The List of Suspicious Things

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The juxtaposition of Miv's innocence and her schoolgirl-diary delivery and the truths that she uncovers about the lives around lie at the bruised heart of this book. Soon, Miv and her best friend Sharon discover more than they bargained for – not about the Yorkshire Ripper, but about the grown-ups around them, who are troubled in all sorts of ways. As they scratch the surface of everyday life, brutal racism, domestic abuse, alcoholism, infidelity and misunderstood mental health issues emerge. It’s the year 1979 in Yorkshire, and Miv is a schoolgirl growing up in a country terrified of the Yorkshire Ripper. A country equally as terrified, though, of women in power such as Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher; the female victims of the Ripper, who happen to be mainly sex workers, and anyone who ‘doesn’t belong’, which for their Yorkshire town means people of colour, or even anyone without a Yorkshire accent.

She decides she has to catch the Yorkshire Ripper, and stop the killings. So begins her ‘list of suspicious things’, which she keeps in her notebook, jotting down facts about suspicious people and places in the town. So, Miv and Sharon decide to make a list: a list of all the suspicious people and things down their street. People they know. People they don't.The inhabitation of child voices here did not seem fully from the child’s point of view, unlike Cannon’s book. In fact, there were valid reasons for this. Had I read this without having read Cannon’s I know I would have liked it more. A heartwarming, and moving experience, and I loved it. I shall be very surprised if this debut novel isn’t a runaway success, and one that the author justly deserves.

The List of Suspicious seems to be getting 5 stars from one and all but I'm an outlier on this one.Dealing with slightly younger children, and with a fictitious crime, this has stayed in my memory, so that inevitably, this one seemed, rightly or wrongly, derivative. A heartwarming tale about the power of human connection, written with empathy, warmth and care. To read it is to feel that little bit better about life' ELIZABETH DAY The List of Suspicious Things is a rather wonderful debut novel set at the end of the 1970s and focussing on the fascination a 12 year old girl, Miv, has with finding the Yorkshire Ripper.

Miv lives with her Dad, her Mum (when she’s not having one of her regular spells in hospital, having completely withdrawn from life) and auntie Jean. She caught her Dad and auntie Jean talking about moving away from Yorkshire, citing the Ripper as one of the reasons, so if Miv can discover the identity of the killer, maybe she won’t have to move away from her dear friend Sharon, and so it is that 11 year old Miv decides she’s going to catch The Yorkshire Ripper, and persuades her best friend Sharon to help her. It's a coming-of-age story set in Yorkshire around the time of the Ripper murders. A young girl called Miv decides to try to solve the mystery of the murderer. Gosh this is a fantastic coming of age story, and a debut novel to boot (hard to believe). Having grown up in Yorkshire I recognise and felt connected to many of the characters, this may be a small community but there is much going on and plenty of women who can’t wait to spread the gossip, but they make for amusing characters (mostly!) I also remember the level of fear that the murders generated and the impact it had on local communities. Peter Sutcliffe (The Yorkshire Ripper) didn’t just rob women of their lives, he also robbed thousands of women of their right to feel safe going about their daily lives in the 1970’s.A nice set-up, but the execution left me feeling like a dispassionate observer of the story, rather than reeling me in. Miv is a good central character but some of the other characters were thin, to the point I often forgot who was who. The List of Suspicious Things" by Jennie Godfrey is a heartwarming tale of growth and discovery, centered around the power of family, friendship, and community. Within the intricately woven plot lies the captivating mystery of a serial killer's identity. I grew up in a small town and there were so many of the ‘personalities’ I could identify with. Miv really stands out and is a character that will stay with me. Jennie perfectly captures the uncertainty and awkwardness of adolescence when you start to discover that adults are less than perfect and begin to understand a bit more about the world while still trying to figure out who you are and how to be.

You know when you just know a book is going to be huge, that a talented new author has burst on the scene?? Well, here we have it. First of all, the characterisation is exemplary. I love Miv and she’s an unforgettable character and yes, you could say she’s obsessive but she’s only looking for distraction from difficulties at home. Miv has good instincts even if she doesn’t entirely understand what she sees which is certainly true at the start when her naivety is clear to see but not at the end. Her friendships are a thing of beauty especially with the lovely Sharon, the “Terrible Twosome” and their friendship is wonderful. It isn’t all plain sailing by any stretch as they witness some cruelty and meanness that beggars belief but sadly is all too believable. All the characters spring to life, even the ones you’d rather didn’t. There is a strong sense of place and time in the book and although I grew up a few years later than the setting, much of it was nostalgic - the games of Bulldog, the excitement of a new lip gloss and the anti Thatcher sentiment definitely very familiar. Also a time of innocence when children played freely in the streets but also an era where adults didn’t quite want to grasp just how dangerous characters like ‘Uncle’ Derek were. I adored this book. Miv was such a relatable pre-teen character, and her perspective throughout the novel grew as she became wiser – realising more and more things about the people she came across, and their hidden, secret lives. A definite coming-of-age tale, Miv goes from someone sheltered and unaware, to someone who encounters real-world adult issues like domestic abuse, adultery, racism, sexism, and sexual harassment/abuse and pedophilia.That prior first novel, which I remembered was set in the mid to late 70’s (1976) had involved the fierceness of childhood friendships, and was told from the childrens’ viewpoint, and was about a detective investigation they instigated which uncovered the adult darkness and dysfunction in their small community, was of course Joanna Cannon’s first novel, The Trouble With Goats and Sheep. Which I had adored from the off, and surrendered to. So on the book, I had already seen a bit of a buzz on social media surrounding this novel, and when I found it the setting and timeline, I knew it would interest me, but I didn’t realise HOW much I would LOVE it! That said, I believe this book will have wide appeal and be very popular. I probably would have enjoyed it more twenty years ago, but I now prefer something more challenging/thought provoking. The novel also pays homage to the victims of the Yorkshire Ripper, treating their memories with utmost respect and dignity, refusing to exploit their tragedy for plot purposes.