The List of Suspicious Things by Jennie Godfrey
Genre: Historical, Mystery
Listening Length: 10h 57m
Published By: Tantor Media on 30th December, 2025
Format: Audiobook
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Book Synopsis:
“We’ll make a list. A list of all the people and things we see that are suspicious. And then . . . we’ll investigate them.”
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 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?
Book Review
I’ve seen this book a lot on social media but never thought to pick it up. My fiancé’s mother recommended me to try the audiobook version, so I finally caved and gave it a go. Although I’ve seen this book floating around social media, I’ve never thought to look into what it’s about… So you could say that I went into this one blind.
Multiple people narrate this book because the chapters are from different perspectives. I have no issues with the actors chosen and I enjoyed listening to all of them. Due to the storyline of this book, we have a lot of characters mentioned and the author does a great job with the depth of them. This book leans into the complexities of being a human and how people may perceive us without knowing our full stories. It highlights that people who seem ‘good’ can do bad things, and vice versa.
My main criticism with the book is that the storyline moves too slowly. There were times when I was questioning if the plot of the story was doing to develop. I quickly realised it is more of a character-driven story. I will say that I did have a eureka moment quite far into the book when it started to all make sense and I understood the underlying message. I think this book is very cleverly written, but the pace is too slow given the lack of a major plot.
The author does a wonderful job of rounding out the story and showing how the Yorkshire Ripper ties in with the main story itself. The book is set during this period, but I appreciate that it doesn’t centre too much on the Yorkshire Ripper. Instead, it is always present in the background of the story which I enjoyed. Godfrey was able to make me feel emotions towards her characters; some I ended up loving and others I ended up hating.
The ending completely shocked me and was very emotional. I want to mention that while it’s marketed as a mystery, it’s best not to expect a typical one. This story is more about the main character discovering herself and those around her in the community. If you are wanting to pick this up, I would highly recommend the audio itself. However, if you prefer immersive reading then definitely listen to it alongside reading it physically or digitally.
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