, investigate the case together. But, someone doesn’t want her to find answers. She’s being spied on. Left threatening notes. But she still doesn’t stop.
Will she be able to uncover this mystery and handle the horrifying truths she finds along with it? Or will her stalker manage to scare her into stopping?
I found this book awesome, and it’s something you can read again from the beginning just because of the beautiful way it’s written. I like how the author managed to weave the mystery into the story along with the casual teenage drama that occurs in life. And one good thing about it is that it’s exceptionally intriguing, and makes you want to read page after page without stopping.
Pippa’s production log and report drafts are included in the book, so you can read how she interviews everyone and collects information from both her point of view as well as third person narrative. It made me feel like I was solving the mystery alongside her.
I liked how her two best friends, Lauren and Cara play such an important role in the story. While at first you might think that they are just side characters and would have no sort of connection to the mystery, later on you discover just how well they are involved. Naomi, Cara’s elder sister, is also a major part in the story. We can see how Pippa is attached to them both and will do alot to protect them.
Ravi Singh is a crucial aspect in the story, as he is Sal’s brother and can connect better to the case than anyone else. Without his character most of the story would change drastically. He and Pippa grow closer and have a better bond because of this case-solving.
Another girl, Natalie D’Silva, is also included in the ‘major people’ list I have. Her backstory and relation with Andie is NOT good. Its reflects on cyber-bullying and harassment and brings you back to reality. This book also focuses on more of the modern problems in this world, like cyber bullying, backstabbing, fake friends, drug-dealing and alot more.
While the plot is actually serious and contains scary life truths, somehow it still contains humour and sarcasm, put in just the right places.
One thing to understand, however, is that because so many people, including Andie herself, her father, her sister, Naomi, etc were involved in different aspects of crime, there are a lot of clues, leading to a little confusion.
Most of it is very ground breaking and majorly theory-changing, which is impressive since I don’t know how the author managed to get so many ideas in the first place. It’s initially confusing how everything is linked to everyone. Towards the end of the story, we get to see who the real killer was, and I’m sure no one expected that, however, it fits perfectly.
A small problem was that I felt the author put too much evidence against everyone, and in the end, I feel some clues were unchecked, some leads were not followed up on, and some stories not match at all. It’s like: “OOOHHHH, So THATS why this was like this-” and then suddenly, out of the blue “oh wait, no.”
Otherwise, though, this book was one of the best murder-mystery-thrilller I’ve ever read. Would most definitely recommend it!
Well ‘fare thee well’, my dear readers! See you later in another review. Cheerio 🙂
Sharing is good Karma!
Winter: Things I love (Then and Now)
I grew up in Kolkata where winters meant cool mornings,cold nights but daytime required just a plain cardigan at most.
At nights, we looked forward to the lep/blanket which was a bright red colour ,hand-made stuffed with cotton and was taken out to be aired, well before the nights we needed them.
The weight of those comforters were way more than the modern ones and the cotton in them kept us warm as toast.
Then came those Darjeeling oranges .Sweet tangy and just the right amount of skin on them.Absolutely binge worthy.Lake market in South Kolkata had some of the best fruits on offer and my mother ensured we never fell short of fruits.
Winters also meant the long Christmas holidays which a Convent school usually has.But since I studied in West Bengal board,the final exam of the year happened in December just before Christmas holidays. That meant, that particular school holidays were really happy holidays.
My mother was working at a Central Government office with her work place at Park Street .Come winter holidays, Park street , New Market and Kolkata herself was decked up in all holiday fineries.Christmas decorations and lights made the entire place look like a giant party zone.
My sister was working there from 2018 to 2023 .While coming back from work in December, she shared pictures and videos of all those fairy lights.That made nostalgia nostalgic!
While there was a school picnic at Victoria grounds or Nicco park where we shared ,fried rice,chilli chicken,dosa, ice cream and cold drink without thoughts of calories,seed oils or food additives family picnics always had home cooked food.My mother and aunts remembered to cook and pack luchi, aloor dom and sandesh for breakfast ,followed by plain rice ,dal,aloo bhaja ,mutton kasha,mishti for lunch even if we visited the Alipur Zoo .As kids it was a no worry zone about what to eat.We ate everything .
My friend Rukmini’s mom Debjani aunty,took us out for Christmas Eve dinner and a stroll down Park Street.Those were good times.
As a grown up now winters are full of picnics in mango orchards at Malda,New Year’s Eve dance party at our Kolkata apartment complex,winter vacation with family and friends, winter mornings in the village home,winter garden full of Petunia, Marigold,Rose.
I still love curling under a blanket with a good book .
New memories in old places and new .That’s what seasons of life is about.
What’s your favorite winter memory?Let me know in the comments below.
