After years abroad, Joey returns to England with her husband Alfie. In lack of alternatives, they move in with her brother Jack and his pregnant wife. The neighbourhood is full of strange people, first of all this woman who seems to have mental issues and is convinced that people are following and watching her. Then Tom Fitzwilliam’s family, he a charming teacher who immediately starts to flirt with Joey, his wife, a somehow excessive runner who only seems to live for her husband and their teenage son who closely observes everything that is going on in their street. It is all but a peaceful suburb of Bristol, it is soon to become a crime scene – but who killed whom and for which reason?

Lisa Jewell opens her sixteenth novel actually with the crime scene. You know from the start that somebody has been murdered, but the victim’s identity isn’t given, only one clue to lead you in a certain direction and to keep your attention fixed on one character throughout the novel. I really liked that because the author so cleverly puts you on a track that – even if you are careful and know how crime novels sometimes play with you – you eagerly follow into the trap.

It is not easy to talk about the novel without revealing too much and spoiling the fun for other readers. I especially appreciated the wrong leads, the assumptions you have about what might have happened, who the murderer could be and the reasons for his deed, that all turn out to be completely wrong. The style of writing and the artfully dropped hints keep you read on excited to come to the end and see the full picture. Carefully orchestrated, a brilliant psychological crime novel that could hardly be surpassed.

"Watching You” is another good mystery from Lisa Jewell that compels you to enthusiastically turn the page. It’s a great read and well plotted, and like all good mysteries, keeps you guessing until the end. It wasn’t perfect, but I very much enjoyed reading it and have recommended it to friends.

Thank you to NetGalley and Century for a review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. What a brilliant read, I have loved all this authors books and this was up there with the best. 4.5 stars

I love all of Lisa Jewell’s books & this one was up to her usual high standards. Great plot, well written characters & kept me guessing to the end

Superb and suspenseful thriller with a mix of complex characters. We know from a crime report in the opening chapter that there is a murder investigation.

This book was a compelling tale of gossip, hearsay and nosy neighbours, each of them with their own back story. There was no one I particularly liked but did connect with them. Each time I thought I had things worked out, I was thrown a curveball!

Very cleverly written. Yet another great book from Lisa Jewell.

Melville: A place where your neighbours spy on your every move.

The opening chapter sees a policewoman processing a crime scene. An unidentified person lies dead on the kitchen floor. We then rewind to two months earlier and cover the weeks leading up to the murder, with intermittent flash-forwards to police interviews with various neighbours.

Several chapters in and I had concluded that the majority of the characters weren’t very nice people. There were a few that had likeability potential, others I just felt plain sorry for, and two in particular that frankly made my skin crawl. It also became clear early on that almost every character was either watching a neighbour, being watched by a neighbour, or sometimes both. They lurked in bushes, took photographs, recorded video, used binoculars, looked in windows, followed one another, and bumped into each other on purpose. Disturbing behaviour, right? At least that’s what I thought...

Then the last half of the book pretty much took everything I thought I knew and threw it out the window. Lisa Jewell is the queen of misdirection, and I’m the sucker that fell for it. I still can’t get over how wrong I was. And that last page – man-oh-man, so good! Aside from edge-of-your-seat crime suspense the author always succeeds at injecting a lot of emotion and heart into her stories. I admit to tearing up a couple of times. ‘Watching You’ is every bit as impressive and memorable as ‘Then She Was Gone’ in my book. Run, don’t walk, to read it!

I'd like to thank Netgalley, Random House UK, Cornerstone. and Lisa Jewell for the opportunity to read, and review, a digital copy of this book.

Review posted on Goodreads, Amazon, Instagram, and Auckland Libraries.

Intriguing and exciting novel written by a favourite author of mine. Storyline was great with the desired twists & turns.

Lisa Jewell - one of the authors at the top of my 'fabulous authors' list! I have read so many of her books and been hooked every single time - never disappointed - and this book is no exception.

Melville Heights is one of the nicest neighbourhoods in Bristol, England; home to doctors and lawyers and old-money academics. It’s not the sort of place where people are brutally murdered... But it is the sort of place where everyone has a secret. And everyone is watching you.

As the headmaster credited with turning around the local school, Tom Fitzwilliam is beloved by one and all—including Joey Mullen, his new neighbor, who quickly develops an intense infatuation with this thoroughly charming yet unavailable man. Joey thinks her crush is a secret, but Tom’s teenaged son Freddie—a prodigy with aspirations of becoming a spy for MI5—excels in observing people and has witnessed Joey behaving strangely around his father.

