Oh this is good, this is really good. The precise nature of the characterisation, the almost chaotic claustrophobic nature of childhood, the swirl of macro and micro events. Highly recommended.

I was 9 when we moved to Bradford in 1978 so this book could not hold more memories of my childhood if it tried
Wonderfully written and a book that will stay with me and any reader for a long time
Just superb

Growing up in West Yorkshire, I remember the fear of the Yorkshire Ripper and the unsolved murders. I really enjoyed reading about Miv and Sharon’s attempts to try to find the murderer, by noting down anything suspicious about the people around them. An excellent book about growing up without fear, and a desire to solve the problems around you.
Excellent characters and a great story.

What if making a list would be all that it took to capture a killer? Miv is young enough to believe she can work out who the Yorkshire Ripper is, and if she does, her family will not have to move. But her naivety means the results she wants, are not the ones she gets. And the ones she could not have imagined, happen. A sorrowful read, and a book I can recommend.

It's 1979. Margaret Thatcher has just become the Prime Minister, there's a serial killer on the loose, Miv's mum isn't talking and now her father and auntie Jean are talking about moving away. Fortunately, Miv has a plan: she will make a list, like her auntie Jean does, and with her best friend Sharon she will catch the Yorkshire Ripper.

This was such an evocative read. I was born in a different country almost ten years after the book was set, but you can feel the anaglypta wallpaper as you read. The book has a fantastic band of characters, lead by the wonderful Miv, who is one of the best characters I've read about in a while.

I won't spoil anything further as you should probably go read for yourself - I could not put this down and kept thinking about it, and now I've got a book hangover.

Miv is a young teenager - growing up in a Yorkshire village, in the early eighties, that is dominated by the Yorkshire Ripper murders. She loves her village and her best friend, Sharon, so, when her father threatens to move the whole family south to get away from the murders, she feels she has only one choice – to solve the Ripper murders herself.

This is a wonderfully evocative and poignant novel about a young woman on the edge of growing up, who nonetheless does not yet really comprehend the adult world. It depicts the atmosphere of the time brilliantly – the paranoia and confusion surrounding the Ripper, the in-baked and often violent racism that abounded, and the uncertainty about the future.
It is also a gorgeous depiction of the awkwardness of growing up, of wanting to understand the adult world but not being ready to depart childhood. I loved this book and would highly recommend it.

The hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper was a challenge to everyone involved but especially Miv as she is still in secondary school and all the locals seem to have a secret to hide!

So begins Miv’s list of suspicious things, with her best friend at her side and new friends made along the way is she running towards trouble or away from a troubling life?

From racism, to grooming, mental health and domestic abuse some serious topics are covered but through the lens of a teenager trying to make sense of the world. Such a deft touch of writing to unveil the stark realities of the world without needing to become overly explicit.

I so enjoyed this, although I wasn’t prepared for that ending and had to just take a minute to reflect on what had gone before and what might be yet to come. A joyful mix of suspicious things and people that aren’t quite as mysterious once you ask the right questions.

This book sucked me into Yorkshire even though I've never been there! The book was written so well, you could literally see everything painted out in front of you. I liked that you got the perspective of this young girl and how much sympathy I felt for her. Overall great book on friendship as well!

The List of Suspicious Things is an incredibly special story that will stay with me for a long time. It has received a lot of hype already prior to its release but don’t let that put you off - it more than lives up to it. Twelve year old Miv becomes obsessed with tracking down the Yorkshire Ripper through her list of suspicious things with the help of her best friend Sharon. Miv is innocent and naive and struggling to make sense of a world where her mum doesn’t speak anymore, casual racism is the norm and men she is supposed to be able to trust are not safe to be around. Despite this, the story is told lightly and is full of heart and friendship. I have a lump in my throat just thinking about it. 5🌟

As someone you lives in Yorkshire, the shadow of the Yorkshire Ripper is something I'm aware and this book gave an insight into how people lived with it and how it was perceived by adults and children alike.

Following the journey Miv took in trying to make things right and solve the crime and studying all around her while living with a mother who had withdrawn from life is both funny and sad at the same time.

It was a great book and will enjoy reading more from this author.

