Here’s who to keep an eye on in the new BBC/Netflix teen crime drama.
By Sofia Bianchi Published: Aug 2, 2024 Save Article
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Get your murder boards ready. It’s time to solve the notorious Andie Bell case in the new BBC/Netflix crime drama A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, adapted from the bestselling book by Holly Jackson. (If you’ve already read the ending, keep your lips sealed!)
To track down Andie’s supposed killer, you’re going to need more than Pip’s (Emma Myers) seemingly endless stamina: You’ll need to understand who in the town of Little Kilton deserves her skeptical eye. If you’re ready to join Pip and Ravi (Zain Iqbal) as the proud third wheel to their “Sherlock & Watson,” here’s what you need to know.
Popular teenager Andrea “Andie” Bell (India Lillie Davies) went missing five years ago in the town of Little Kilton. A few days later, her boyfriend, Salil “Sal” Singh (Rahul Pattni), confessed to the crime via text, and was discovered dead in the woods—an apparent murder-suicide. Still, Andie’s body was never found; the timelines don’t seem to match up; and a trial was never held confirming that Sal was guilty. Pip is convinced he wasn’t.
Pip Fitz-Amobi is not your average A-plus student. She’s an intense, cunning girl addicted to the purpose a mystery gives her, and is awfully skilled at getting to the bottom of things. She lives in Little Kilton, an English town seemingly quaint but riddled with secrets. Pip has a strong sense of justice; tends to run on two to four hours of sleep per night; and she’s an academic genius. But her weak points include blurring the boundaries between school projects and her personal life; spreading herself too thin; and putting herself and her loved ones at risk in her relentless pursuit of the truth.
For the past five years, 20-year old Ravi Singh has been weighed down by grief. Not only has he had to come to terms with the loss of his brother, Sal, whom he was very close with, but his family has become the target of the town’s resentment, prejudice, and suspicion. He’s a hollow shell of who he once was, trapped in limbo. Ravi was the last person to see Sal alive, and the five-year stretch since Sal’s mysterious death has felt like an never-ending nightmare. He refuses to believe that his beloved older brother was Andie’s killer, but he has no way of proving it. Ravi finally begins to find his purpose when Pip enlists him as her investigation partner.
Cara has been Pip’s best friend since they were children; they’re practically sisters. She’s adventurous, resilient, and loyal. Her older sister, Naomi, was one of Sal’s closest friends, making Cara not only a trusted ally but a useful source of information.
Naomi is Cara’s unsteady older sister, seemingly on the verge of a nervous breakdown. She was one of Sal’s close friends, and she’s rumored to have been secretly in love with him. Although the deaths of Naomi and Cara’s mother, in addition to Sal’s, account for much of Naomi’s emotional struggle, Pip gets the sense that there’s vital information Naomi is withholding from her—and that might lend greater insight into the fragility of Naomi’s psyche. Naomi tends to wear her emotions on her sleeve, and is not great at speaking up for herself.
Elliot Ward is Pip’s “second-father” figure, seemingly everyone’s favorite school history teacher—except for Andie, who started calling him an “asshole” weeks before she went missing. Elliot lost his wife to cancer a little more than five years ago, and has since been single-handedly responsible for keeping himself and his girls above water. Elliot keeps to a diligent tutoring schedule, something that Pip soon starts to view with suspicion.
Max Hastings (a.k.a. “Nancy Tangotits”) is a former friend of Sal’s. He’s fond of parties (and of girls), and he doesn’t seem to think twice about doing whatever it takes to maintain a sparkling reputation—and avoid facing the consequences of his mistakes. He’s known for coining the term “calamity party,” or Little Kilton house parties in which messy drama always ensues. Pip clocks that he’s a notoriously indulgent drinker and a known liar. Plus, Max was technically older than Andie when they became friends—might he be the “secret older guy” Andie’s former friends have mentioned?
Jason Bell is Andie and Becca Bell’s father. He was involved in the hiring of the shady Daniel da Silva to the local police department—the same Daniel who claims never to have found the case-altering evidence that Pip’s convinced must have been in the Bell household while he conducted his search. Jason was a harsh, belittling father to both his teenage daughters, thus sparking a nasty competitiveness that existed between Andie and Becca. Plus, he left their mother for another woman soon after Andie went missing. Yikes.
Becca Bell is Andie’s younger sister, and bears a slight resemblance to Andie. She is currently dating police officer Dan da Silva, and was the last person to see Andie alive. She found herself trying harder and harder to be like her sister in the weeks leading up to Andie’s disappearance.
Daniel da Silva is a suspicious police officer with strange connections to Max Hastings and the Bells, but for reasons initially unclear. He’s Nat da Silva’s brother, and another possible candidate for “secret older guy.”
Sharp, beautiful, and fearless, Nat da Silva was one of Andie’s best friends. She is jaded by scandal, but seemingly self-accepting and honest about her mistakes. But her connections to Andie and Dan—plus her scandal—plant her on Pip’s tentative suspect list.
Howie Bowers is a drug dealer living on the edge of town. Pip learns he had a secret business connection to Andie: He used her as his messenger to reach young students, which earned Andie commission on sales. It’s possible he, too, could have been the “secret older guy.”
Sofia Bianchi is a Business Assistant on the Creative Operations Team at HearstMade and a culture writer covering film, television, and entertainment.
