Every Twist In A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder Season 1, Ranked By Shock Factor

This post contains mentions of sexual assault, violence, and murder.

Spoilers ahead for A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder season 1 and the book.

Summary

• Pippa discovers shocking revelations about Andie Bell’s past at the Ivy House Hotel.
• Nose Stealer is revealed to be Nat’s brother, Daniel Da Silva.
• Becca Bell’s shocking confession as Andie’s killer after feeling abandoned by her sister raises the ultimate stakes.

Netflix’s A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder season 1 is full of twists and turns no one saw coming. Based on the book of the same name by Holly Jackson, A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder has one shocking revelation after the other, like any good mystery. Pippa Fitz-Amobi is determined to solve Andie Bell’s murder, but she cannot do it without making several scandalous discoveries. Just when it might seem like the narrative has finally revealed everything, there is always one more twist that stimulates the show.

Some of the plot twists are not that surprising, but others are jaw-dropping, including A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder season 1’s ending. Even smaller twists have impacted the narrative. The soundtrack for A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder set the tone for the show, which included a lot of foreshadowing and played with audiences’ expectations.

15 Andie Bell Stayed At The Ivy House Hotel

Pippa Discovers Andie Bell’s Handwriting In The Guest Book & Matches One Of Andie’s Selfies To The Hotel Room

One of the least shocking revelations in A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder season 1 that still shakes up the narrative is Andie Bell’s history at the Ivy House Hotel. Pippa and Ravi discover Andie’s handwriting in the hotel’s guestbook, which is not surprising on its own. However, Pippa realizing that Andie took a suggestive photo of herself in the hotel room’s bathroom certainly raises the stakes, especially since the same photo was in Max Hastings’ room. While far bigger twists throughout the season make this one seem insignificant, this revelation still provides a shock factor.

14 Nose Stealer Is Daniel Da Silva, Nat’s Brother

Nat Da Silva Was One Of Andie Bell’s Best Friends

Nose Stealer’s identity is a mystery until A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder season 1, episode 3 when Pippa discovers he is a police officer. However, the real twist occurs in season 1, episode 4, where Nose Stealer is Nat Da Silva’s older brother, Daniel. Nat and Andie were best friends, and Dan was deeply connected to the Bell family. It was surprising to learn that a guy who seemed like just a weird stranger ended up being important to the narrative—but otherwise, the show has many more shocking twists that make this one seem insignificant.

13 Someone Else Is In The Woods At Cara’s Birthday Party

Pippa, Cara, & Lauren Are Spooked

Pippa and her friends have a camping sleepover in the woods for Cara’s birthday. Pippa, Cara, and Lauren are spooked during a bathroom break when they see someone with a flashlight in the distance. The moment even gets a little scary when Pippa charges forward to confront the stranger, and she almost gets lost before Cara finds her. Similarly to Andie Bell’s Ivy House Hotel connection, this revelation is not shocking other than providing a brief jump scare. However, when the girls return to the tent, just before they sleep, Pippa discovers a printed note that says, “Stop digging Pippa.”

Furthermore, the musical score in the background amplifies the scene, illustrating the real danger Pippa might be in if she continues her investigation.

That means whoever was in the woods with the flashlight was not just a lost hiker like Pippa initially believed—this person snuck in and left a note in Pippa’s sleeping bag before successfully escaping. Pippa receiving her first threatening note in the middle of the night when she and her friends are isolated in the forest puts the scene on edge and raises the shock factor. Furthermore, the musical score in the background amplifies the scene, illustrating the real danger Pippa might be in if she continues her investigation.

12 Barney The Dog Is Killed

Someone Kills Pippa’s Dog

In A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder season 1, episode 5, Pippa receives an anonymous text threatening to drop Andie Bell’s case if she “ever wants to see him again.” This moment is shocking, given that for the first time, whoever is threatening Pippa is not afraid to go to extreme lengths to get her to stop her investigation—they would even kidnap her brother. However, Pippa finds her brother, making her think that the anonymous texter was bluffing until the real twist occurs: Pippa’s dog Barney disappears, and Pippa realizes whoever sent the text was talking about her dog.

