I have recently discovered Lisa Jewell's psychological suspense novels and I was thrilled to get the chance to read an early copy of Watching You. Although it's not quite my favourite (that would be I Found You), I do think it's her best one yet.

Watching You takes its time to introduce the all characters and the problems in their lives. It opens with the police investigating the murder of an unknown victim, before taking up the story from Joey's (Josephine's) viewpoint. Joey is a bit of a disaster, recently returned from working in Ibiza and married on a whim; she and her husband now live with her brother and sister-in-law in one of the 'iconic' painted Victorian villas above the town. But, despite being newly-wed, it doesn't take long for Joey to fall madly in lust with her neighbour Tom, a handsome but married headteacher, who seems oblivious to the fact that practically every woman in the district is in love with him. Or is he?

Other points of view include Tom's troubled teenage son, Freddie, who spends his time logging the movements of the neighbours, and Jenna, one of Tom's pupils, whose mother is convinced Tom is stalking her. One of the themes running through the story, as you might have guessed, is obsession.

Lisa Jewell writes in a deceptively simple style that immediately draws you into her world. She has a particular talent for making unlikeable characters likeable; by the end of the story Freddie was my favourite character. I was completely gripped by the lives of these people and was convinced I'd worked out the identity of the murderer early on. It was only at the very end that I realised how cleverly I'd been duped.

Watching You is a mix of family/domestic drama and psychological suspense and I can see it appealing to fans of authors such as Dorothy Koomson. I thought it was completely brilliant and I absolutely loved it.


Thank you to Lisa Jewell and Cornerstone Digital for my copy of this book, which I requested from NetGalley and reviewed voluntarily.

I loved this well plotted thriller with enough red herrings to keep the reader guessing until the very end. There were a lot of coincidences but somehow Ms Jewell's writing made them believable and the characters all realistically flawed.
I imagine this book will be included in a lot of people's holiday packing this summer and I'm sure they won't be disappointed.

Joey is back home after four years living in Ibiza where she met and married her husband, Alfie Butter and they are now sharing a home with Joey's brother Jack and his pregnant wife, Rebecca in Melville. One day Joey meets one of her neighbours, the headmaster at the local high school, Tom Fitzwilliam, and she becomes fixated with him, watching him all the time.  What she doesn't realise is someone is watching her too!!

The story begins with a murder, who it is and how it happened we don't know and are not told till well into the story, we hear the story from various people, it does get a little confusing at times so you do need to concentrate to understand it properly, but the author feeds the reader with intrigue, intensity, suspense and plenty of twists along the way which keeps you wanting to read just one more chapter every time you have to put it down to deal with normal life, and just when you think you've heard everything, Lisa hits you with that final twist that makes your jaw drop and your brain start working overtime again!  This is only the second book I've read by this author, the first was Then She Was Gone, and I will definitely be bumping her others up my tbr list on my kindle. 

I'd like to thank Random House UK for approving me to read this one, I will post my review on Goodreads now and Amazon on publication day.

Another great book by a wonderful author. From the first page the book draws the reader in to get totally embroiled with life in a small village. The characters are so clearly described that they are real people not just fictional names and the details of their thoughts and lives add to this reality. The intermixing of the police interviews throughout just add more suspense of who was the murderer and even at the start of the investigation who had been murdered. The twist made this an enthralling read as pertinent information was drip fed to the reader. Although I had sort of made my decision who was the murderer I did not understand the rational behind it and it is the final paragraph in the book that gives the final explanation to the story and closes the open ended questions. What an author to leave such an ending.

Having been a big fan of Lisa Jewell for many years, from her early “curry and flatmates” (her words!) novels of the 90’s to her later psychological thrillers, I was really looking forward to her latest release.

Set in Bristol, recently married Joey and her husband have returned to the UK and are staying with her brother and his wife. Here she encounters the next door neighbour, Tom, who she is immediately drawn to. What started as a simple crush for Joey, quickly becomes an obsession with much fallout, many secrets revealed and plenty of victims along the way.

