The List of Suspicious Things

by Jennie Godfrey, Joanne Froggatt (Narrator), Mark Noble (Narrator)

A SENSATIONAL DEBUT FROM HUTCHINSON HEINEMANN IN 2024

'What if we decided to try and find him?'

'What on earth are you on about?' she said. 'How are we going to catch the Yorkshire Ripper, when the police haven't even managed to?'

I sighed. Her questioning my ideas was a recent and unwelcome element to our friendship. But it was a valid point. How would we catch him? We needed some sort of plan, a way of gathering clues and putting them into order.

I thought about what the policeman had said about structure, and then about Aunty Jean and her notebook, and the idea I had hardened like toffee. I knew exactly what we needed to do.

'We'll make a list,' I said. 'A list of the people and things we see that are suspicious.

And then . . . And then we'll investigate them.'

The List of Suspicious Things is a tender and moving coming of age story about family, friendship and community. Sometimes the strongest connections are found in the most unlikely of places.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Book Club, Audiobook, Crime, Mystery Thriller

Audiobook

First published February 15, 2024

Reviews

[Maureen]

It’s 1979 and in the UK Margaret Thatcher has just become Prime Minister, (forever remembered by many as ‘The Milk Snatcher)’. More worryingly however, in particular for the women of Yorkshire, a monster known as ‘The Yorkshire Ripper’ was making a name for himself by routinely and viciously killing young women, thereby leaving every woman feeling terrified and vulnerable, frightened to even venture out at night. It’s against this backdrop that The List of Suspicious Things is set.

Miv lives with her Dad, her Mum (when she’s not having one of her regular spells in hospital, having completely withdrawn from life) and auntie Jean.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.
Auntie Jean likes structure in her life and makes lists for everything, and Miv begins a list of her own, of all the suspicious things about the people she comes into contact with, and that might lead her to The Ripper!

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 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.

*Thank you to Netgalley and Random House UK, Cornerstone, Hutchinson Heinemann for my ARC in exchange for an honest unbiased review *

[Lisa of Troy]

Shall I reveal a mysterious metaphor?

When I reached the end of The List of Suspicious Things, I snapped the book closed as one normally does upon finishing a book. As I glimpsed at the cover, my attention was drawn to the bird. Why is this bird on the front cover and featured so prominently on the stencilled edge?

Then, it clicked.

Page 3 of Daemon Voices by Philip Pullman, […] the raven, that picker-up of bits and pieces here and there.”

Very clever.

Set in the late 1970’s, the Yorkshire Ripper is at large! Mavis “Miv” a 12-year-old girl is on the hunt! Together with her best friend, Sharon Parker, they develop a list of suspicious people/places and begin to investigate.

However, people in her local village aren’t nearly as simple as they appear on the surface. And, some truths are difficult to face.

This charming and stirring tale is powerful and heartwarming. It has many characters with depth, leaning into the beauty of human complexities, good people doing “bad” things and “bad” people doing good things.

Currently, The List of Suspicious Things is not available in the United States, and it is decidedly British. However, I enjoyed learning a bit more about the British vernacular. But, my American friends, don’t be surprised if you have to look up Horlicks, waltzers, kitchen roll, ginnel, chippy, biro. But I have confidence you will survive!

Plus, the mere mention of glitter lip gloss makes me happy!

On the other hand, this book does move a touch too slow. To be clear, this isn’t really a murder mystery—that’s more in the background while Miv is discovering more about herself and her community. The paragraphs and sentences are a bit long for the mystery/thriller genre (although Godfrey’s prose is impressive), and it is a bit too verbose overall.

In regard to Sharon, the foreshadowing is too heavy handed, and the narrative voice of Miv is faintly underwhelming. Where are the 12-year old snarky comments? Where are the laser eyes at Aunt Jean or Dad?

Miv is supposedly very scholarly. Why doesn’t she drop in a line or two from her books? Miv’s character reads a bit like a very self-aware, watered down adult than an intelligent, slightly impulsive 12- year-old. And what happened to Mr. Ware?

And of course….

The ending. Ugh! Come on! It is overly sentimental, not very strong, and predictable. Some of the best endings have come out of the UK (The Golden Compass/Northern Lights, The Magician’s Nephew) that made me want to immediately and compulsively rip open the second book. Godfrey could have at least teased readers with a new quest for Miv.

A timely work gently challenging the readers’ paradigm.

The Green Light at the End of the Dock (How much I spent):
Hardcover Text - £29.99 purchased at Goldsboro Books – The PREM1ER Edition (signed by the author and has a stencilled edge)

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[Shelley's Book Nook]

Check out all my reviews on: The Book Review Crew Blog

I saw this book all over Twitter for the last nine months, Jennie Godfrey has a debut hit on her hands for good reason. A coming-of-age mystery set against the backdrop of the 80s while the Yorkshire Ripper does his bad deeds The List of Suspicious Things captures the essence and time and place brilliantly. Godfrey's characters are wonderful and I felt something for every one of them, I either loved them or loved to hate them.

Our spunky, pre-teen protagonist, Miv deals with a lot of issues in her life and community, there are of course the murders but there is also depression, suicide, racism and domestic abuse to name but a few. Miv has to deal with these issues at home, school and even during her playtime. To give herself a sense of control over what is happening in her life she decides to make a list and investigate The Ripper herself with her best friend Sharon.