In the book
A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder
, Barney is a golden retriever.

This scene is even more astounding when Pippa heartbreakingly finds Barney lying on the side of the road, deceased, as a victim of a hit-and-run. The storyline going from zero to 100 so fast is part of what makes the twist shocking, but the camera lingering on the black ribbons just before Pippa finds Barney eerily foreshadows the devastating event to come. It also suggests that Pippa’s investigation is far from over, given the critical role the ribbons played in the third episode.

11 A Secret Older Guy Exists

Andie Bell Was Seeing An Older Guy While Seeing Sal

When Pippa talks to Nat Da Silva in A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder season 1, episode 2, Nat accidentally slips that Andie was sleeping with a new partner, even though Andie and Sal had not slept together yet. This slip-up leads Pippa and Ravi to pretend to be Nat while texting Emma, which is where the real shocking twist occurs. Not only is Andie cheating on Sal, but she is also seeing someone her friends refer to as Secret Older Guy.

This moment was surprising because the narrative had already suggested that Andie and Sal cared about each other despite the potential arguing toward the end. Pippa now has her first real suspect as to who might have killed Andie and framed Sal, which amps up the shock significantly. However, the show still had more jaw-dropping plot twists, given that having a real suspect does not automatically clear Sal’s name.

10 Daniel Da Silva Helped Cover Up Max & Naomi’s Hit & Run

Max Hastings Was Blackmailing Dan

Pippa figured out that Daniel DeSilva helped cover up the hit-and-run that Max and Naomi were part of — the same incident that someone had used to blackmail Sal’s friends. Given Dan’s suspicious nature, it is not entirely shocking that Dan would cover up a crime. However, the shocking twist is not Dan’s involvement — it is that Max was blackmailing Dan, not the other way around. Even more shocking was Dan admitting he had an affair with Andie when she was 15. These new tidbits of information changed the direction of Pippa’s investigation entirely.

9 Two Different People Were Threatening Pippa

Pippa Received Notes From Different People

In A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder season 1, episode 6, Pippa compares all the threatening notes she received. They were spaced out during season 1, but when Pippa puts them together, a blatantly shocking twist occurs—two people had been threatening Pippa. It was one of those moments that displayed the truth, but no one thought of it until Pippa placed the notes side by side. This revelation also meant that someone else had been responsible for killing Barney and Andie Bell. The narrative planted the clues, but it only ignited a twist when Pippa put them together.

8 Andie Bell & Sal Singh Were Going To Run Away Together

Andie & Sal Were Genuinely In Love

While Andie Bell’s friends and family painted Sal and Andie’s relationship as a sweet high school romance, the truth is much more serious. Although Pippa and her town will never find out, A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder season 1, episode 6, reveals through a flashback that Andie and Sal were deeply in love and planning to run away together. Sal was only upset with Andie because she felt like she had to sell drugs to earn the money they needed to escape, but he still loved her.

The show’s plot twist suggested that there may have been more to Andie and Sal’s relationship in the book than anyone knew.

This scene was especially shocking for book fans since A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder book portrayed Andie and Sal’s relationship as superficial and meaningless. Andie was only passing the time with Sal, and Sal just thought Andie was attractive. The show’s plot twist suggested that there may have been more to Andie and Sal’s relationship in the book than anyone knew.

7 Andie Bell Sold Drugs At Calamity Parties

Andie Needed The Money To Run Away

In A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder season 1, episode 2, Max Hastings revealed that Andie Bell sold drugs at calamity parties, a far cry from the girl the public believed she was. The fact that Andie sold drugs at events like calamity parties proves she has a darker side. It also suggests that Pippa will go down a dark rabbit hole to discover the truth about the deaths of Andie Bell and Sal Singh. This truth is even more surprising when Pippa meets Howie in the third episode, the man who provided Andie with the drugs to sell.

