This is one of a few 2024 publications which have piqued my curiosity. Crime and murder are very much woven into the fabric of the story, with the Yorkshire Ripper murders providing a dark background. I am sure Godfrey is not the first to explore this true crime in fiction, but what I think sets her novel apart is that these murders are the catalyst for a different sort of mystery. There is no cynical or jaded policeman trying to track down the killer. Just an insecure pre-teen called Miv, who decides that she and her friend, Sharon, should investigate the killings. Miv talks about doing it for reasons of justice and safety, but the reader knows this is also her desperate bid to hold on to her home in Yorkshire. So, the concept of this book is almost like the Famous Five, if they were hit with a very large and harsh reality check (as Godfrey’s Yorkshire setting is grounded in the regional and economic problems of that era, combined with Miv’s own personal family problems). Yet I think going in, you know Miv and Sharon are not going to find the Yorkshire Ripper, such an alternative history wouldn’t work well. However, the question remains, and this is where the curiosity comes in, what will they uncover instead?
Synopsis
‘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?’
Overall Thoughts
The opening really cements itself in its 1970s social and historical context and I like how the author chooses to do this, through a one-sided conversation between Miv and her Aunty Jean, the latter airing her views on Margaret Thatcher and why she is unfit to be Prime Minister and why she is bad for Yorkshire. She goes on to list her reasons:
“Number two. She’s already taken milk away from poor children’s mouths and jobs from the hands of hard-working men.”
I knew at least part of this as true. The rhyme ‘Thatcher, Thatcher, milk snatcher’ was still heard in our school, years after she had taken away the little bottles of disgusting lukewarm milk we used to have to drink daily there.
“Three. These bloody murders every five minutes. That’s what Yorkshire’s famous for now. Dead girls.”
I’m a northerner and I currently live in an area in which the effects of closing the mines are still felt to this day, so this social context is one that still feels relevant to me. In addition, the idea of the Yorkshire Ripper killings being seen as a consequence of the Margaret Thatcher administration is interesting, although I like how the author complicates the depiction of the milk, as it sounds like Miv didn’t like it anyway.
Riding in harness together, the narrative sets up how Miv first heard about the Yorkshire Ripper killings and how her Aunty Jean came to join their household. Miv’s mum is unable to cope mentally, and she is deeply depressed and shut down. This is not explained, but I think most readers will be able to figure it out before the end of the book. You can see the effect her mum’s illness has on Miv at home and how her difficulties are supported or judged within her community:
‘It was not long after Aunty Jean had come to live with us, and I was rearranging myself around this new presence in the house, moulding myself into the new shape that was required of me. I was constantly trying to make myself smaller and quieter, but despite my best intentions, my personality kept jumping out anyway, like a jack-in-the-box.’
As a pre-teen Miv has the challenge of trying to figure out who she is and then being able to express this, and her home life makes this more difficult. Her mother is often represented through absence, and I feel this negation is an effective indirect strategy for offering the reader information.
I think Miv gains our sympathy easily, as her need for reassurance and security, contrasts with the fact that locally, regionally and even in her home there isn’t any or not enough. It is not surprising that she takes comfort in reading:
‘It was one of the Famous Five stories. I was too old for them in public, but in private those books were like old friends. I loved the fact their adventures would always end with Aunt Fanny fussing over them, making sure they had plenty of sandwiches.’
I think the world of the Famous Five provides a comforting escape because it contrasts to her own life. Her aunt is not really like Fanny. Jean keeps house, but she is not warm, nor a joy giver and she is the one who suggests moving down South. But I think Godfrey does a good job in making sure her characters do not remain static and less positive traits, are not condoned but they are grounded in their social context or dealt with compassionately (depending on what they are). I think my only criticism of the characterisation is that their arcs/personal growth trajectories are largely predictable, bar one.
I like how books are used in this story. They are a source of inspiration as well as a vital resource for information. Yet books are a double-edged sword at times, such as when Miv’s dad is trying to discuss with Miv the idea of moving away from Yorkshire:
“Would it really be such a terrible thing?” he asked, a smile on his face. He nodded at the Famous Five book open on my lap. “I thought you liked adventures.”
I looked up, surprised. This was a low blow, using books against me.’
The chapters are a mixture of Miv’s point of view, along with a handful of other characters she interacts with, adults such as their local shopkeeper, Omar, Miv’s dad, Austin and a local librarian, Helen. These chapters help to provide the adult perspective on the developing situation, and they often confirm the predictions the reader will have drawn from Miv’s experiences. Moreover, through Omar, we see how race becomes a tension point, with some in the community finding it easier to assume that the Yorkshire Ripper must be “not one of us”. The author does a good job of having Miv and Sharon grapple with racism. It is not a word, which is used, but they witness its effects in their community and their response feels naturalistic, with Miv sometimes getting things wrong and having to learn from her mistakes.
The progression of the Yorkshire Ripper killings colour, how Miv and Sharon perceive men they encounter on the street, such as encouraging them to make far more suspicious interpretations of odd behaviour. As it is Miv already has an active imagination: ‘The year before, a combination of the spy kit I had got for the previous Christmas and my first James Bond film – Goldfinger – had helped me to realise that this factory was in fact a front for Russian spies.’ This surmise is proved to be incorrect, but I think Godfrey is really good at demonstrating how pervasive the Yorkshire Ripper was. When reading the book, it feels like he was everywhere: on posters, on the News and in newspapers. Even playground games were developed around him.
I would say the reader is in a more knowledgeable position than Miv. She is often in situations where she witnesses grown up conversations, but she can’t necessarily figure out what is going on. Due to the frequency of this, leaving the reader knowing more than Miv, I think it takes some of the surprise and suspense out of the experience, as you can simply see ahead better than Miv.
This is a slower book, which works through the trials of becoming an adolescence. It is interesting watching the strain Miv’s quest to find the Yorkshire Ripper puts on her friendship with Sharon, as the lengths Miv will go to, to keep it going increase. Unsurprisingly this leads to some quite negative events. Even though Miv is blind to the effect her quest is having, I don’t think you lose sympathy with Miv.
I would not say The List of Suspicious Things is an uplifting read. Just when it looks like things will work out, the author includes a very divisive twist. I can see the reasons why the author might have chosen it, but I didn’t like it. The reader has had a lot of sadness to read through, so I felt the reader and the characters deserved a happier ending. Other readers of course may have a different reaction to it. Reflecting on the book as whole I think its driving focus increasingly becomes more about telling a coming of age/growing up story, with a mystery component as a secondary element. So, for some the mystery component may be lacking or not as central as they would like it to be. The blurb hints that Miv needs to look within her own home to solve the mystery that really matters, but to be honest this is only a mystery which is perpetuated through parental silence. Nevertheless, I found this to be an interesting reading experience and a different way of exploring the Yorkshire Ripper murders. Even though it is set in the past, it remains a timely book for the present when male violence against women is a pertinent issue.
Rating: 4/5