Godfrey is realistic in her writing and sensitive to the issues she writes about and I loved the friendship between the kids in this story not to mention first loves. It was so endearing and the book also showed how The Ripper and all the other things in their family lives gave them each a loss of their innocence. Wonderfully done and so different from the usual mysteries out there and the ending was simply shocking.

[Jayme C (Brunetteslikebookstoo)]

NOW AVAILABLE!

Yorkshire 1979

Margaret Thatcher has just been elected (imagine a woman as Prime Minister!!) and the Yorkshire Ripper is terrorizing Northern England.

And, now Miv’s father feels like a move away from Yorkshire might be what’s BEST for his family, threatening to move them all “Down South”.

12 year old Miv has already lost her mother (for all intents and purposes) and she doesn’t feel like she could survive losing her best friend, Sharon too. Inspired by her favorite adventure books, “The Famous Five” by Enid Blyton, she comes up with a plan…

If she and Sharon can solve “The Ripper” case, maybe she won’t have to move away.

They make a “list of all the suspicious people” and begin investigating.

What they discover is that many of the neighborhood boys and men are up to “no good” but could they also be responsible for bludgeoning prostitutes with hammers and stabbing them to death?

This book progresses “suspect by suspect” and is filled with late 70’s/early 80’s NOSTALGIA which I both remember and love. (especially the songs!!)

The denouement is both shocking and unexpected.

It’s part “coming of age” story, part Historical Fiction, and part mystery and it brought back my own memories of reading Trixie Belden and Nancy Drew mysteries. Even the hardback book with its striking blue dust cover feels reminiscent of those times, and will become a cherished addition to my book shelf.

The heart of the story is the friendship between the two girls! This book was a gift from my good friend Susan- whom I met late in life-but we share so many interests that I bet we would have also been “thick as thieves” if we had met as young girls.

So glad she shared this book with me!

A brilliant debut novel which will be published in the U.S. December 30, 2025 by Sourcebooks Landmark. I hope they have also obtained rights for her second novel-The Barbeque at No. 9-as I am eager to read that one too!

Thank You to the Publisher for my gifted copy provided through NetGalley. As always, these are my candid thoughts!

[Mark]

I'm afraid it's one of those awkward times when you review a book everyone loves...and you don't.

The List of Suspicious seems to be getting 5 stars from one and all but I'm an outlier on this one.

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.

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.

I think my main two issues with the book were the pacing and the unremitting bleakness.

In terms of pacing, i almost DNF'd the book around a third of the way through because it was dull. Then in the last 20% of the book suddenly no end of crazy shit starts happening. Perhaps if some of these events had happened earlier it would have got me invested. It would also have prevented the climax of the book feeling somewhat unrealistic, with a huge amount of stuff suddenly happening concurrently. It was exciting, but also felt a bit silly.

In terms of bleakness, if this is Yorkshire life, I'd recommend Miv, and everyone else, moves to another area. Life can throw challenges at us from time to time but Miv appears to be fucking jinxed! Over the course of the few months the book covers she encounters severe mental illness, adultery, racism, arson, manslaughter, paedophilia (which felt bizarrely levered in as a sub-plot near the end), deviant vicars, domestic abuse, suicide and tragic death.

It wouldn't have been surprised to find out the postman was a Nazi war criminal in hiding. I certainly hope Miv's following few months were a little more chilled.

The List of Suspicious Things had some good things going for it but ultimately seemed suspiciously like a list of melodramatic YA events, which felt uncomfortable alongside the very serious subject matter.

Thanks to the publisher, author and NetGalley for an ARC in return for an honest review.

[Karen]

According to the author's note at the beginning of the book, writing this novel was deeply personal. She shares how the story grew from the impact a real serial killer had on her community and childhood, and how, after his capture, her family learned that her father had known him. The emotional weight of that revelation—and how it affected him—became the foundation for this novel.

Set in Yorkshire, England, in 1979 during the shadow of the real-life Yorkshire Ripper murders, the story unfolds primarily through the first-person voice of Miv, a bright, observant, and innocent twelve-year-old girl. While Miv narrates in first person, the novel periodically shifts to second-person chapters that immerse the reader in the experiences of other characters.

Determined to catch the killer, Miv and her best friend, Sharon, begin their own amateur investigation. What they uncover instead are long-buried family secrets and neighborhood mysteries that challenge everything they thought they understood about the adults around them.

This is a warm, moving coming-of-age story that balances difficult themes—including racism, depression, domestic abuse, and grief—with the enduring strengths of friendship, family, and community.

Miv's voice feels completely authentic, capturing both the innocence and growing awareness of a child standing on the threshold of adolescence.

Godfrey also does an excellent job of recreating the atmosphere of a small Yorkshire town, weaving historical details naturally into the story. Although many of the principal characters are young, this should not be mistaken for a YA novel. Its emotional depth and thematic complexity are very much aimed at an adult audience.

The novel is gripping and deeply affecting while never trivializing the realities of the Yorkshire Ripper murders that inspired its backdrop. Rich in character development and expansive in scope at nearly 400 pages, it explores the moral complexities of growing up in a community living under fear. Ultimately, it is less a mystery than a poignant exploration of innocence lost, trauma endured, and the resilience required to move forward.

[Terrie R]

In Northern England, it's 1979, and the Yorkshire Ripper has been doing his dirty deeds for several years. Eleven-year-old Miv lives in Yorkshire with her dad, mum, and aunt, who has been helping out since Miv's mum became ill.

