How is it possible that I've never read anything by Lisa Jewell before now? Thrillers and mystery are my favorite genres! I think this novel was perfect for my first experience with Jewell. It is complex yet not too hard to understand. There are a lot of characters but I didn't feel it was cumbersome; Each had a purpose in plotting out this great mystery. This one starts with a murder and then we are taken back in time, providing the events leading up to the crime in order to give us clues as to who did it and why. I love this strategy; I think it's fun trying to decipher which clues are red herrings. I gotta say, I didn't figure this one out until the very end. The main suspect is Mr. Fitzwilliam, the local headmaster of a school whose wife is the victim, so obviously he is the one they focus on at first.

Jewell did a great job of making each character a suspect. We have three main narrators, each providing their view of the main suspect. There is Joey, a married neighbor who is attracted to Mr. Fitzwilliam; Freddie, Mr. Fitzwilliam's teenage son; and Jenna, the daughter of a troubled woman who is convinced Mr. Fitzwilliam is stalking her. There were also transcripts of police interviews throughout the book to increase our suspicions as to who might have done it. I would be convinced I had it figured out and then I'd get to another transcript or point of view and I'd change my mind. She is brilliant!

I highly recommend this novel if you are a fan of psychological thrillers. If her other books are as good as this one, I will have to give her a spot on my favorite authors list!

Welcome to Melville Heights - an idyllic, family based, wealthy neighborhood that is the kind of place everyone wishes they could live. Except for the fact that nothing is as it seems. Behind the picturesque closed doors of these painted beauty houses lies dark, ugly and sinister secrets. The kind of secrets that inevitably make it to the light of day through MURDER!

The book opens with a murder scene. We know someone was killed - now we have to figure out who and why. Jewell is skilled at diverting our attention and making us question everyone. As we begin to meet the inhabitants of this community we realize the killer could literally be anyone. There is so much going on here and nothing is quite what it seems from the outside looking in.

Each home and family has so much going on beyond it's surface. There were many themes touched on within this book - obsession, attraction, abuse, trust, infidelity, marriage and parenting. Jewell is certainly a master craftsman at spinning her tale into an intricately layered web. While there were some things that I was able to figure out, there were others that left me absolutely gobsmacked!

I loved how perspective played such a huge part in the storyline. Everyone seemed to be watching everyone else for one reason or another. Characters see things from their own vantage points, take things out of context and make assumptions based on their own beliefs. At times these collide with another character's view and sometimes things seem to perfectly align - causing us as reader's to form and reform our own beliefs as we read. I changed my mind so many times while reading, it felt like reader whiplash!

First time reading this author - THRILLING!
A murder has occurred. Twist and turns in this thrilling roller coaster to find out why. Be brave and enjoy.

Lisa Jewell does it again!! She nailed it with this one and satisfied the anticipation we had here with Watching You! She has written another well-layered story in her traditional way of layering those clues and reveals at just the right time but this time with a little bit of a different twist here to that. She maintained creating that suspense she is a master at but left that final reveal right up to the end. Now there were some clues there and normally I pick up on Jewell’s clues but this time around I found they were hidden in the layers. When I read that reveal and what came after I was left jumping out of my chair yelling “Wow I didn’t see that coming”.

If asked could you say you really know your neighbours? What about the new couple and their son. Would you be shocked to learn their deep, dark secrets. But we all have secrets just some are more disturbing than other. Do you watch your neighbours, do they watch you?

You are going to think you know the secrets held between the pages of this book but let me tell you when the darkest secrets are revealed you'll see the error of your thought process. No one is as they seem and by the end as all the secrets come tumbling out you'll fully discover the whirlwind of a tale Miss Jewell has weaved for her readers to fall into and become absorbed into the lives of some very interesting characters.

I loved how the author took so many quirky characters, gave us their POV's and how perspective can totally twist a person's view on the same situation. How the innocent can seem guilty and the guilty can come off as seemingly innocent.

Now you decide on who you think done it. I had my theory and I will say I was completely off the mark which I absolutely loved because not all authors can pull it off. A lot of times there's some little clue that unravels the whole plotline and you're just left in a big pile of unh, really at the end.

**Received ARC through NetGalley. Voluntarily reviewed**

Even though I own most of her backlist, this is the first Lisa Jewell book I’ve read, and Watching You was an ideal first read from the author!