I have found with every one of Jewell’s books that I have read, that they are well planned and well-structured and “Watching You” is no different. The plot twists and turns from the beginning and brims with tension and creepiness and I was intrigued right from the first page - Who has been murdered? Why? Who was the murderer? Why? And just when I thought I knew… Nope – a red herring! I was invested in the story right from the start and found it really difficult to put down. Whilst some characters were unlikeable in nature, none of them nor their minor storylines came across as being unnecessarily included and the story didn’t at any time feel padded out nor rushed towards a conclusion, just revealed gradually and naturally.

4/5 – A great psychological thriller full of page-turning twists and turns. A compulsive summer holiday read destined to be on the reading lists of many Book Groups for the remainder of 2018.

Thank-you to NetGalley for providing me with an Advance Readers e-proof copy from publishers Random House UK Cornerstone. All opinions are my own and are impartial and free from bias.

Another great page turner by Lisa Jewell. I was trying to guess the whole way through who the perpetrator was. This story has been brilliantly put together. I was totally gripped from the start. I read this book in one sitting. I was totally immersed in everybody's lives and their relationships to each other. I hope there are many more books to come.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

This was a completely thrilling read. A newly wed obsessed with a neighbour starts the premise of this story but many more characters come into play and wonderfully come together. Several teenagers all with their own family dramas. Some harrowing tales and many secrets. A fabulous read with a wonderful ending.

A brilliant plot, I didn't want to put it down, I was guessing the outcome until the very end. I didn't know who I wanted to believe.

Watching You is another brilliant novel by Lisa Jewell that left me unable to put down. This is always the sign of an excellent book for me. The author slowly builds up the story with a well constructed plot and beautifully crafted characters who each have their own part to play in the telling of this story.
Joey has recently returned from living abroad for several years with a new husband in tow. They move in with her brother and his wife who live in a beautiful house in Bristol. Joey quickly becomes obsessed with one of her new neighbours - handsome super headteacher Tom.
There are a lot of characters in this novel but I did not find this to be a problem. They are all in some way linked to each other and as the novel unfolds, you find out how. Right from the beginning we know that a crime has been committed and the book builds the reader up to find out how.
As ever, fantastic writing from Lisa Jewell, I can't wait for her next book!

Wow what a read. We start off knowing there has been a murder. And. Joey looks like the prime suspect. As the book moves on we meet several complicated characters ranging from 15 year old Jenna trying to look after her mentally disturbed mother to Freddie, the rather odd 14 year of son of Nicola and Tom Fitzwilliam. Without giving th plot away there are some delicious twists in the tale. This is a must read for Lisa Jewell fans

I recently read Lisa Jewells "Then She Was Gone" and really enjoyed it. I jumped at the chance to read this new book but I have to say it was just ok.

I found the beginning to be really slow and there were so many different characters that I was gettting confused as to who was who and how they connected to each other. The story was good, but it just did not grab me. Everyone in this little village was watching each other and it was just a bit creepy.

Thanks to Random House UK Cornerstone and NetGalley for an advanced copy of their book. All opinions are my own and are in no way influenced or biased.

Another page turner, especially as I got into the story. The central character is the head teacher at that local school and slowly we learn his links to other characters. Can't wait for her next book.

Watching You by Lisa Jewel is totally absorbing and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's crime fiction that keeps you guessing about everything right from the first page - someone was murdered, but who was it and why, and just who was the killer? It’s full of suspense and drama, interspersed by transcripts of police interviews.

It's also a great story with convincing characters, told from their different perspectives, many of them watching each other and keeping their own secrets. It's centred on Tom Fitzwilliam, who is the charismatic head of the local school, married to Nicola, with a teenage son, Freddie. Tom is watching Freddie for reasons that are not immediately clear, Freddie is watching, and photographing, people mainly teenage girls, from his bedroom window in their house on Melville Heights. Joey, their neighbour and newly married, but infatuated with Tom is watching him,  teenager, Jenna is watching her friend Bess through social media and Frances, Jenna's mum is also watching Tom, believing he is the head of a group of people stalking her.