Now her dad wants to move the family to a safer place. That's a "NO" from Miv. She has always lived in Yorkshire, and it's where her BFF Sharon lives, too. Miv feels the best solution to keep her family from moving is for her and Sharon to solve the case. They begin super-sleuthing by creating their List Of Suspicious Things and searching their neighborhood for the killer...

I love how the author has made this story more about the community and its characters than the Ripper. Many secrets surface from Miv and Sharon's list: secrets about their neighbors come to light concerning bullying, racism, domestic abuse, and more. On a more positive side, there is a focus on friendship, relationships, and community support and resilience. Given the story's time period, fear, death, and grief are also of concern.

An immersive reading experience, the audiobook features a multicast narration with male and female narrators, alternating chapters, which provides excellent vocal distinction. The audiobook is my preferred format for this book.

The List of Suspicious Things is a coming-of-age story, a blend of historical fiction and mystery, and a mix of friendship and family drama. It's a little bit of everything, isn't it? Godfrey has done a great job of balancing light and dark, and I appreciate that focus. Overall, it's a creative debut novel with a deeply moving and bittersweet ending!

4⭐

Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark, Tantor Audio, and Jennie Godfrey for the gifted DRC and ALC through NetGalley. This is my honest and voluntary review.

[Rosh (on a medical break)]

In a Nutshell: A coming-of-age historical fiction with elements of mystery. Character-oriented. Child narrator, which is an unusual but interesting choice for this storyline. Interesting characters, slow-ish pacing, great use of time period and location. Too many themes. Mostly bleak, though there are many glimpses of joy and hope. A good debut. Recommended, but don’t read this as a crime mystery.

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Plot Preview:

1979, Yorkshire. Twelve-year-old Mavis, known to all as ‘Miv’, isn't happy about how things are in her life. Her mom suddenly became sick and stopped talking, her father has been struggling to keep things going so his somewhat-stern sister has moved in to help out with Miv. But now, because of the unidentified serial killer murdering young women in Yorkshire, her father has decided that it would be safer to move out of town. As far as Miv is concerned, this is simply not acceptable. She cannot leave the town she has spent her whole life in, nor can she leave her best friend Sharon. So she makes a simple decision: she will locate the serial killer so that her father doesn’t have to worry about her safety anymore. She already knows from newspaper reports that the serial killer has to be someone ordinary whom people know. Taking Sharon into confidence, Miv makes a list of all suspicious people and things in their neighbourhood. Thus begins Miv’s quest for the truth, which, like all truths, turns out to be far more complicated than anticipated.
The story comes to us in two parallel threads, one from Miv’s first-person perspective and every alternate chapter from various other characters’ third-person perspectives.

Bookish Yays:
🤩 The author's foreword, mentioning the inspiration for this book and paying tribute to the victims and survivors of Yorkshire Ripper. The parting note names all victims. I appreciate this attention given to victims.

🤩 Miv as the main character. Not always likeable, but almost always convincing. She is somewhat naïve, so her coming-of-age angle is interesting. The Capricorn in me loved her diligence in list-keeping. 😁

🤩 Miv’s first-person narration, which sometimes reminded me of Scout Finch’s innocent rendition of the dark events in ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’. But unlike young Scout, Miv is almost a teen, so she has a greater understanding though not complete awareness. Her foreshadowing is also interesting.

🤩 Sharon, for her wonderful friendship with Miv and for all her other attributes. Loved everything about her!

🤩 The use of an actual serial killer’s crimes as the foundation of this story. The killer isn't from my time or place, so it was creepy to learn about him. At the same time, I like how there aren’t too many details about him. No glorification of the killer!

🤩 The plot structuring with alternate chapters coming from the third-person perspectives from other characters. Quite a clever way of filling in the gaps for events Miv doesn’t experience personally.

🤩 The other characters, all so complex in various ways. Not everyone is as they appear and not everything is black and white. There are several loveable characters and several ‘slappable’ ones as well. Omar, the shopkeeper of Pakistani origin, was probably my favourite of the lot.

🤩 The Yorkshire setting and the representation of the small-town community. Feels very authentic.

🤩 The 1970s era. Seems true to life, with several references to the pop culture and lifestyle choices of the era.


Bookish Okays:
🤔 The bravado of the main character in doing risky things alone. I'm usually not a fan of books where children do dangerous things without informing or taking the help of adults. Then again, this isn't a middle-grade book, so it won't set the wrong example to any child.

🤔 The pacing is mostly on the slow side, which is understandable as the book is character-oriented. However, the second half is more unsteady; it starts slow and repetitive but as the final quarter draws nearer, it turns rushed and wild. There are too many things happening, but not everything is convincing. One particular event is shocking though. I didn’t see it coming so it somewhat skewed my experience in favour of the book.

🤔 The budding love story resulting from first crushes. I don’t like stories with overly-young characters getting into relationships, but I appreciate its innocent portrayal in this book. There’s never much stress on the physical, even if the connections seem sudden. (Not insta though.)


Bookish Nays:
😕 The usual problem of debut novelists: too many themes! The kitchen sink of themes is virtually bursting at the seams, with most of the common dark themes in fiction being present in this book.. This can be pardoned to some extent as we see multi-character POVs and their tracks have separate topics. But it still feels like too much when every single character Miv interacts with has something bad going on in their life. All this also worsens the feeling of bleakness.

😕 Miv’s mother’s arc is poorly developed. There was so much more that could have been done with her mental health issue. A part of this knowledge gap can be forgiven because we get the story in Miv’s first-person POV, so what she doesn’t know, we also don’t get to know. But the instant turnaround is so abrupt, so unrealistic and so unbelievable that I don’t feel like forgiving anything.