Melville Heights is a quaint neighborhood in Bristol, England. It consists of several colorfully-painted Victorian homes overlooking the city. Melville Heights reminded me of the Painted Ladies in San Francisco, and I immediately imagined that type of setting because it was described so well. Everyone in Melville Heights is carrying a burden…a secret that could rock worlds. But the best, creepiest part and how the book got its title? Everyone in Melville Heights is watching you and each other.

There is an extraordinary cast of well-developed characters, such as Joey Mullen who lives with her husband, brother and sister-in-law, and has recently lost her mother. There’s also the charming, walks-on-water, Tom Fitzwilliam, the head teacher who champions school turnarounds and manages to easily attract women and teenage girls, yes those whom he is teaching, with his “dad bod.” Freddie, Tom’s teenage son, is quirky and has eyes on the whole city from his parents’ attic.

As the book opens, a woman has been murdered in Melville Heights, but we don’t know who, why, or what happened? We hear from multiple characters as the timeline goes forward in time eventually landing on the fateful day of the murder in March, along with short narratives from the police interrogation interviews interspersed throughout. I loved that particular structure. It kept me guessing and led to a great handle on each of the characters.

Overall, Watching You is a super eerie, well-written, suspenseful read. The short chapters, well-developed, complex characters, and interesting setting boosted my investment, and I devoured this delicious book in twenty-four hours. I’ll definitely be making time for Jewell’s backlist now!

Thank you to Atria Books for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

What a way to end 2018! This book kept me on my toes until the end! I didn’t predict any of it, and really enjoyed the way the author tied up all the lose ends. A nonstop thriller sure to leave you on the edge of your seat!

I received an advance copy of this book; all opinions are my own.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

For me, Lisa Jewell's books are a hit or miss.
I had a hard time getting into this book. It seemed to bounce around a lot in the beginning. I found the amount of characters to keep up with and their relationships was just a bit intimidating and confusing.
As I got into the book more and more, it caught my interest until the end.
A good thriller with lots of twists and turns.

Watching You is my very first Lisa Jewell book, and man have I been missing out!

What it's about: The neighborhood of Melville Heights may be one of the nicest areas in Bristol, but here everyone is watching everyone else. So who killed the woman at 14 Melville Heights? Was it her husband Tom Fitzwilliam who is the current headmaster working miracles at the local school? Is it the new neighbor Joey Mullen who seems to have an obsession with Tom? Is it the divorced woman, Frances Tripp, who is convinced that Tom and other people have been watching her? Everyone is a suspect, and not everyone is as great as they seem...

Suspicion is literally thrown on almost everyone in this book, and I loved it. Watching You is fast-paced, has short chapters, and kept me interested the entire time. I loved that not only did viewpoints switch around, but there were also police interviews throughout the book as well. It was nice having that added bonus which not only built the mystery up of who the killer was, but also broke up the book a little bit and added a bit of a police procedural element (a very small one of course).

There are quite a lot of characters in this book, but luckily they didn't seem too hard to keep track of. I would probably recommend not putting it down for long periods of time though otherwise you may not remember who everyone is and what their purpose in the book is. There is a lot going on in Watching You, and for me, the pacing was completely on point.

Final Thought: I loved the mystery in Watching You and the creep factor was very high with all the 'watching' going on. Fitzwilliam's son is also tracking and watching people which made it even more creepy since he's just a teenager. Unfortunately, I *was* able to figure out the who before it was revealed, but it was close to the end and I didn't know the why. The ending gave me chills so I highly recommend this novel to fans of murder mysteries!

WATCHING YOU BY LISA JEWELL BOOK REVIEW
I expect thrills and turns from Ms. Lisa Jewell. I’m happy to say, she delivers all that matched with alternating timelines, gaslighting & a heck of an ending with Watching You.

GETTING TO KNOW LISA JEWELL
This is my third novel by Lisa Jewell. A few years back, it seemed everyone & their mom read & loved I Found You. I read it & really enjoyed it but never wrote a review. For me, I Found You is haunting, thrilling & the ending really blindsided me. I still haven’t put together all my thoughts years later.

Last year, I burned through Then She Was Gone is one sitting. The story is quick, thrilling & reminded me of a Lifetime movie; in the best way!

