The List of Suspicious Things by Jennie Godfrey, a book review

The List of Suspicious Things by Jennie Godfrey was our book club read this month. It will stay with me for a long time, I really enjoyed my read. Find out why in my review below.

The Blurb

Yorkshire, 1979

Maggie Thatcher is prime minister, drainpipe jeans are in, and Miv is convinced that her dad wants to move their family Down South.

Because of the murders.

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 down their street. People they know. People they don’t.

But their search for the truth reveals more secrets in their neighbourhood, 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?

My Review of The List of Suspicious Things.

Miv is the same age as me, or rather as I was then. And my birthday is just before Christmas too, like her! But, I didn’t live in Yorkshire. The news of the Yorkshire Ripper was hard to ignore no matter what age or where you lived. I think living in Yorkshire would have been scary and it was brave of Miv to want to find out who the Ripper was.

She reminds me a lot of myself, I would have been obsessed about things too and I’ve always been a list keeper. Much of her life reminds me of mine, but my Dad would have passed away by then and my Mum very much took control.

But less about me, the book was a real page turner. I don’t think I fell asleep once while reading and that’s unusual for me. It was also a quick and easy read, a little dark at times but very telling of the year it was set.

Miv, told the story but some of the adults in her life had their own chapter which was told by them. It didn’t make the story confusing though, in fact I thought it was helpful. It was very well written.

So Miv, sets out with her best friend Sharon to try and work out who the Yorkshire Ripper is, going through all the suspects and compiling the list of suspicious things they come across. Miv, is very determined and makes a few mistakes some leading to disastrous things. But she’s not entirely to blame.

We also have Miv’s mum who she believes she found her on the bathroom floor after taking an overdose. She becomes very ill afterwards and often has to go away a few times. It’s never really disclosed where but it’s probably some sort of therapy. She hasn’t spoken since that day. Miv does eventually find out the truth about her mum and it’s quite heart breaking, but I don’t want to spoil the story.

The story builds up slowly and has a very climactic ending. It has many a tale to tell, not just about the Yorkshire Ripper.

You can find the book on Amazon, I actually read my copy on Kindle.

Or you can buy it from Bookshop.org