🎧 The Audiobook Experience:
The audiobook, clocking at 10 hrs 49 mins, is narrated by Joanne Froggatt, Mark Noble, Asif Khan, Gemma Whelan, and Simon Harvey. One narrator is for Miv’s first-person POV and the other narrators voice the third-person POVs from multiple characters. Having so many narrators is an excellent choice as it helps us keep the tracks straight in our head. All the narrators are really competent and read wonderfully. At the same time, I wouldn’t recommend this to audio newbies as it gets somewhat tricky to keep all the characters and POVs straight.


Overall, this debut turned out to be a pleasant surprise, though it wasn’t exactly what I thought it would be. A child narrator offering insights into adult happenings, a parallel narrative structure from multiple perspectives, and the use of an actual crime to create this fictional but fairly realistic version – all work in favour of the book. While it is not a perfect novel, it is a compelling debut. I would definitely like to read more by this author.

Recommended to readers who enjoy character-driven historical fiction and adult stories coming from child narrators. There are several dark topics in this book, so do check out the trigger warnings online if needed.

3.75 stars.


My thanks to Tantor Audio for providing the ALC of “The List of Suspicious Things” via NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the audiobook.

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I follow the Goodreads rating policy:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Lifelong favourite!
⭐⭐⭐⭐ - I loved the book.
⭐⭐⭐ - I liked the book.
⭐⭐ - I found the book average.
⭐ - I hated the book.
The decimals indicate the degree of the in-between feelings.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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[Ceecee]

‘There’ll be trouble at t’mill’, there sure will Aunty Jean. It’s 1979 and Aunty Jean is in full flow about Margaret Thatcher being elected Prime Minister, she’s not happy about the “milk snatcher“, it’ll spell the end for Yorkshire that is if the Ripper doesn’t do that first, our own homegrown West Yorkshire bogeyman. Not that Miv entirely understands what’s going on, especially about his victims, after all, she’s only eleven but when 19-year-old building society clerk Josephine Whitaker from Halifax is killed, she takes more notice as she’s not that many years older than her. The dark cloud of the Ripper looms large over Yorkshire, especially to the west. When it’s mooted that Miv’s family may leave Yorkshire, cricket and all, she is determined to stay especially for her best friend Sharon. What if …. what if… she could solve the murders? So she starts to make a list of the suspicious things she notices around her and ropes Sharon into her investigation. This stunning debut is told over a period of about 2 to 3 years by Miv with alternating chapters from the adults around her, offering some illumination of sharp eyed Miv’s observations.

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.

The hunt for the evil Yorkshire Ripper inevitably means there are some dark themes and the storyline also includes racism, bullying and some domestic violence too. It captures West Yorkshire to perfection especially in the context of the late 70’s and early ‘80’s with its derelict satanic mills of Blake’s poem, with its ghosts of the past, the attitudes and gossip of a small town with firmly entrenched views. You definitely feel the tension and fear of the hunt for Peter Sutcliffe, I was in Yorkshire at the time though not the West, but we all felt the fear. Yet, despite all the obvious darkness, there’s Miv, wonderful Miv. You watch her grow up and you just know she’s going to be a fine young woman and one you’d most certainly want to know.

This is a superb coming of age story cleverly entwined with the mystery of the identity of a serial killer, it’s a story of unbreakable friendships, a life that is better just for knowing that person and the strength we derive from them. It’s beautifully written and I will not deny I have tears rolling down my face at times, this book is truly an experience and one to savour. It isn’t hard to imagine this will be one of the smash hits of 2024. Highly recommended, obviously!!

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Random House U.K., Hutchinson for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

[megs_bookrack]

Going into The List of Suspicious Things I knew one thing about it, that it involved the true life case of the Yorkshire Ripper, who was convicted of murdering 13 women in Manchester and West Yorkshire in the UK, in the late-1970s and 1980.

I had heard that this was a personal novel for the author, Jennie Godfrey, who grew up in West Yorkshire, and whose father had actually worked with the man later identified to be the Yorkshire Ripper. I needed to read this book.



It just sounded like such a unique perspective she would have writing this book; something that few others would have. I assumed this was just a straight-up Mystery novel though, but it's not really. It's much more than that.

If I had read the full synopsis, I would have read that it was a Coming of Age story, but I didn't. Luckily, for me, I love a Coming of Age storytelling style and it really worked for me here as well. So, this is more of a Historical Fiction Coming of Age tale with a real life mystery in the background.

This story is mostly told from the perspective of a young girl named Miv, who lives in West Yorkshire at the time that the community is being plagued by these vicious killings. There are small snippets from others throughout the book, but Miv is definitely our focus.



As a child, I believe she's around 11-years old, Miv doesn't full grasp the gravity of what is happening around her in the community, how serious the threat is, but she knows it's something bad and frightening.

Along with her friend, Sharon, the two decide they are going to find this killer and put a stop to it. They begin digging around, finding suspicious things about the people in their community. Could one of these suspicious people be responsible for the killings?

We follow along and learn about this community, which is a bit economically depressed, with families who yeah, have issues that stem from the life stressors that come along with systemic poverty and uncertainty.



I won't get too much further into it, as I feel like my experience with it, not knowing too much, is really the best way to experience this. It pulled me in. Miv has all the purity of childhood, thrust into pretty scary circumstances.