STALKER VIBES
If there is one thing in this world that terrifies me, it’s the idea that someone is watching my every move. I’ll admit, I was a bit hesitant to dive into this one despite my love for Lisa Jewell. Jewell writes this tale in a Hitchcock type nature where the tension builds throughout & then the ending leaves your head in a tailspin.

There are definitely some topics & scenes that make me squirm. Thinking about them now, I’m pretty sure I’m grimacing. If you’re easily creeped out, this one may be too intense for you. As the synopsis alludes, there is a storyline that deals with men attracted to young girls. Like I talked about in my review for Little Liar by Lisa Ballantyne, these topics make me cringe.

THE VERDICT
I am Really Into This book! I read it in one day, which may be the way I read all Lisa Jewell novels. It’s about impossible to put her books down! Read Watching You if you’re into slow burn thrillers, love twists & turns & you’re not easily creeped out. Skip it if you’re too squeamish & want a nice happy ending.

Special thanks to Lisa Jewell , Atria Books & NetGalley for providing our copy in exchange for an honest & fair review.

Melville Heights is a very wealthy neighborhood. Jack and Rebecca Mullen have moved into a nice house there. Jack is a busy heart surgeon and Rebecca works from home as a systems analyst. This is a good job for her as she is expecting their first child. Jack’s sister, Joey, recently returned from vacation in Ibiza married to Alfie. Neither of them have terrific work skills or great jobs so Jack has kindly offered them live in their home. This is also a good situation because after Rebecca gives birth, Joey will be the live-in nurse for the baby.

A fairly new family has moved into the neighborhood. Tom and Nicola Fitzwilliam and their son, Freddie, are settling into their new home. Tom is the headmaster of a school. He has a skill at being able to move go into a new school and improve its standard. There have been rumors that he may have taken advantage of his position to have contact with young female students. Nicola is a stay-at-home wife. Freddie attends a private school. Having moved a number of times, he finds it difficult to easily make friends. He spends his time in his upstairs room watching people. His parents gave him a pair of high-powered binoculars which he uses to watch people, recording their schedules. He is also able to capture very good photos with it. An intelligent young person, he can speas seven different languages and dreams of joining M15 after he finishes university.

Freddie enjoys watching a young girl who attends his father’s school. Her name is Jenna and she lives with her mother who appears to be schizophrenic. The woman thinks people are watching her and planning things against her. When she sees Freddie at his window, she yells at him. Jenna has a difficult job trying to keep her mother calm.

But in this fairly quiet enclave, a savage murder occurs and someone in this group is guilty. Who and why?

This story builds meandering the reader around several characters making us wonder who, if any, would have motive to want to kill someone. It wasn’t until right before the end of the book that I was able to to piece it all together and figure out who was killed and the motive. The author was leading us down a completely different path to make us think we had it all figured out. Very well done, Ms. Jewell. I have read her books before and have enjoyed them.

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Watching You is intriguing and will have you confused and not exactly sure what is going to happen next!

We know from the beginning that someone was murdered, and for the majority of the book I imagined the wrong person dead. I'm sure it was set up that way intentionally but I loved how it kept me guessing and on the edge of my toes throughout.

Watching You is told from multiple points of view and 3rd person. At times I found this a tad difficult to follow, but otherwise it was a very enjoyable read. There were things that felt injected into the story to intentionally mislead you, but other things that seemed mundane at times, that ended up having a much deeper importance than you realized.

The time and thought that went into Watching You is incredible. This is one of those stories that you can read over and over and find something you missed ever time you read. If you are looking for a suspenseful and psychological this winter, Watching You is the perfect book for the job.

This book was a total flop for me. I eagerly picked it up after seeing a friend rate it 5 stars. Thrillers aren’t really my thing but I figured I would give it a shot. I found this book so predictable which is actually the opposite of what other readers are saying.


My greatest complaint with Watching You was that all the characters were so strange. Connecting with characters is a must for me and each person was so “out there” it was a struggle for me to relate to them at all. Add in infidelity (which is my least favorite things in a book), a pervert old guy with a stalker son, lots of spying and peeping toms, along with a dose of insane murderers and you have yourself Watching You.

I know its hard to trust reviews, specifically with thrillers, because everyone guesses things and then ends up loving it or hating it; so with that being said these are just my opinions. The writing was done very well, just wish I liked the plot or characters. haha.