An impressive coming of age story of a 12 year old girl, based around the time of the hunt for the Yorkshire ripper. Compelling characters and a well thought out, immersive storyline that touches on love, mental health, grief, immigration and the National Front. Kept me engaged throughout. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

An absolutely brilliant written book! The characters felt like my friends. And despite that I have never been to Yorkshire, the book was so well written that it felt like home. This book will stay with me a long time!

Right from the first sentence you get a sense of what The List of Suspicious Things is about and the tone it is going to adopt; there's an element of childhood reminiscence of what it was like to live in a northern Yorkshire town in the late 70s/early 80s with a little nostalgia for more innocent times without overlooking the hardships endured in the Thatcher years. That view is expanded to take in the dangers faced by women in those times and the more openly racist attitudes expressed, but you also get a sense that it's not going to be all grim, that there is an affectionate look at the peculiarities of growing up with friends and family from a bookish young girl who hasn't quite grasped why things are the way they are.

What is key of course is the way the story is told, and this one has a nice little macabre twist. Horrified by the snippets of news that she hears, Miv decides that she is going to find out who is the Yorkshire Ripper with the assistance of her friend Sharon. Inspired by Enid Blyton's Famous Five (what young book reader wasn't?) Miv is going to compile a list of suspects on a notepad just bought from the corner shop, the main suspects being those “not from around our way”. The first name to go into it is indeed Mr Bashir, the cornershop owner and father of their schoolfriend Ishtiaq. The more she observes, the more she finds that there are a lot of other adults whose behaviour is suspicious to a young girl, but that doesn't necessarily make them the Yorkshire Ripper.

What Miv and Sharon really discover in their investigation is actually how other people live with a great deal of personal challenges during these times, how difficult it is for a Pakistani family in a town that is mistrustful of outsiders, how other factors can explain why people are angry and why they behave the way they do. The List of Suspicious Things however isn't just a coming of age story of the brutal awakening of an innocent childhood becoming aware of the challenges of being an adult and looking for reassuring answers to troubling questions. The late 70s/early 80s also see a kind of coming of age of a country under the Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, where the fault-lines in society were being exposed and exploited by some. All of this provides a good realistic background, and prevents the novel from being merely a nostalgic period snapshot of a significant period, although it has that quality as well.

The coming of age is inevitably a painful one for both Miv, the people of Yorkshire and for English society in general. The problems of older ingrained social attitudes towards toward immigrants and women are still very evident in the lives of the people Sharon and Miv "investigate", but they are even closer to home than that. Even if she is not wholly aware of what she is really investigating, Miv's list manages to record all manner of suspicious behaviour in adults, and see how the worst of their actions are covered up or not spoken about. The List of Suspicious Things identifies this conspiracy of silence that exists in English communities around this time, an attitude that still persists to a large extent. Mind your own business, don't interfere. Miv however knows this is wrong and is prepared to do something about it, as scary as her discoveries might be.

Miv stumbles across a few too many dangers within a relatively short period covered in the book, which makes it look like she is lucky to get through childhood to adulthood in one piece, but none of the situations that she uncovers is in any way unrealistic. I think we can all consider ourselves lucky if we didn't have to deal with at least one of the problems that Miv stumbles upon here. What lifts the story above that, and what perhaps would see many of us through those times (not just late 70s, but through childhood) is Miv's discovery that her list is also a way of holding onto something tangible, a way of forging a meaningful connection with a friend who she is worried will slip away, as well as find stability within her own family. Jennie Godfrey's wonderful writing subtly brings out then how friendship and family are the cornerstones of society, and supports the belief that when good people come together, it may be possible to change things for the better.

This a coming of age story that I throughly enjoyed reading. It is set in the seventies in Yorkshire at the time of the Ripper murders. Miv and her friend Sharon decide to try to find out who the Ripper is by writing lists of suspicious people. It is such a nostalgic novel , with themes of racism, domestic violence , bullying, and mental illness. I love the innocence and naivety of the two girls, whilst they are trying to solve who the Ripper is. There are such beautiful friendships formed between the girls and the boy from the corner shop. It is such a tight community and everyone looks out for one another, even when times are tough at home.. I would like to think that times have changed and moved on from the issues that are so well described in the novel. I think it would make a great TV series. Such a great debut.

This was a brilliant debut novel & I look forward to reading more by this author.
Thanks for the opportunity to read & review it.