I feel like she was trying to bring order to that in any way she could. It was like the more she could control her circumstances, the less scary it would feel for her, which is relatable, right?

Unfortunately, she didn't realize how much her actions could impact those around here, and we do see some of that play out. I loved learning about this community and meeting the various adults who played a part in the neighborhood goings-on.



I loved the fluidity and humanity in Godfrey's writing and though it did feel a little slow to me at times, there's really nothing I would have taken out of it. I just feel like it's a bit more Literary than I'm used to reading, so I grew impatient at time with the pace.

Overall however, even though this wasn't at all what I expected, I did end up getting fully sucked into the story and I enjoyed it a lot. I thought Godfrey did a great job of making this an immersive experience for the Reader, and the audiobook production added to that with the multiple narrators. I would recommend the audiobook format if you're going to check this one out.

Thank you to the publisher, Tantor Audio, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I can't wait to read more from Jennie Godfrey!!

[Line Magnus]

I really enjoyed the majority of this book, but at the end, it really bothered me how the severe mental illness of Miv's mother was dealt with. A person who has been completely mute and almost catatonic with depression and PTSD for two years doesn't just 'snap out of it' when the situation is serious enough and then goes on completely cured 'like she'd never been away' just because she was 'ready to come out of it'. Ugh.

[Kate O'Shea]

If this is a debut I can't wait to read more by this author.

I could probably write a list of why I thoroughly enjoyed this book: I'm from Yorkshire (not far from Dewsbury), I was around the same age as Miv when the Ripper terrorised the streets, I too had a pretty friend who boys were attracted to but she was nicer than Sharon so there the similarity ends. However the main reasons are the plot, the characters and the dialogue of this great first novel.

Jennie Godfrey has drawn on her own life to produce Miv, an immature, nervous little girl who is trying to deal with the unexplained withdrawal of her mother from her life, her father's increasingly worrying behaviour and having a best friend who she is desperate to keep (without knowing she doesn't have to try at all). But Miv is not the only totally believable character - from Mr Bashir who has lost his wife, moved from Bradford and is trying to deal with the NF element that is threatening his life and livelihood or Mrs Andrews whose charming and handsome husband, Gary, is not quite all he seems to much lesser characters like Jim whose Newcastle accent makes him a target for a while after the Wearside Jack tapes.

All of these events were blurry in my mind but as the book unfolds they came back to me with startling clarity. But this is not a book about The Yorkshire Ripper it is about the people in a small Yorkshire town dealing with their own demons be they the National Front, racism, the changing nature of the streets, alcoholism, domestic violence, mental health. Lift the rooves of any street and you'd find the same problems but Jennie Godfrey has given them a voice, made them real through the eyes of Miv, whose desire to catch the Ripper is sometimes funny, sometimes ridiculous and sometimes somewhat terrifying as she tries harder and harder to keep Sharon close and her family together.

I don't think I've done this book justice with this review. It is seldom dark, despite the issues revealed. Miv is a wonderful vibrant character who positively bursts off the pages as do so many of Ms Godfrey's characters. I mentioned the dialogue earlier and that too rings true. It's an art writing believable dialogue and Ms Godfrey pulls it off with aplomb.

Highly recommended. It'll keep you spellbound to the end.

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House UK Cornerstone for the advanced reading copy.

[Emma Bamford]

This is a book that’s been endlessly hyped all over social media and yet it did nothing for me.

The main character, Miv, is annoyingly naive and frustrated me massively. The book itself was slow - it started out okay but dropped off shortly after the sample chapter ends … and then the ending is insane! Everything happens at once; characters we’ve barely been mentioned to you are outed as paedophiles and alcoholics, children die, a young man hangs himself, the bloke obviously abusing his wife gets arrested, the shop burns down … It was bizarre, to say the least. I can’t say I enjoyed it much.

And the constant Yorkshire-isms; “laiking out”, everyone drinks tea, there’s “trouble at t’mill” … you know the sort of thing. Then it isn’t consistent. Sometimes it’s written in a Yorkshire accent, sometimes it isn’t. It just wound me up.

Finally … We know that the Yorkshire Ripper was called Peter Sutcliffe; the book is set during the search for him, when nobody knew his actual name, so the first time a character called Peter is mentioned (offhandedly, we never see anything this Peter does or says, and we never learn his surname), I immediately went, “that’s him! That’s the Ripper they’re looking for!” Then another character called Peter turns up. As it happens, my first guess was right, but calling two characters Peter in a book about the Yorkshire Ripper is an odd choice.

But yeah. Alcoholism, death, suicide, paedophilia, bullying, racism, affairs, depression, domestic violence, homelessness and lies. This book’s got it all (except good writing).

Not for me. Too trite, too unbelievable and too slow.

[Jules]

As a child of the 80s and a born and bred Yorkshire lass, as soon as I read the first line of this book, I knew I was going to love it. It invoked childhood memories of growing up in Yorkshire - the dialect, the accents and growing up in a small community.

The main character, Miv, is a very strong willed not quite teenager, who gets it in her mind that she can solve the case of the Yorkshire Ripper. She begins to make a list of suspicious characters and places in her town, roping in her not-so-keen-on-getting-involved friend, Sharon. Along the way, we meet the other residents of their small town, with many giggles and traumas along the way.

This is a book not to be spoiled by a long review. I want you to meet the characters and experience them for the first time within the pages of the book, just like I did. And what a wonderful journey you will have. You'll laugh, you'll gasp out loud and you'll cry (more than once!).