I really hate giving bad reviews. It upsets me to dislike someones story and write a bad review but I have to provide honest feedback.

BOOK REVIEW ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 .
Happy Publishing Day! Three storylines- the awkward teenage son of a handsome headmaster with an impeccable reputation, a newlywed living in her brother’s home, and a teenage girl with a mother who battles paranoia. Taking place in a quaint, quiet town, until the day a murder happens. .
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This story has all the elements of a great mystery- the suspicious characters, the back and forth timelines and perspectives, and the subtle clues that lead the reader to question “whodunit”. Despite all these elements, something just fell flat for me. Not to mention, I pegged the murderer before I’d reached the middle of the book. I wanted to love this one, but I’m going to have to land on “like”.

Intelligent, suspenseful, and shocking—my first experience reading the incredible Lisa Jewell blew my mind!!! There are times when an author is hyped up (for good reason), but I feel a small sense of disappointment when I finally join in on their work. Perhaps because I don’t have the history with the author, or because the book I came in on wasn’t their most ground-breaking work. NONE of that can be said about my first experience with Lisa Jewell. If anything, all of the amazing things I’ve heard fellow readers say about Jewell pale in comparison with the journey I just took through Watching You! There’s not a moment of this book that I’d change. Outstanding!!!

Reflection

First I want to talk about the narrative structure. We begin with a murder and see bits of evidence at the scene. Then we travel back a few months, to the moment Joey Mullen first arrives to Melville Heights, living in one of the storied painted houses she admired so much. From here, many characters begin to pick up the narrative. This isn’t a book just about Joey. In the same way a neighborhood has hidden threads connecting people, some by proximity, and others by something deeper, so does this novel. The way the stories picked up on one another, bringing pieces of information and perspectives in to make the final twists and turns stand out was truly a masterpiece.

If there’s one thing we can all learn from this book, it is that someone is always watching. Those hidden moments that you think no one saw? The extra bottle of wine you pick up at the store, the lingering glance you give someone after they walk away, the item you drop into a neighbor’s bin—in a neighborhood like Melville Heights, even the most mundane occurrences are noted. So what happens when a murder occurs on the same block? Who will have a piece of the puzzle?

I found Joey to be a stand-out character. She’s self-destructive. She describes her mind as a hurricane—as someone incapable of following their instincts. She understands what the bad decisions are, but she sees infinite possible moments and she seems to haphazardly push forward without organizing her thoughts. It would be easy to think Joey is unlikeable, given the nature of her storyline (attracted to another man). But I never felt Joey had bad intentions. Joey is someone who just doesn’t have herself together. She’s in a halfway stage between grown up and young adult, and she is finding her way. I’m so excited for readers to experience Joey’s story.

There are too many great characters to talk about (this review would be 100 pages long), but I want to mention a few more standouts. The first is school girl Jenna Tripp. From an outside perspective, Jenna has it all. She’s beautiful, popular, and has a close group of best friends. Jenna’s life could seem easy. But Jenna has a mother with somewhat undiagnosed mental illness. Her mothers hovers on the line between ok and needing help. Jenna has so much on her plate, and I looked forward to her chapters. She’s a remarkable girl and character!

And then I want to end with those enigmatic Fitzwilliams… The mother, who fades into the background, enamored by her perfect, magnetic husband, and a bit lost in life. The son, Freddie, who keeps watch over the neighborhood, documenting the small moments that may be the clue to the murder, while still struggling to find his way as an awkward teenager. And then Mr. Fitzwilliam—the center to the whole story. In a way, Mr. Fitzwilliam is the center to the neighborhood. He’s a man with a trail of admirers. And yet, he’s difficult to pindown. Is he a charming school head, or is he someone more sinister? You’ll have to read to find out!

Thank you so much to Atria for my copy to review. I loved this book!

A brilliant and intrigued story from the beginning!I have read some of Lisa Jewell's books in the past but this one was something else!I was hooked immediately in the story.The opening scene had me so intrigued in finding out who was murdered and why .The process is slow as we get to know all the characters and their motives.

I had many questions while I was reading it, and I found my self having some answers but all the conclusion is coming in the end!I'm really impressed about how this story goes.

I loved the writing and the plot as I said in the beginning was brilliant!Overall it was another great story that make me wondering all the time!

Dark secrets come to light in the aftermath of a brutal murder in Lisa Jewell’s WATCHING YOU.

