Free shipping on orders over $99
The List of Suspicious Things

The List of Suspicious Things 1

by Jennie Godfrey
Paperback
Publication Date: 13/02/2024
5/5 Rating 1 Review

Share This Book:

RRP  $34.99

RRP means 'Recommended Retail Price' and is the price our supplier recommends to retailers that the product be offered for sale. It does not necessarily mean the product has been offered or sold at the RRP by us or anyone else.

$34.95
or 4 easy payments of $8.74 with
afterpay
***THE NUMBER 3 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER***

HAPPY PLACE BOOK CLUB FOR APRIL


A BEST DEBUT OF 2024 BY BBC, RED, GOOD HOUSEKEEPING

'Such a fresh and interesting voice. You'll cry and you won't be able to stop reading'
MARIAN KEYES

'Such a beautiful story about friendship, community and family and secrets and what's going on underneath'
ZOE BALL

'Gripping and moving'
GUARDIAN


'To read it is to feel that little bit better about life'
ELIZABETH DAY

'A touching paean to lost innocence and the comfort of friendships'
THE TIMES


'A beautiful mystery with heart'
ROB RINDER

'This is a heart-warming book'
EMMA HEALEY

'A gorgeous, page-turning book'
I PAPER

'A wonderful story'
FEARNE COTTON

'This book will live in my heart forever. It's so tender, warm, real and evocative'
DAISY BUCHANAN


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?

THE PERFECT DEBUT NOVEL TO DISCUSS IN BOOK CLUBS

***READER REVIEWS***

'Left a lump in my throat and a hole in my heart'
'A book I won't forget for a while'
'A beautiful and emotional debut that I know will stay with me for a long time'
'A superb look at childhood, at growing up, at starting to see the world around you'
ISBN:
9781529153309
9781529153309
Category:
Classic fiction
Format:
Paperback
Publication Date:
13-02-2024
Language:
English
Publisher:
Penguin Random House
Country of origin:
United Kingdom
Dimensions (mm):
215x136x33mm
Weight:
0.47kg

This item is In Stock in our Sydney warehouse and should be sent from our warehouse within 1-2 working days.

Once sent we will send you a Shipping Notification which includes online tracking.

Please check the estimated delivery times below for your region, for after your order is despatched from our warehouse:

ACT Metro  2 working days

NSW Metro  2 working days

NSW Rural  2 - 3 working days

NSW Remote  2 - 5 working days

NT Metro  3 - 6 working days

NT Remote  4 - 10 working days

QLD Metro  2 - 4 working days

QLD Rural  2 - 5 working days

QLD Remote  2 - 7 working days

SA Metro  2 - 5 working days

SA Rural  3 - 6 working days

SA Remote  3 - 7 working days

TAS Metro  3 - 6 working days

TAS Rural  3 - 6 working days

VIC Metro  2 - 3 working days

VIC Rural  2 - 4 working days

VIC Remote  2 - 5 working days

WA Metro  3 - 6 working days

WA Rural  4 - 8 working days

WA Remote  4 - 12 working days

 

Express Post is available if ALL items in your Shopping Cart are listed as 'In Stock'.

Reviews

5.0

Based on 1 review

5 Star
(1)
4 Star
(0)
3 Star
(0)
2 Star
(0)
1 Star
(0)

1 Review

The List Of Suspicious Things is the first book by British author, Jennie Godfrey. It’s about two years since Mavis Senior’s mum, Marion stopped talking, now spending her days in the armchair or her bedroom. In that time, Dad’s sister, Aunty Edna has come to help out, Maggie Thatcher has become Prime Minister (and Aunty Edna has plenty to say about that), and Sharon Parker, at first sort of co-opted, has become her best friend.

The other thing is the murders: young women are being brutally killed by the man everyone calls the Ripper, and the police don’t seem to be getting any closer to catching him. When twelve-year-old Miv hears Dad and Aunty Edna talking about moving away from Yorkshire, away from it all, she dreads the idea of losing everything familiar, including her best friend. She reasons that, if she could investigate, work out what the police are missing, and catch the killer, they would be able to stay.

Miv is a fan of the Famous Five books and, following Aunty Edna’s example, she buys a notebook and, after carefully studying the newspaper reports about the murders, starts listing the suspicious things she observes around her. Sharon is a bit sceptical that they can catch him, but indignance at the way the victims are described in the press gets her over the line.

Everyone in their small Yorkshire town, Bishopsfield, comes under scrutiny, but dark-haired, dark-eyed men with moustaches, especially if they “aren’t from around here”, drive a certain car, or have a certain accent, qualify for entry into Miv’s notebook. The pair check out places suitable for hiding a body and where the Ripper might find his victims. When the press mention “hiding in plain sight” and “the women in the Ripper’s life” the range of people they feel need watching expands.

After each new killing, “the streets themselves felt unsettled, as though the news had seeped into the bricks and mortar of the town. Whispers of the news seemed to be all around us: women were outside their houses in small groups, muttering his name, their eyes darting around as if he might appear at any moment.”

As they investigate suspicious behaviour and gradually eliminate various suspects, they learn quite a lot about the people of their town: some of it sad, some of it surprising, some of it disturbing. When Sharon’s enthusiasm for their project wanes, she tells Miv “I don’t know if any of the people we know are suspicious or whether they’re just trying to live their lives.” Miv realises “a growing awareness that behind every grown-up was a story I knew nothing about.”

In trying to catch the Ripper, they discover that Bishopsfield harbours: some right-wing thugs who like to intimidate; an arsonist; sexists, racists and xenophobes; a paedophile. There’s infidelity, domestic violence, bullying and cruelty, alcoholism, divorce and suicide.

But they also encounter plenty of ordinary people leading ordinary lives: people grieving losses, trying to cope with life’s challenges, keeping secrets and telling lies, showing concern and kindness and care. The pair make assumptions and jump to conclusions; there are few narrow escapes and some tragic deaths; new bonds of friendship are formed and there are budding romances.

Godfrey’s debut is somewhat reminiscent of Joanna Cannon’s The Trouble With Goats And Sheep, but this is by no means a copy of that. Her descriptive prose is marvellous: “though Aunty Jean’s hearing was less than sharp, her other senses were razor-like, and she would have smelled my inattention like a hunting dog.”

She gives her characters wise words and insightful observations. Omar, the Pakistani shop-keeper: “He heard talk about everyone in the shop, so often he wondered if people knew he could speak English, the things they would say to each other in his presence.”

Omar on surviving grief: “I suppose what I do is try not to think too far ahead,’ he said eventually. ‘If I’d considered for a second that I had to live months, or even years, without her . . .’ Omar stopped for a moment and cleared his throat. ‘I’m not sure I could’ve . . . kept going. But if I only think about the day in front of me, sometimes the hour, or even the minute, then I can do it. I can keep living.”

And Miv on adults: “I had already discovered by then how much people would reveal when you stayed quiet” and “Adults were always doing this in my experience, saying one thing and meaning another, the truth a blur in between” and “I was used to grown-ups having conversations that left the important things unsaid, they happened in my family all the time.” This is a brilliant debut and more from Jennie Godfrey is eagerly anticipated.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Random House UK Cornerstone.

Recommended
Contains Spoilers No
Report Abuse