A book so full of heart that your own will explode with the sheer joy of the goodness of humans, even when faced with pure evil in its many guises. And on top of all that, it carries a message to women that we should remember every day.

Bravo to Jennie Godfrey for an exceptional debut!

[Ioana]

reminder to never trust goodreads ratings

[Susan (on hiatus)]

Making a list...
Checking it twice...
Gonna find out who's naughty and nice*

The List of Suspicious Things is a love story. Not limited to romance, it encompasses the love of family, best friends, and community. And like most beautiful love stories, it also includes heartbreak.

I was enthralled with this book. So lyrically written, it brings to life a pre-teen’s growing up years in 1970’s Yorkshire and had me smiling and shedding tears alternately.

I highly recommend this uniquely written novel which I found elevated in every respect. Not only a favorite for this year, but for many to come.

My hardback copy purchased at Blackwell’s is sitting at the forefront on my shelf.

* Santa Claus is Comming to Town written by Haven Gillespie

[suspenseisthrillingme]

Set against the backdrop of The Yorkshire Ripper murders, The List of Suspicious Things evoked the time and place of the 1980s with ease and even added a touch of nostalgia for this eighties baby. You see, while there was plenty for Miv to investigate in this dark, haunting story, it ultimately felt more like historical fiction than a mystery novel. A coming-of-age tale that was as poignant as it was disturbing, I was easily wrapped up in the lyrical prose. But the heavy topics—all handled with care—and social commentary were the true driving force in this unputdownable book. Exploring serious themes such as racism, friendship, mental illness, and immigration, it had me thinking long and hard while I flew through this impressive debut. Heartwarming, tragic, and just a little bit funny, Ms. Godfrey knocked it out of the park on her very first go.

All said and done, while it wasn’t exactly what I was expecting to find before I began reading, I was still blown away by the end. Delivering a strong sense of community alongside plenty of insightful observations, it was a beautiful yet authentic critique of the time period in question. On top of that, though, the complex friendships and difficult family dynamic gave it a depth that you don’t often find in fiction centering around a preteen protagonist. With a Nancy Drew feel layered on top of a vivid landscape of uncomfortable truths, there was plenty to love about this one, even if it wasn’t my standard fare. After all, any book that can make me feel all of the feels deserves my undying love. So if you love books that are timely, relevant, and show the best and worst in humanity, look no further because you’d found it right here. Rating of 4 stars.

SYNOPSIS:

Twelve-year-old Miv is panicking. Life has been complicated since her mom got sick, and now her dad is talking about wanting to move their family away from the town Miv has lived in her whole life―because of the murders. Young women are dying, everyone is afraid, and no one knows who the culprit might be.

But as far as Miv is concerned, leaving Yorkshire and her best friend Sharon simply isn't an option, no matter the dangers lurking round their way; or the strangeness at home that started the day Miv's mum stopped talking. Perhaps if she could solve the case of the disappearing women, they could stay after all?

So, Miv and Sharon decide to make a list: a list of all the suspicious people and things on their street. People they know. People they don't. But their search for the truth reveals more secrets in their neighborhood, within their families―and between each other―than they ever thought possible. What if the real mystery Miv needs to solve is the one that lies much closer to home?

Thank you to Jennie Godfrey and Sourcebooks Landmark for my complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.

PUB DATE: December 30, 2025

Content warning: murder, domestic abuse, racism, suicide, death of a child, mental illness, sexual assault, violence, bullying, pedophilia

[Clare Pooley]

You know how you see a book everywhere, and think HOW CAN THIS DESERVE SO MUCH HYPE? Then you start reading, and you think IT DESERVES THE HYPE. Then you finish, and know it NEEDS EVEN MORE HYPE! Brava Jennie Godfrey! This book is gorgeous ❤️

[Meagan (Meagansbookclub)]

Rounded up from 3.5

Quick thoughts:
-Reads like YA
-audiobook was very well done with full cast
-too long
-sweet characters
-unique historical fiction of the Yorkshire deaths in the 80’s

[Emma.catherine]

Oh WOW 😮 that ending! I was SO not prepared for that…🥺😭🤐

The title doesn’t even begin to give this book justice! It is SO much more than just a mystery; it is a heartfelt, tender and emotional read, that I would highly recommend to anyone!

In fact, the author’s note at the beginning says it all: ‘The list of suspicious things is my love letter to God’s Own Country.’ 🥰

And so, the story begins with a 12 year old girl named Miv. She is our main POV throughout the course of the story, however the narrative does occasionally switch to the POV of other characters. It is 1979, Miv and her family live in Yorkshire, England where there happens to be a murderer on the loose (based on the real-life Yorkshire Ripper!). Curious Miv wonders “What if we decided to try and find him?"

Little by little, Miv and her best friend, Sharon, begin their list of suspicious things. And alongside this process, we slowly get to know the members of their close-knit community. Everyone from a school teacher to the owner of the corner shop. However, overtime Miv’s questioning becomes an unwelcome element to the friendship. But sometimes the strongest connections are found in the most unlikely of places…

This is a truly original take on a mystery and is probably one of the most heartfelt and touching mysteries I have ever read; unexpectedly, it very nearly had me in tears! It is beautiful coming-of-age story explores topics ranging friendship, racism and mental health. What a fantastic debut novel! The pacing was perfect, the characters felt real and relatable and I am sorry to be leaving the whole community behind. I look forward to seeing what Jennie Godfrey has in store for next… 📚💖🌟

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

[Marta]

1/31/26 further thoughts:
My ‘review’ does not do this book justice. It covers such a realm of things that I honestly don’t know how to put it all into words. So many different types of relationships are formed in this book that are really quite heartwarming. Miv has such a unique journey in this book, and I really do recommend this for something just a little bit different. I had a holy crap, holy crap, holy crap moment. I was not prepared for that at all. It made my heart just ache.