This book isn't even out yet and all I've been seeing is positive early reviews, rating this as one of the best books people had read. It meant I was really keen to read it. And I've also got Jennie on Twitter and she seems like the most lovely lady, and I am so pleased that this - her DEBUT novel (unbelievable) - is doing so well.

I've had it on my Kindle for a while and had been lusting after it for ages, but for some reason, I didn't actually know what it was about. I obviously had read the blurb at one point, but for whatever reason, it hadn't stuck. And so I had no idea it would be centered around the search for the Yorkshire Ripper. It gives it such a powerful feeling that took my breath away.

I've said before that my ideal page count is about 300-400, no more than 450 maybe, and that I dislike overly long books as I never think they warrant being that long, and so the fact that this book was over 500 pages long was a bit of a worry. But I read the first 1/4 in the same time it would have taken me to read the equivalent in a shorter book. It is so thrilling and fast paced (but never rushed) that you're drawn into and it holds your hands and holds your breath and only gives it back to you upon the last page. I read it in less than 24 hours, which was pretty impressive for me given the page length. So if you're like me and panic at the sight of a longer book, you don't need to with this one as the time just whizzes away.

I don't know much about Yorkshire (except that I think it's beautiful and I want to live there), and I know even less about Yorkshire in the 70s and 80s, and yet Jennie has created such a sense of place, even within the first few pages, that it feels like coming home. She doesn't describe Yorkshire in the obvious way of depicting what it literally looks like. But it's in the characters, the way they walk and talk and dress, it's in the local establishments and community, and it's in Jennie's blood, and you can feel it in every line.

I may not have been around in the 70s, and yet I still remember the joy of being able to go to the local shop in the 90s and being able to buy sweets for pennies. Jennie has managed to display that sense of nostalgia beautifully, and whilst not necessarily important to the plot as a whole, it was a nice touch.

It's got an interesting format. It's mainly told from the viewpoint of Miv, out main protagonist, alongside her friend Sharon. But then we get chapters written from the viewpoint of the people Miv adds to her list of suspected. It gives us a fantastic look at what's going around. And whilst some of us readers know the real identity of the Yorkshire Ripper, and so knows when Miv might be barking up the wrong tree, it's still so exciting that you really end up believing her suspicions and willing them on. This change in viewpoints is such a cleverly crafted way of giving us the opinions of a child and comparing it with the opinions of an adult, and you really see the different perspectives throughout the book.

As much as I didn't want to put it down, I had to go in order to go to sleep, but I couldn't stop thinking about it. It's so addictive that I couldn't wait for the morning to pick it up again. As it would happen, I didn't get much sleep that night and so read a good chunk of it at about 43am, but that was fine as it meant I got back to it sooner.

There are some very serious topics in this, obviously death and murder, but also mental illness, employment worries, bullying, racism, unwanted sexual attention, violence, the threat of violence, political differences, the idea of being displaced and not belonging - it's heavy, it's a heavy book, and yet it never feels hard to wade through. Which, for me, shows that Jennie has balanced the good and the bad perfectly to make it a very good piece of entertainment.

She has balanced grief beautifully. I've had my fair share of it over the years, and it's different for each relative or friend you lost. I won't spoil it, but there is a certain amount of grief in this book, of the typical bereavement type, but also the grief of losing a job, losing a friend, losing your home. Jennie has handled them so well that I can feel she must have her own personal experience with it, because every word has been thought through and it is perfect for every situation.

Another thing I really loved was her handling of the victims. It's hard when dealing with a serial killer not to stray into the gratuitous, but she's done it nicely. She's not overplayed it and used their deaths in a violent way, nor has she brushed them under the carpet as if they were unimportant. And also, Jennie has listed all of the Ripper's victims at the back of the book in recognition of these women, which was a nice touch.

I hadn't expected to be so moved by it. I was in floods of tears at various points for various reasons. It's got to be one of the most beautiful uses of language I've ever read.

Having said all that, I cannot fully find the words to explain how much of a masterpiece this book is. It's something you will feel for yourself. But if you want to read oner book this year that will stay with you over the next years - choose this one.

