Cover of The Trouble with Goats and Sheep

The Trouble with Goats and Sheep

First published 2015

About the book

Part coming-of-age story, part mystery, The Trouble with Goats and Sheep is a quirky and utterly charming debut about a community in need of absolution and two girls learning what it means to belong.

Read the full description

England, 1976. Mrs. Creasy is missing and the Avenue is alive with whispers. The neighbors blame her sudden disappearance on the heat wave, but ten-year-olds Grace and Tilly aren’t convinced. As the summer shimmers endlessly on, the girls decide to take matters into their own hands. Inspired by the local vicar, they go looking for God—they believe that if they find Him they might also find Mrs. Creasy and bring her home. Spunky, spirited Grace and quiet, thoughtful Tilly go door to door in search of clues. The cul-de-sac starts to give up its secrets, and the amateur detectives uncover much more than ever imagined. As they try to make sense of what they’ve seen and heard, a complicated history of deception begins to emerge. Everyone on the Avenue has something to hide, a reason for not fitting in. In the suffocating heat of the summer, the ability to guard these differences becomes impossible.

Prizes

  1. 2016 Longlist

About the author

Joanna Cannon, born 1968.

Subjects

Catalogue record

Author
Cannon, Joanna, 1968–
Statement
The Trouble with Goats and Sheep / Joanna Cannon.

Book facts

ISBN
978-1-5011-2190-6
4 more ISBNs
  • 978-1-5011-2191-3
  • 978-0-00-813218-7
  • 978-0-00-813216-3
  • 978-1-4448-2992-1
Records
Open Library

Catalogue data checked 3 October 2026