The List of Suspicious Things

Product Information

Think about film and television too – it’s all writing – and who wouldn’t want to read Succession in book form (for example). My current WIP has a Happy Valley vibe to it, and I’m very happy with that. Butterfield said: “I don’t buy many books anymore, I’m not really supposed to, but I only do it when I fall in love with something extraordinary and there are actually novelists here who I’ve naughtily bought. And The List of Suspicious Things is exactly that, an extraordinary novel.

Set in Yorskhire during the late 70s/early 80s 12 year old Miv isn’t having an easy time. Not only is the Yorkshire Ripper on the loose but closer to home her mum is suffering from depression and is absent from her life & her dad is thinking of moving them away. To distract from her troubles and to feel useful and grown up, Miv and her friend Sharon embark on a quest to catch the Ripper and start to investigate people in the local community.

The List of Suspicious Things follows 12-year-old Miv as she navigates a 1970s Yorkshire plagued by the Yorkshire Ripper. I decided to seek out learning – where could I go? Who was the best? I read and studied and let everything sit. Then, one day I was walking Rocco in the Somerset countryside when an idea came to me. By the end of the walk, I had a title and plot outline. It was the most creative 20 minutes of my life.

She said: “My own childhood was haunted by the Yorkshire Ripper and I wanted to write a novel that captured the atmosphere of the time and the shadow he cast over the community, while also celebrating human resilience and the power of connection. A passion for books led her to a degree in English and Politics at De Montford University in Leicester. Three decades on, she is a student again, this time studying for a PhD in Creative Writing at the University of Bristol. This is an interesting one. As far as I know there aren’t any. But there are some agent preferences, guidelines, and some common sense, which often morph into ‘rules’ when they appear on social media enough times (see also how many social media followers’ writers need to have). 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. What on earth are you on about?' she said. 'How are we going to catch the Yorkshire Ripper, when the police haven't even managed to?'

If you could hold someone up as an everyday leader, who would it be and why?

It’s similar with agents. While they will get a sense of your book from your letter and synopsis, providing comps is an easy way to cut through the noise and encapsulate the feel of a book. So here is my guide to identifying and using comp titles in pitching your book. Jennie: Hannah is an incredibly talented writer, one whose work I had admired on the course. The first time she told me that something I had written wasn’t working I felt very emotional – not just because I knew she was right – I also really appreciated that she had the best interests of my book at heart. The premise – does your book have a similar start point/hook as another one? For example, my debut has two young girls trying to solve a mystery (therefore one of my comp titles is The Trouble with Goats and Sheep)

This is a superb coming of age story cleverly entwined with the mystery of the identity of a serial killer, it’s a story of unbreakable friendships, a life that is better just for knowing that person and the strength we derive from them. It’s beautifully written and I will not deny I have tears rolling down my face at times, this book is truly an experience and one to savour. It isn’t hard to imagine this will be one of the smash hits of 2024. Highly recommended, obviously!! Jennie Godfrey is such a talented new voice in fiction, her writing is brave and unexpected and reminded me of Joanna Cannon. whose work I adore. A beautiful and emotional debut that I know will stay with me for a long time. Highly recommended. Plot/structure –regardless of the characters, is there any similarity in how the books works/is structured? E.g., feminist retellings of Greek myths. And if your best comp title doesn’t fit into the guidelines (e.g., A Kestrel for a Knave would be too old) use your judgement. I decided that the agents I was querying would definitely have heard of, if not read A Kestrel for a Knave and that in combination with The Trouble with Goats and Sheep it was the most accurate and best way to represent my work.I could probably write a list of why I thoroughly enjoyed this book: I'm from Yorkshire (not far from Dewsbury), I was around the same age as Miv when the Ripper terrorised the streets, I too had a pretty friend who boys were attracted but she wasn't as nice as Sharon so there the similarity ends. However the main reasons are the plot, the characters and the dialogue of this great first novel.

How did Catherine Neman write a book about dying that is so luminously alive? Earthy, funny, and terrifyingly honest - this is a book with heart and guts and all the other goopy gravt we need to stay among the living. A radical delight. RUFI THORPE

That’s interesting as it is easy to become unconscious to the need for learning. How do you keep yourself honest to that activity?

Full of humour, warmth, and raw honesty ... a beautiful, uplifting testament to female friendship that will make you laugh and cry WOMAN I really get the negativity around providing comp titles. Who wants to reduce their work to being just like someone else’s? Isn’t the whole point to be original? Well, yes, but remember that there is nothing new under the sun and providing a comp title doesn’t mean that you are saying ‘this book is exactly like my book.’ There is a strong sense of place and time in the book and although I grew up a few years later than the setting, much of it was nostalgic - the games of Bulldog, the excitement of a new lip gloss and the anti Thatcher sentiment definitely very familiar. Also a time of innocence when children played freely in the streets but also an era where adults didn’t quite want to grasp just how dangerous characters like ‘Uncle’ Derek were.