This book has just transported me back in time to my preteens and early teens growing up in Stanningley, Pudsey, West Yorkshire. It felt like in many ways I was literally in the pages of the book with Miv and Sharon. I was the mousy brown haired skinny girl and my best friend the blonde Sharon. I was obsessed with mysteries and The Secret Seven, always suspecting our neighbours were up to something and spying from our garden shed, our club house. But we were never as brave as Miv. Just like Miv I remember not really fully understanding the gravity of the situation at first and all the hushed talking around us. Then school closing early and my neighbour who was at high school having to walk a girl home so she’d get home safe, all the boys had to. Then starting high school at 13 having much more understanding and all us us carrying our rape alarms in our school bags and walking home on the white lines in the middle of the road in the dark after netball. The hairs on the back of my neck stand on end just typing this.
Jennie Godfrey has absolutely nailed this story. The innocence and naivety of Miv and Sharon at the start of their investigations is absolutely how we were back then. The way they matured is such an accurate portrayal of how we did, gradually picking up on things we overheard and piecing everything together until it started to become clear. And not just the Ripper storyline, but all the other threads and issues running through the book. Everyone knew what was happening around them and yet nobody addressed it head on like they would today. That was just how it was back then. Such a powerful way to convey all of this through the eyes of Miv. I sobbed my heart out at the end and felt totally bereft leaving Miv.
This truly is an incredible debut novel and it deserves all the praise and all the stars. I think it’s set to be the book that stays with me this year and takes my number one spot.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher Cornerstone, Penguin Random House UK for an arc in exchange for a review.

Wow. I loved this book so much. Set in the 1970’s in Yorkshire, the Ripper murders provide the background for an utterly engrossing story about a young girl named Miv. In order to avoid being uprooted and moved down south, away from her beloved best friend Sharon, Miv decides to find the Ripper so she can stay.
Firstly the Ripper murders while important and well handled, are only a part of this novel. The novel is really a masterclass in family, friendship, community, tolerance (or lack thereof) and growing up. The perspective of Miv, a young girl trying to understand an increasingly adult world is really well done. The nostalgia is strong, as the 1970’s are brought to life so well. Anyone that attended an average secondary school in the 70’s, 80’s or 90’s will relate to a lot here! I loved how the viewpoints were mixed so we heard from the adults in Miv’s life as well. The story builds cleverly and I loved how the characters lives overlapped. It’s quite a long book and yet it seemed to fly by, I really couldn’t put it down. I’ll recommend it to everyone I can. If you love writers like Joanna Cannon, you’ll enjoy this one. Thank you to the Publisher for the chance to read this one early. It’ll take some beating as my book of the year.

The List of Suspicious Things - Jennie Godfrey

What does a 11 year old do when the news of a serial killer on the loose threatens to displace her family? Try to catch the perp of course!
This is a brilliant debut novel set in the times of the Yorkshire ripper. Miv starts a list of suspicious things in an attempt to catch the killer. What she does come across is fault lines in her closely knit community papered over and over again because heaven forbid someone chooses to not confide to the societal norms. Topics like Racism, domestic violence and mental health are handled with such care and all the characters seem so well fleshed out with their own convincing imperfections. The author does a brilliant job of switching the tone of the narrative between the 11 year olds and the adults and you feel like she could’ve written this book from anyone’s perspective.
Though the Yorkshire rippers sets the perfect backdrop to this story, what it really is about is the lives of ordinary folk in small towns and how everyone has their own demons to conquer and find the strength to carry on. An absolute soul warmer, I highly recommend you get yourself a copy when its out in two weeks.
Thank you to Netgalley and Hutchinson for the ARC.

I’ve been seeing this book everywhere so while I initially thought it wasn’t for me I thought I’d better give it a go! I was quickly drawn into 11 year old Miv’s world and realised that all the good reviews were right. It’s got such warmth and heart, despite the serious topics covered and will leave me thinking about it for some time.

Thank you to netgalley for the arc.

This was a cute story about horrible things, I saw some of myself in Miv. But while it's not totally unbelievable, the amount of horrible things that happen to the same tiny group of people in such a short time was a little bit Hollyoaks at times?

This book is beautiful written and drew me in straight away. I was born in the 70's and was too young to remember the Yorkshire Ripper but have watched many documentaries about this time and the dear of women in particular at that time. A truly magnificent debut novel that deals with serious issues in a sensitive way . A truly nostalgic read about a difficult part in Yorkshire's history. This definitely is at the top of my best books read so far this year.

This book will stay with me forever. Emotions that I did not even know that I had surfaced. A brilliant well written book.

Wow wow wow. All the rave reviews are worth it, Jennie Godfrey has written something so wonderfully captivating and real.