The subject of loss and grief is touched upon numerous times, but oh how lovely it is done. Truly such a beautiful way.

Again, my only issue was that, personally, I think Miv and Sharon should have been a bit older than they were. And that’s a me issue.
———————————————original review👇
8/10: 4⭐️’s.

I don’t have a clue how to sum this one up. My only quibble is that I feel like the girls should have been 15/16, instead of 12/13. My niece is 12, soon to be 13 and I cannot picture her in most of these situations. If not for my issue with the age of Miv and Sharon, this would maybe have been a 5⭐️ book, but I just couldn’t get past thoughts of, at 12? Really? Other than that, the book was really quite good. The various narrators were also very good. I am at a loss for further words at the moment.

Not sure if I will come back to this and add more in the future. This felt quite different than other books I have read/listened to primarily because it comes largely from the perspective of a 12/13 year old girl.

Perhaps have some tissues handy, especially towards the end. Several things to be tearful over.

Brief thoughts and rating posted: 1/29/26

TW: a lot of them, which isn’t helpful. I can honestly say that suicide is the only one that really caught me off guard, SA of a child, though not in detail, it is still mentioned.

Ps. I just read the blurb from GR’s. That would not have made me want to read this book. I came across it on Libby and that blurb made me want to listen to the book. I wonder how many times I have written ‘read the summary from goodreads’ w/o actually reading it. Just assuming it will be decent🤷‍♀️. This time I will say, find another summary of the book because the one on GR doesn’t seem very enticing. Nor does my review. Which is too bad because it really was a very good book.

Additional comments posted: 1/29/26 a smidge bit after brief thoughts.

More additional comments at the top and another specific TW added: 1/31/26

2/3/26: ugh, added a line and finger pointing down to separate the original review from later thoughts a bit more easily and even though I went into a dif gr version so that it wouldn’t show up on people’s feeds, it still changes the date posted, which annoys me, because I am not trying to repost this, just make it easier to follow, because, well nm, doesn’t matter, but I have to add this explanation strictly for myself because otherwise it will bother me when it shows that I posted it on 2/3/26 etc etc. just a dumb Marta thing, so ignore this last paragraph. It’s my mini version of ocd and rambling to myself kicking in right now! 🤪.

[Karen]

Set in Yorkshire during the Thatcher years and under the shadow of the Yorkshire Ripper, this novel is told through the first person narration of 12/13 year old Miv, with regular third person accounts of other characters.

This is a coming of age story, a mystery, a romance ... a bit of everything and it just didn't work for me. I admired the scene setting, the historical time period reconstruction complete with mentions of the events of the day including Thatcher's end to school milk, the mines and declining industry etc. That said, the Yorkshire accents came and went and there was an overuse of the signature phrases. I could not come at the early teen desire to catch the Yorkshire Ripper which felt like one of the famous five novels the protagonist so admired. Yes intentional I am sure - but it just didn't work for me. There were serious subjects here, domestic violence, alcoholism, mental illness, racism ... but it all felt juvenile and poorly written. I obviously read a different book than the majority! I'm just angry at myself that I kept reading in the hope of it getting better, it should have been a dnf.

[Cathy]

I'm going to be in the tiny minority of readers who weren't completely ecstatic about this book.

Although I thought the author captured the period brilliantly - Jackie magazine and Wagon Wheels - and there were some wonderful characters, especially Omar and Arthur, I found the story being set against the backdrop of the horrific real life serial killing of women distinctly uncomfortable. Sharon summed it up well when she says to Miv, 'I just worry about what we're doing here, and why... It feels, I don't know, like a game. And it's not a game, what's happened to these women. It's not.' Yes, you could say Miv is naive but visiting sites similar to where actual bodies were found and visiting the area where attacks occurred were, for me, just morbid.

I appreciate the author may have been trying to communicate how the wider fears of a community can mask what's going on under their noses. However, in this respect they seemed particularly unlucky that this involved alcoholism to zenophobia and seemingly everything in between.

Sorry, not a fan.

[Erin]

ARC for review. To be published December 2, 2025.

5 stars

Miv, age 12, lives in West Yorkshire during the late 1970s, after the mills have closed and when the Yorkshire Ripper was running rampant. Miv decides that she and her best friend Sharon should investigate suspicious occurrences and people and find the Ripper themselves and they discover so much along the way, both good and bad.

Oh, book lovers. If you were ever a twelve year old girl (and even if you weren’t) there is so much to love here. The book is told from Miv’s perspective (mostly) and she is so perfectly twelve. There are many characters with compelling stories and they are nearly all well done (if maybe all a little either too good or too bad) and the life of a former mill town in decline in the late 1970s is also rendered well. I couldn’t quite tell if this was a debut, but, either way, wow. I was absolutely charmed by this, and I don’t normally go for the type of books that you would use the word “charmed” about. Highly recommended.

[Michelle]

If you're going to make me cry, it's a five star. What a wholesome read.

It's the late seventies in Yorkshire UK. Margaret Thatcher is Prime Minster and Miv is approaching her teenage years when the murders begin.

