Diksha Sundriyal
Netflix’s ‘A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder’ follows a 17-year-old Pip who decides to reopen a murder case that is considered solved and was shut five years ago. Sal Singh was accused of killing his girlfriend, Andie Bell, but the case never went to court because Sal died shortly after sending a confession text to his father. Everyone is convinced of Sal’s guilt, but not Pip. She knows that there is much more to the case that didn’t come to light five years ago. Now, she is determined to uncover the entire story with Sal’s brother, Ravi, and exonerate Sal. The investigation also has personal stakes for Pip because it means exposing people she has known her entire life. The town, in itself, becomes a character, holding mysteries of its own. Interestingly, it is based on a real town.
The Fictional Little Kilton is Based on a Real British Town
‘A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder’ adapts the book of the same name by Holly Jackson. While the story itself is entirely fictional, Jackson was inspired by a real town called Great Missenden to structure the events of Little Kilton. It is a small village near Buckinghamshire, also known for being the home of author Roald Dahl. What made Jackson choose was not just for its small-town vibes, which she thought was perfect for the story, but also because she was familiar with the town, having lived there for a while, which made it easier for her to imagine the events unfolding in the novel. From the town’s streets to the woods surrounding it, Jackson had Great Missenden throughout the writing of the novel.
To bring the story to the screen, the cast and crew of the Netflix series turned towards another small town named Axbridge in Somerset. The town streets, its market, and town square were used to film key scenes of the show. Several scenes were also filmed in Langford, Bath, and Bristol, with a studio employed to film interior scenes. For the most part, however, the creators of the show wanted to shoot on location and recreate the atmosphere of the book.
For Jackson, a small town setting worked impeccably for the story because it presented a tight-knit community where everyone knew everyone, giving the secrets a heavier sense of mystery. The show’s creators wanted to keep that aura of the place and made it a point to shoot in summer and in a place with woods around to reflect the book as closely as possible. They wanted a town that was pretty and welcoming on the outside but gave off a feeling of something sinister hiding in its caves and woods. ‘Twin Peaks’ was used as a reference by the show’s creators, especially when presenting the town surrounded by eerie woods.
Getting the town’s setting right for the novel and the Netflix series was extremely important because it is a crucial element in solving the case. The street where Andie was last seen, the woods where Sal’s body was found, the caves where the calamity parties take place, everything adds to the case so that the picture wouldn’t be complete without someone being able to look at the town as a whole. This is why, perhaps, Jackson turned to something familiar and crafted a fictional murder mystery around a place she knows well.
Read More: A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder: Is the Show Based on True Crime?