As the story progressed I became increasingly concerned for all of them. There are a number of twists in this tightly plotted mystery that meant I was totally bemused - just what was Tom's relationship with Nicola, for example, and what had really happened in Burton on Trent in 1997?  It is only right at the end of the book that all becomes clear. I loved it.

With Lisa Jewell you always know that you are going to be reading a great book, with interesting characters and a great plot. This new book is no exception, it is a definite must read for the summer.

It all starts with a murder ......... but who is the victim ? Who killed them ? And why ?

After the first chapter reveal we go back in time where the events leading up to the murder are slowly revealed. There are lots of twists and turns with a few red herrings thrown in !!

A great book with brilliant characters and a plot that will keep you guessing right to the end. The book has a bit of everything - deception, love, betrayal, crushes, schoolgirl drama, mental health, bullying, stalking and much much more.

Thank you to Random House UK, Cornerstone and NetGalley for a digital copy of this book.

This is a well written story with a cleverly woven plot. a good cast of characters, and enough red herrings to keep you guessing.
I really enjoyed it and totally recommend it!

Lisa Jewell has done it again! Watching You has an excellent plot and a wonderful mix of absorbing characters. I was hooked from the start and struggled to put it down. Absolutely gripping throughout; with a brilliant ending. Highly recommended.

Watching You is a fantastic book. Teenagers with dodgy crushes, misbehaving adults and the right amount of tension throughout the whole book. It’s billed as gripping psychological suspense and it certainly lives up to its reputation.

Great characters and a plot line that evolves the whole time. If you like tales of obsession and murder then this book is for you. I’d rate it 4.5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House UK and the author for the chance to review.

Lisa Jewell does it again with Watching You, another edge of your seat thriller about the residents of Melville Heights who are all watching each other. Tom Fitzwilliam is the local headteacher and causes a stir wherever he goes. Joey has just moved back to Melville heights and the moment she sets her eyes on Tom she is smitten. Then everything spirals out of control until the book reaches a dramatic conclusion which I didn’t see coming. I couldn’t put this book down and it kept me guessing and intrigued throughout.

Joey and her new husband Alfie, both recently returned from working in Ibiza, are living with her brother and his wife. Tom, headmaster in the local school, and his wife and son Freddie live in the same terrace. Freddie who is a bit of a loner, spends a lot of his time at the top of his house surveying the neighbours.
Jenna, who also lives in the neighbourhood and is a pupil at Tom’s school, has a paranoid mum who thinks she is being watched all the time.
Watching You has a complicated plot line and a large cast of characters. Time spent on getting in tune with it all is amply rewarded. This is not only a whodunnit and a whydunnit, but also a who is the victim and it is a smashing read. Combine with Lisa Jewell’s expertise at knowing what makes us all tick and her instinctive understanding of teenagers and the result is a consummate piece of entertainment.
If, like me, you are a bit slow to read another of Lisa Jewell’s thrillers for fear that she cannot possibly keep up this record of producing stunners, then put that behind you and grab this page-turner with both hands.
With thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK Cornerstone

This is Lisa Jewell’s sixteenth book and while I read her early ones, somehow she fell off my radar. Over the last number of years I’ve been reacquainted with her more recent books and I think they have all been 5 stars from me.
In this latest book ‘Watching You’ it’s a case of ‘Who’s Watching Who?’
My goodness this was a great book. It was so convoluted with threads twisting round, red herrings everywhere that I’m not even going to attempt to explain the storyline. Think teenage crushes, obsessions, family, friendships, secrets and revenge.
It all came together at the end with my heart in my mouth for the last few chapters and it was something I never saw coming. What can I say.... Lisa Jewell has excelled again and I can’t wait for her next one.
Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for an ARC to read.