The 1970s childhood feel is perfectly pitched, Miv’s childhood felt familiar and real. The nastier 1970s elements- the racism, the domestic violence, the vicious teachers doling out beatings with no comeback- note perfect.

Miv’s obsession with the Yorkshire Ripper - again, spot on. The pre-teenage fixation with an issue - and the feeling that Miv might be the one to crack it, with no thought of any consequences, was skilfully written and utterly understandable.

There are already 100s of reviews telling you to read this book - here’s one more! It’s going to be massive and you don’t want to miss it.

What a beautifully written book- one that I will not forget for a while. I wish this book had been around when I was a teenager. It portrays the troubles and heartaches with growing up and how challenging life can be when you are not quite ready to be treated like an adult, but you start to see the world around you and have lots of un answered questions.
This was very true to life and you felt for the characters of the book and I could vividly imagine them as the writing as so good.

I am so glad I was able to read this book and it left a big lump in my throat. I could not stop thinking about it for days, which is when you know a book has really made a difference to you. Poignant, realistic and crushingly sad at times, which made it all the better for reading it.

An excellent debut novel and I would be keen to read more from this author!

This book takes us back to the time where the Yorkshire ripper is at large. Miv is concerned her family might be moving away because of the attacks. This would mean leaving her whole life behind including Sharon, her best friend, which of course is not ok with Miv! ⁣
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She decides to start a list of suspicious things with Sharon in an attempt to try and catch the man responsible.⁣
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Initially this book starts off quite jokey and juvenile. Things like Mr Smith is suspicious because he has a moustache or the guy who owns the corner shop because he knows everyone in the village. But as it progresses the list and story line gets progressively more in depth and mature. It's almost like the story grows up as the girls do. ⁣
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During their investigation they end up uncovering all sorts of village mysteries. Getting a deeper understanding of the people in their everyday life. ⁣
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As the victim list gets longer the obvious panic intensifies around these young girls. You get a real sense of unease as you go on making it quite a creepy read.⁣
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This book is wonderfully written with so many unexpected twists. A beautiful coming of age tale during what much have been a very harrowing time for woman. There are true moments of heart break and fear throughout as the mystery unwinds. ⁣
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One thing I would say is this book might need some trigger warnings. It does cover some gritty moments which could upset some people. ⁣
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Overall a hugely enjoyable read that kept me guessing until the very last page! ⁣
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Thank you to netgalley, cornerstone and Jennie for my review copy of this book. I absolutely loved it!!

What a fabulous read. I was enthralled from start to finish. A story set in North Yorkshire at the time Jack the Ripper was at large. A story about community spirit and how a young girl of 12 strives to find the Ripper so her dad does not move her away from the area for safety. A really gripping read not to be missed.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in return for an honest review.

In this book we meet Miv. It's 1979 and Thatcher is PM (remember those days) and the Yorkshire Ripper has still not been caught. Miv lives with her parents and Auntie Jean (who has some great dialect dialogue - trouble at t'mill etc) is also staying with them as mum is a bit delicate. Miv has a good friend Sharon who is a bit chalk to her cheese in many ways, but they rub along together. Things change when the Ripper strikes again, this time closer to home and, even though Miv doesn't really understand the whole victim type streetwalker thing, she starts to get a bit scared. But not scared enough to realise that it could all be better again if she could catch the Ripper herself. Especially when she overhears the old talking about moving away. Well, her and Sharon who she also ropes in. And so begins the titular "List of Suspicious Things" which is really a list of potential Rippers and the Things that make them Suspicious...
But all that said, the Ripper is a peripheral story as the main crux of the book is family, and Miv's coming of age really. How her home life dictates what drives her for distraction. But also relationships that go against the grain of what certain people think is right. It's also about how the community deals with things for better and worse. No spoilers but there are some quite heavy themes also contained herein. Remember that the 70s and 80s were very different times for "minorities", that's all I'm saying. (Although, I might rethink that statement later).
And I also fell in love with Miv's character right from the start which also drew me fully into the book. She's also the age I would have been in that year too so there was a lot of connection there too, although I grew up on the south coast and was far enough away from the Ripper hunting ground for it not to affect me in the same way.
It's hard for me to say much more about this - most impressive debut book - YES - DEBUT! What a stellar performance by the author. It's so much more than I can ever express in a review. I can only say that this has screamed into my top 10 so far this year (of 36) and I'll be surprised if it's not still there come December 31st.
So... my advice, stop reading reviews and read the darned book. You can thank me later!
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Every once in a while you are lucky enough to stumble upon a book that you want to immediately press into the hands of everyone you know: this is one of them.