Although the show did end up justifying Andie’s actions because she was desperate to get away from her abusive father, the idea that she would resort to selling drugs at parties where girls were often sexually assaulted is shocking in itself. This twist is more surprising for Andie than it is for the audience. However, book fans might be shocked purely because Andie had a genuine intention for selling drugs—in the book, she just did it because she could.

6 The Girl In Elliot Ward’s Attic

Elliot Ward Hid A Girl Named Isla For 5 Years

When Pippa confronted Elliot Ward about his relationship with Andie Bell, she expected to find Andie in his attic. So it was a surprise when Pippa discovered Elliot was hiding someone, but it was not Andie at all. Instead, it was a girl named Isla that Elliot found on the side of the street after murdering Sal. The reason he kept her in captivity for five years is because he confessed that he killed Sal, the only genuinely shocking part of this twist.

5 Max Hastings Assaulted Becca Bell

Max Hastings Was Indirectly Involved With Andie’s Murder Because Of His Actions

Pippa learned that Max Hastings sexually assaulted Becca Bell at a calamity party using the drugs that he had purchased from Andie Bell. Max’s involvement is unsurprising since the narrative suggested that from the beginning. However, learning that Becca was involved as one of Max’s victims was certainly a shock, especially since, before this revelation, the narrative was leading to Andie’s father as the killer. Becca’s story flipped it around entirely. Max Hastings’ future is unknown for a potential season 2, so if the show is renewed for a second season, there might be more to his story.

4 Sal Singh Had A Concrete Alibi

Naomi Leads Pippa To The Truth

One of the most shocking twists in A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder season 1 is the truth about Sal Singh’s alibi the night that Andie Bell died. Initially, Sal claimed he was with his friends, but they said Sal lied. Although the show had hinted something regarding Sal’s alibi in the first episode, the bomb only drops when Pippa discovers a timestamp on Max Hastings’ Instagram profile that indicates Sal’s alibi is real. Pippa’s uncertainty of whether Sal killed Andie meant that Sal was still a genuine suspect, but this revelation eliminates him once and for all.

3 Elliot Ward Is Secret Older Guy

Pippa Discovers The Truth Through A Burner Phone Number

In A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder season 1, episode 5, Dan Da Silva is most likely to be Secret Older Guy. So, it is especially shocking when Pippa receives a call from Secret Older Guy’s number, and Naomi Ward is at the other end. This revelation changes the narrative’s direction, but the twist is not over yet. Naomi called using her father’s old cell phone, meaning Elliot Ward was Secret Older Guy. Elliot seemed to be the least likely candidate to sleep with his students, which is why it is one of the most shocking twists of the season.

2 Elliot Ward Killed Sal Singh

Elliot Let Sal Take The Fall For His Potential Wrongdoings

Once Secret Older Guy’s identity is revealed to be Elliot Ward, it is not surprising to learn that Elliot killed Sal Singh. However, Elliot being Sal’s killer is still an astonishing plot twist because of how it happened. Sal had nothing to do with Andie on the night she died—Elliot was worried that he might be implicated in her disappearance, so he concocted a plan to kill Sal and frame him for Andie’s disappearance to save himself. Elliot’s elaborate plan illustrates his heartlessness, making it one of the most horrifying and shocking twists of the show.

1 Becca Bell Is Andie Bell’s Killer

Becca Killed Her Sister After She Refused To Stand By Her

The most shocking twist in A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder is the reveal of Andie Bell’s killer: her younger sister, Becca Bell. This revelation occurs in the most obvious fashion. Of course, Becca killed Andie — she was the last person who saw her. Becca’s motive is even more shocking: Andie was leaving town, which meant Becca would have to face their abusive father by herself. Although Pippa already knows the truth when she confronts Becca, the way Becca reveals what happened the night Andie died raises the stakes and provides the ultimate shock factor in season 1.