The List of Suspicious Things by Jennie Godfrey
I bought The List of Suspicious Things by Jennie Godfrey with my Christmas Waterstones voucher. Published in 2024, it is Jennie Godfrey’s debut novel. When I bought it, I had no idea what it was about, but I liked the title and I knew it was a popular book, so that was a good enough reason to buy it!
The List of Suspicious Things was inspired by Jennie Godfrey’s own childhood in Yorkshire and the shock of her dad discovering he worked with Peter Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper.
In the late 1970s, the whole of Yorkshire is living in the shadow of the Ripper. Miv doesn’t understand why the police haven’t caught him. So, with the sometimes reluctant help of her best friend Sharon, she starts to conduct her own investigations. Could the Ripper be someone she knows? She notes down all the ‘suspicious things’ about her neighbours and visits some dangerous places, where it might be possible to hide a body.
Miv and Sharon don’t catch the Ripper, but they uncover evidence of other crimes during their investigations.
The List of Suspicious Things is a beautifully written and moving page turner. Written in the third person, the chapters focus on different people from the community – gradually building up a picture of Miv, Sharon and their friends, family and neighbours.
Although not a thriller, it has a few twists along the way and also had me in tears a few times. Some of the themes, such as violence against women, racism and far right politics are as relevant today as they were then.
The List of Suspicious Things reminds me quite a bit of The Trouble with Goats and Sheep by Joanna Cannon, which I absolutely love. Miv is seen as quite a tragic character by people in the community (although she can’t quite see it herself), which reminds me of The Truth About Melody Browne, some of which was also set in the late 1970s.
If you enjoy books about friendship and family and don’t mind shedding a few tears when you read, you will love The List of Suspicious Things. For me, it is an early contender for one of my favourite books of 2025.
Yet another for my tbr pile. I love reading about the 70s (bit strange that) and books in the third person always intrigue me.
This is an absolutely brilliant read. I doubt I will read many better books this year. I’m sure you will love it.
All the way through the book the writer uses sat and stood instead of sitting and standing. She seems able to write eg’the man sitting there’ but never he/she was or they were sitting. Examples:-
I was sat at the table.
He’d sometimes see him stood outside
He drove off, leaving me stood on the pavement.
I woke up to him sat there.
Utterly annoying from a decent story-writer and university graduate .
I think you’re missing the point that the book is narrated by a child from Yorkshire. This is a big part of what makes the book so special. It is written how the child would speak. People don’t usually speak with perfect grammar, especially children and especially if they are using a regional dialect.
I agree with you here. It really grated with me having been brought in Scotland with grammar being a very important part of the curriculum.