06/05/2026
Written in a simple, unpretentious style, this story really draws the reader in! Two young girls just on the brink of teenage life, decide to keep a list of suspicious things occurring in their Yorkshire town, in an attempt to aid the hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper who has been terrorising the surrounding neighbourhood and killing women.
Only vaguely aware of the motives that might drive such a man - they don't even understand, at first, what a 'pr******te' does for a living - Miv and Sharon nevertheless start to gather information on a number of men who fit the Ripper's description - dark hair, moustache etc - and in the process, find out a lot about their neighbours, and the secrets they're keeping.
Some suspects are quickly crossed off the list, as they prove to be good 'uns - kindly shopkeeper Mr Bashir, Geordie Jim who is temporarily homeless and lives in his van, awkward, autistic Brian who always wears overalls and a yellow beanie hat. Others, however, prove to be bad 'uns, like Mr Andrews, the abusive husband of the local librarian, and 'Uncle' Raymond who makes the girls feel so uncomfortable at choir practice. In between are those who just have grown-up issues - Mr Spencer the alcoholic vicar, Mr Ware, a newly divorced teacher at Miv and Sharon's school, and even Miv's own father, who is reacting to her mother's mental illness by absenting himself from the house on a number of suspicious occasions.
Supported by Mr Bashir's son Ishtiaq and Mr Ware's son Paul, the girls manage to do a number of good turns in the course of their investigation; but they also make some unsavoury enemies, and danger lurks round every corner.
Based on the author's own experience of being a Yorkshire teenager during the Ripper's reign of terror, 'The List of Suspicious Things' manages to combine humour and ordinary family drama with the dark undertow of real and present evil. Once in, I couldn't put it down.
