Book Review: The List of Suspicious Things by Jennie Godfrey

Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received this ebook, free of charge, from Source Landmark via #netgalley, for review purposes on this blog. No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about it. All opinions are my own

"We'll make a list. A list of all the people and things we see that are suspicious. And then… we'll investigate them."

Synopsis:

Twelve-year-old Miv is panicking. Life has been complicated since her mom got sick, and now her dad is talking about wanting to move their family away from the town Miv has lived in her whole life—because of the murders. Young women are dying, everyone is afraid, and no one knows who the culprit might be.

But as far as Miv is concerned, 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 on their street. People they know. People they don't. But their search for the truth reveals more secrets in their neighborhood, 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?

Review:

Miv is coping with the possible changes coming up in her life, by making a list of suspicious things, in theory to help the police solve the case of the local killer, but in reality the lists are ways for them to cope with what is happening around them. By watching and observing, they end up letting new people into their lives, seeing the truths that are hidden beneath the surface, and suddenly everything changes. As they move into teenagehood, new things matter and some things make more sense to them, and other don't. When tragedy strikes, Miv realizes the things she didn't know, and what she should have. More than just a coming of age novel, it's a story of friendship in all it's varied forms.

About the Author:

Jennie Godfrey was raised in West Yorkshire in a mill-working family and her debut novel, The List of Suspicious Things, was inspired by her childhood there in the 1970s. In 2020, Jennie gave up her corporate career to build a life around books. She is now a writer and part-time bookseller who lives, and writes, in the Somerset countryside.