We follow Miv and her best friend Sharon as they start the list. The list of suspicions things. Together they will find the man who has been killing local women.

This is tackling some tough subjects in the gentle way YA novels are best at. Sexual assault, domestic violence, racism, depression, coming of age in the awkward way teens do.

This will break your heart and fill you with love. An amazing debut.

A novel of nostalgia featuring the best and worst of an explosive decade in Yorkshire's history.

[Shane’s Library]

Oh how I thought this would be a guaranteed 5* read and I’m so disappointed that *for me* it just wasn’t. About halfway I was thinking 3* will do it but I can’t even give it that.

It was a slog and a chore to get through this which is so disappointing because it started off well, there’s a lot of positive reviews and social media hype but it just missed the mark for me in the end.

Miv was very annoying, the ending really didn’t do it for me at all. Honestly if the book had of focused more on Omar and Ish it could’ve maybe been more my cup of tea but just seemed things were happening for the sake of writing something about *insert trope/ trigger here*.

2.5* is my rating but I can’t justify rounding it up.

[Gwendolina Toner]

Poorly written, predictable, no depth..

[Stephanielikesbooks]

I first heard about The List of Suspicious Things on booktwitter and decided to read it as the premise was interesting. I’m glad I did as it will be one of my favorite reads this year. It’s been receiving a lot of well-deserved praise and is on bestseller lists in the UK.

This is a beautiful, heartfelt coming-of-age story set in 1979 in Yorkshire, England. It is about 12-year-old Miv whose family seems to be falling apart, with her mother sick, her father distant, and her aunt unfeeling and cold. Miv hears about a string of murders of young women (the real-life Yorkshire Ripper) and that her father may move the family to another town for their safety. Miv, feeling bereft, decides that can’t happen so she determines, with the help of her best friend, Sharon, to investigate who in their town might be the murderer. And so begins Miv’s writing of a list of things/people she thinks are suspicious.

As Miv and Sharon observe those around them, the veil of childhood starts to lift as they come to learn about the secrets in the town. Miv, in particular, starts to understand that there is both good and bad in people and that things and people aren’t always as they might seem. Told primarily from her point of view, we also see life in 1970s Yorkshire unfold through the eyes of a few others, including Omar, a Pakistani newcomer dealing with racism and Helen, a woman being abused by her husband but whose neighbors choose to turn a blind eye.

This is a story about self-doubt, friendship, family, loss, discrimination, being young and trying to figure out who you are, and about the fact that life can be difficult at times. But it is also about hope and resilience - one line near the end in particular really stuck with me: “..and I realized, just for a moment, that it was possible to come back from the worst thing that ever happened to you.”

Kudos to the author on this, her debut (!) novel. The characters seem real, particularly Miv who is a funny, likeable person, the setting feels authentic (the references to 1970s politics, Margaret Thatcher, and culture are spot-on), the pacing is very good, and the plot culminates in a bittersweet ending. I enjoyed being in Miv’s world and was sorry to leave it when I turned the last page. Highly recommend this moving and emotionally fulfilling read.

[Dem]

Yorkshire 1979, The Yorkshire Ripper is on the loose and the police are struggling to capture him.
The hunt for the ripper captures the imagination of two young friends Sharon and Miv and they are determined to start their own secret list of suspects and in doing so they unearth a neighborhood of secrets.

This novel started out strong and I enjoyed many aspects of the book. The characters were enjoyable and very likable but the story became tedious after 300 hundred pages and I plotted to the end.
I felt it was repetitive and it ended up just being an OK read for me.

[Sarah]

This book has taught me that when Waterstones do a mass promotion of a book, to check that the author of said book, does not work at Waterstones, which is the case here.

I must be around the same age as the author, I grew up in middle class Leeds only around two miles from where many of the murders occurred, yet the 1970s Yorkshire she describes is unrecognisable to me. I would love to know the actual town which she conceals ,as it seems to be trapped in the 1930s rather than 1970s ,with people greeting each other with “ eh up”. I wondered if it was because the world she recalls is one of working class poverty, but I knew plenty of people from similar backgrounds that neither spoke nor lived like this.
I remember there was fear in the air when driving through Chapeltown , Harehills or Scott Hall into town or being in beautiful Roundhay Park, where murders had taken place. My mum had met the first victim when they were both patients in hospital and she gave her some of our old clothes for her kids. But the level of consciousness for kids Miv’s age was far from as visceral as she describes even in Leeds, never mind nowhere near the murder scenes in the town she lived. It does not ring true. I’m sure not many people knew how the victims had been murdered and there was a lot of speculation as to why he was compared to the Victorian murderer.
We also had plenty of Asian people at school living very similar lives to ours so I found all of that bizarre and again in the wrong era.
The beginning of the book reminded me a little of Keith Waterhouse’s “ There is a happy land” which I would recommend reading over this any day. However there were not enough shared memories of songs, food, events etc to evoke the era. It was lazy writing. Then it went down hill. Even when writing as one of the adults she sounded like a child.
It would have been better to discover what Miv did about the various other people around her one at a time every 10 chapters or so, not cram it all in at the end. In fact there was too much crammed in full stop, her mum, the various misdemeanours of the suspects, the supposedly autistic man, racism, affairs, and yet at the same time it was very boring. It was certainly twice the length it should have been.
The ending itself was dire, maudlin, unnecessary just thrown in there.
Sorry but one to avoid.