Wow! What can I say about this brilliant book, except wow!
Written from the perspective of 11 year old Miv, this story covers everything eg; poor mental health, racism, domestic violence, however, the overriding thing that I took away from it was friendship.
Set during the late 1970’s when the Yorkshire Ripper was prevalent, Miv makes a list of things that she thinks are suspicious and with the help of her best friend Sharon, they try to investigate and help catch The Ripper.
Things don’t always go well, but that doesn’t make Miv want to give up.
An easy read that provokes emotions.

What a moving and outstanding novel - the best I have read in a long time. A narrative voice that is authentic, relatable and pure. The warmth in this novel as it navigates such very heavy themes is one that will stay long after you’ve finished reading. The writer has an eye for detail, a talent for conveying the complex and I cannot wait to read more from her. Just a beautiful novel I’ve already recommended to others.

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗟𝗜𝗦𝗧 𝗢𝗙 𝗦𝗨𝗦𝗣𝗜𝗖𝗜𝗢𝗨𝗦 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗦
—𝗷𝗲𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝗱𝗳𝗿𝗲𝘆 | 𝟰🌟

‘𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘯’ 𝘢𝘭𝘭. 𝘐 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯, 𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘰, 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘣𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘸.’
𝘐 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘶𝘴.
‘𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘳. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭,’ 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥, 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘦. 𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘮𝘱 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮. ‘𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦?’

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲:
✨Coming of age story
✨Small town community
✨Ey up, this is Very Northern 😂
✨A quest to reveal the Yorkshire Ripper
✨Exploration of tough topics

𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀:
This was 𝗰𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 from the very first line:

“𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘵 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳.”

Set in 1970s Yorkshire and told from the POV of a 12 year old girl, The List of Suspicious Things captures the 𝘄𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗲𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 and the 𝗵𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗳𝘂𝗹 aspects of a small town community. It explores horribly tough topics such as: 𝗽𝗲𝗱𝗼𝗽𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗮, 𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵, 𝗮𝗹𝗰𝗼𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗺, 𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗺, 𝘀𝗲𝘅𝗶𝘀𝗺, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝘂𝗹𝗹𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴. So it was quite a heavy hearted story. But it also explores kinder topics: 𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽, 𝗳𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆, in such a sweet and fierce manner. The friendship between main character, Miv, and best friend, Sharon, was so lovely, even as their friendship was changing.

This book appears to follow the arc of one storyline—revealing the Yorkshire Ripper—whilst the actual story unfolds in a quieter and more 𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗼𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 way that made me feel 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗳𝘂𝗹 and 𝗻𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗴𝗶𝗰. It’s so incredibly 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗰𝗿𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗱 and the story was full of charming 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗡𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗻 𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗴𝗲.

For me, the pacing was a bit slower than I would have liked. Otherwise it would have been my first five star of 2024!

𝗞𝗮𝘆𝗹𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗵 | 𝗪𝗲𝗹𝘀𝗵 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗙𝗮𝗶𝗿𝘆

This was an absolutely stunning debut! I loved the setting of 70s/80s Yorkshire where my dad lived, he'd have been a couple of years younger than Miv so a little insight into what the Yorkshire villages were like back then. Although I've not read lots, I've always really enjoyed the fictional books I've read based around a true event and the idea of this story of Miv and her little village around the very real events of the Yorkshire Ripper murders was enticing. Having most of the book set from the 12/13 year-old eyes of Miv meant that although she was fixated on finding the Ripper she was enough removed from the gore of it that it didn't read like a true crime book (a genre I'm not a fan of). Miv focussed more on what he looked like, who he might be and where, with the appropriate amount of sympathy for his victims and their families.
Desperate to try and help catch the Ripper, Miv starts to investigate anyone in the village who could be suspicious and there's a lot options. A lot of the residents have something going on in their lives they don't want to talk about, a secret they're keeping that no one will question because that's not the Yorkshire way, but is it related to the Ripper? Starting out with just her best friend Sharon, the friends the girls make and lose along the way and the journeys it takes them on is such a lovely tale of coming of age and friendship and I think a very important read. I loved so many of the characters (and hated others) but Sharon in particular was such a lovely young girl, always sticking up for people and what she believes in.
Some secrets I guessed fairly easily and others I had no idea about and some I was worried weren't ever going to be explained, but that ending is not one I saw coming until the last minute and really surprised me. This is an excellent book and I'm so glad I got to read it early. I highly recommend it and am excited to see what Jennie will write next!