Jewell probes into the lives of those who live in Bristol’s upscale Melville neighborhood—a row of highly coveted, Victorian homes whose colorful exteriors hide the dark and twisted secrets of those who inhabit them.

We meet a cast of compelling characters starting with Joey Mullen. She’s just returned from Ibiza married to a man she met at a resort, and now they’re both moving in with her brother Jack and his expectant wife, Rebecca.

Joey is trying to sort out her life, including the wisdom of her quickie marriage. She becomes more unsettled when she finds herself infatuated with neighbor Tom Fitzwilliam, head teacher at the local school. Tom seems to be the man everyone either idolizes or covets, except for his son Freddie, who spends his time watching and photographing Melville’s inhabitants, documenting their comings and goings. His relationship with his dad is strained, especially seeing how his mom Nicola’s life revolves around her husband, their arguments spiraling her into deep depressions.

16-year-old Jenna is one of Tom’s students and her mentally ill mom is convinced Fitzwilliam is hiding secrets, convinced they’re after her. Jenna doesn’t idolize Tom like everybody else, including her best friend, who she suspects may be having an inappropriate relationship with him.

Everyone is watching each other and everyone is hiding secrets. One of those secrets leads to police finding a dead body on the kitchen floor of the Fitzwilliam home.

The various characters and their histories, lives tangle together cleverly, making each a viable suspect.

Well-paced, propulsive and haunting, this domestic drama kept me rapt, packing chilling surprises until the very end. Fans of Liane Moriarty, Ruth Ware, Fiona Barton will love it.

Twisty-turny just like I like! It starts out with the reader knowing someone is dead. Then the story is pieces together like a perfect puzzle. I had suspicions and finally figured it out after several possibilities played out in my head.

The title, Watching You, is perfect for the book as everyone is watching everyone. The story is told through the eyes of three different characters. I love that the theme of being watched or spying on someone else popped up with all of voices. It pulled me in immediately and was fast-paced all the way to the heart-pounding end.

Many thanks to Netgalley, Atria Books, and Lisa Jewell for the opportunity to read this ARC.

3.5 stars

Watching You by Lisa Jewell is a psychological thriller.

First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher Atria Books, and of course the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

My Synopsis:
The people in Melville Heights watch each other. They see everything. Secrets are kept, but when someone is murdered, many things are revealed.

Tom Fitzwilliam is the Principal of the local school. He and his family move from school to school, while he “fixes” their problems. He is an attractive man, fawned over by many, and seems squeaky clean. But is he?

Some of Tom’s neighbours are interested in the answers.

Jenna, a student at Tom’s school is beginning to wonder about her principal. Jenna’s mom Frances, thinks Tom is one of many who are stalking her. Although mentally unwell, Frances remembers witnessing an altercation Tom had with a woman when they were away on a holiday. Although Jenna realizes her mom is paranoid, she does believe that Mr. Fitzwilliam was that man. She is also starting to see some strange behaviour from her principal.

Jenna’s friend Bess has a major crush on Mr. Fitzwilliam. This is creating friction between Bess and Jenna.

Joey (Josephine) is newly married to Alfie, and currently living with her brother and his wife (who has her own secrets), a few doors away from Tom Fitzwilliam. Joey also has a crush on Tom.

Nicola, Tom’s younger wife, seems oblivious, but is she?

Freddy, Tom’s 14-year old genius son who plans to work for MI5 as a spy, is a bit of a voyeur. He is never without his binoculars or camera, and has just discovered girls. Someone is hacking into his computer.


My Opinions:
A bit of a slow start on this one, with a lot of characters, and a plot that took a while to take off. However, the last 25% was good, really good.

The story ended up with a fairly major “creep” factor, thanks to all the “watching” going on. The story is told by different perspectives (mainly Jenna, Joey, and Freddy). Through the police interviews of a few characters, we are aware of a “heinous crime” being committed, but it is a ways in before we find out what happened, and a lot further in until the culprit is found. I liked the ending.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advance copy of this book for an honest review. I discovered Lisa Jewell about a year ago and have been quickly devouring her books. I was thrilled to get my hands on her latest! I love a good suspense novel that keeps you guessing until the end. This one, I had no idea what to think and just let myself go with it. As a result, I never saw any of it coming. I will definitely recommend it to others.