Michael Robotham: Good Girl, Bad Girl (January 2022)

Our book for January was ‘Good Girl, Bad Girl’ by Michael Robotham.

The author is an investigative journalist and writer who has worked with clinical and forensic psychologists looking into complex crimes.

In Good Girl, Bad Girl psychologist Cyrus Haven, himself a victim of childhood trauma, brings his expertise to assist with two cases, both involving teenage girls. One, Jodie, an ice skater, has been found murdered, her promising future cut short. The other, known as Evie though her identity and age are unknown, is resident in a secure children’s home. She suffered appalling abuse and incarceration as a small child but now wishes to live independently, so must be assessed by Cyrus.

He becomes very involved in the complexities and secrets of the lives of both girls and things are not at all as they, at first, seem. Jodie’s apparently safe and caring home was not able to protect her from a dangerous underworld of drugs and corruption and Evie, although damaged, self-destructive and institutionalised, shows astonishing strength and resourcefulness, particularly at the dramatic denouement.

Some of our group were initially put off by the subject matter of the book but were glad that they persevered and we all found it hard to put down. There were some intriguing loose ends and most of us said that we would like to read the sequel and probably other work by the same writer. We gave ‘Good Girl, Bad Girl’ 4 out of 5.