This utterly captivating debut set in the Yorkshire of the ‘80’s perfectly captures the racism, paranoia and sexism of the times. So much of the story resonated with me, being around the same age as Miv and living in Leeds during the terrible years that the Yorkshire Ripper was active.

It is at once a touching story of the transition from childhood to adolescence, of those faltering steps of first love and of that first loss of innocence when you recognise human frailty. The characters are all very real and very relatable.

This is an absolute tour de force and following it will be a tall order indeed.

With thanks to NetGalley, the author, Jennie Godfrey and Cornerstone, Penguin Random House UK for an arc of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

This book got off to a great start for me. I love the premise and the story is really clever in how you learn about the community and people in this North Yorkshire town against the backdrop of a young girls search for the Yorkshire Ripper. It’s unique and was well done.

The family stories are really interesting and it gets you thinking about what goes on behind closed doors in peoples homes.

I think the author did a great job of capturing what it’s like to be an adolescent girl, working out your identity and trying to fit in (or not).

The pacing was a bit off for me and despite a promising start I began to find it a bit slow and I wasn’t excited to go back and pick it up.

I know many people have loved this book, I think it is a genuinely fascinating book and well written. Just maybe not for me

It's 1979 and Maggie has just been elected. It's not a popular choice in Yorkshire where Miv lives with her parents and Auntie Jean. They have other things on their minds as the Yorkshire Ripper is in the middle of his killing spree.
Miv overhears her Dad and Auntie discussing moving away from Yorkshire and decides to try and catch the Ripper as she feels that's why they want to move.
Sometimes very funny, sometimes very sad, this book is not only from the point of view of Miv, but also several other people in the locality and they all have their own sad tales to tell.
I really enjoyed reading this.

Just superb.
A lot of advance praise for this one and totally deserving.
Set in the late 1970s a young girl is growing up amidst trouble at home with a mother that doesn’t speak and a father threatening to uproot the family to give them a fresh start. She sets out on a mission to find the identity of the, still at large, Yorkshire Ripper, in the hope this will. On once her family to stay put and not take her away from her friends. I mean, if she can solve that case, that’ll solve everything right?
Roping in her best friend to help her investigate, the girls actually uncover more about their own tight knit local community than anything else. And Yorkshire in the late 70s is home to ts own issues… racial tensions, domestic violence, and more. Through the eyes of two 12 year old girls we see both the innocence and the darkness underneath.
Heavy on the nostalgia, this is a beautifully crafted childhood friendship, the right amount of plot twists and turns, as well as some really shocking and emotional moments. Highly recommended.

The List of Suspicious Things is such an original premise and an enjoyable read. The voice of 12 year old Miv was very believable and her character was one that I warmed to. This story highlights the best of a community at a time when a dangerous killer is at large and, for those of us who were around at the time this is set, most nostalgic. Definitely going to be a huge success! Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House/Cornerstone/ Hutchinson Heinemann for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Wow, what a brilliant read this is.....I was engrossed from the very 1st page and never put it down until I had finished I! A 12 year old called Miv and her friend attempt to uncover the Yorkshire ripper so her dad doesn't move her away for safety!
Definitely worth reading!

A beautiful book!
I fell into the pages of this story so easily. Miv is a wonderful character and I felt all of her pain and angst, her inquisitiveness and determination. I didn't grow up in Yorkshire, but the coming of age tale is universal and the author tells it so poignantly.
This is a story of a young girl and her hunt for a notorious serial killer in one way, but of course it is much more about community, the darkness that can dwell behind the closed doors of the houses on our street and the light that can shine when those doors are opened.
It is also hugely nostalgic and I could easily relate to some of the situations that Miv and her friend, Sharon, found themselves in – not least shoe shopping with my dad!
In turn heartbreaking and heartwarming, The List of Suspicious Things is a fantastic debut that will understandably be a huge hit.

Thanks so much to the author, NetGalley and to Random House for the opportunity to read this advance copy.

“The List of Suspicious Things” is a beautiful and heartbreaking story. Set in Yorkshire during the time of the Yorkshire Ripper, school girl Miv starts to notice suspicious things about the people in her community. With the help of her best friend Sharon, Miv believes she can catch the Ripper and thinks this will stop her family from having to move away from Yorkshire and her best friend. But as we and Miv learn about the characters in the community, could her investigations cause more harm than good?

This really is a poignant and wonderful book. I absolutely loved it. Unlike books of a similar ilk, the supporting characters were well described and I felt for each and every one of them as their backgrounds were revealed. But there is also humour in the story and I absolutely loved the nostalgia of the era. And while some of the subject matter is harrowing, the Ripper’s victims are acknowledged and the murders are dealt with as sensitively as possible (but realistically in terms of how the community would’ve reacted).

I highly recommend this book and hope that others enjoy it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.