There are a couple of back stories in this book that lead to the final answer to the all important question of 'Who did it...' However rather than your typical murder mystery, there are lots of different avenues that this book could go down and a handful of suspects as well as a handful of potential victims. Crimes committed years ago versus crimes committed in the here and now are all explored in this twisted and suspenseful psychological thriller.

A creepy compulsive character driven thriller that will make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up!

This is my very first book by Lisa Jewel, I know, I know, shame on me! But before you start writing me hate male, LOL, this absolutely will not be my last! Miss Jewel won me over after the first chapter! Her exceptional character developMent made my heart sing! Add in a complicated twisty plot that sucked me in from the very first page and short chapters that kept me on my toes.... and all I can say is YES! YES! YES!

The book starts out with a dead body, somebody has been murdered... but who? And why? And by whom? The story is then told from multiple different perspectives leading up to the murder.... there is a lot of speculation about Tom Fitzwilliams the new head teacher... he appears to be a little too friendly with his students especially the female ones, and what happened 20 years ago? And why does he move around so much? What I thought was so brilliant about this story is we never get Tom’s perspective, but we get that of those around him, we learn about him and form our opinions of him through their eyes.... The three primary narrators in the story see Tom in very different ways... Joey the newlywed who has just moved in twohouses away from him is seriously infatuated almost borderline obsessed with him... Freddy, Tom’s son and a kind of lovable oddball is sometimes frightened and sometimes not by him... Jana the teenager down the street and a student at Tom’s school is very creeped out by him, convinced he is acting inappropriately towards her BFF.... we also get treated to the police transcripts of the investigation peppered in throughout the book, I thought this added an additional layer to the story.

Throughout the story there is a lot of watching going on... Freddie is watching the entire neighborhood... let me just add in my opinion here, getting your teenage son high power binoculars, probably not a great idea, just saying...We also had Jenna’s mother convinced crazy shenanigans are going on, watching Tom... Jenna is watching and watching out for her BFF... Joey is watching the comings and goings of Tom and his wife... and so on, made me wonder what is going on in my own neighborhood?

This book was really all about perception and assumption, my opinion of each and every character in this book change from beginning to end.... made you realize you never really get the entire picture.... a wonderful book about the darker side of what goes on behind closed doors...

Absolutely recommend to anyone who enjoys an addictive dark twisted story with fantastically developed characters and a mystery that will keep you guessing!

*** many thanks to Random House Cornerstone for my copy of this book ***

If I had to sum up this book in one word it would be fabulous. When I started reading I must admit I wasn't really settling into the story but within a few chapters I was hooked.



From the title you'd be forgiven for thinking it was a stalker watching but in fact it's everyone....the headteacher watching his students, the girl next door watching her crush, the teenage boy watching girls....and all those watchers (and more) hold the key to who has committed a violent crime and why.



This is just a thrilling read. You think you know what's happening then Lisa Jewell throws in a twist laden grenade. And the ending....I really did not see that coming. So much so that when I was sneakily finishing it at my desk my actual gasp out loud rather have me away. P45 not withstanding this was a seriously fabulous reading experience.

A darkly addictive creepy tale that keeps you guessing till the end. Packed with suspense by the bucketload.

This is a classic Lisa Jewell novel - full of intrigue, and with numerous interesting characters who have utterly plausible problems. The plot twist surprised me but was also perfectly satisfying.

I have loved all of Lisa's books - Although this one was readable in the sense that I finished it and it was not a chore but it wasn't as thrilling as her usual more recent type of books.

The book begins as all good books should, with a murder. Someone is lying dead on the kitchen floor, the story then jumps back a few months and tells the lead-up to the murder, I would defo not want to live in Melville!

The neighbours are all pretty unlikeable and you feel like someone is watching your every move- because they are!...its a pretty creepy book with teenagers photographing everyone and neighbours obsessed and spying on neighbours, along with a token killing thrown in the mix.

Great read again from Lisa Jewell I really enjoyed it.

3.5 stars.
This book did take me a short while to get into purely because there are so many characters, but once I got to know who was who I found it to be a good read.
Looking forward to Lisa Jewell’s next novel, as always.

This easy whodunnit throws up a number of suspects and has a twist at the end. A pleasant read, not taxing and the characters well presented. Would recommend.

A small upmarket part of Bristol is the very last place you’d expect to find a murder. All the characters and there are quite a few, are all watching a certain Tom Fitzwilliam! What to say about this book? Well I liked some of it, but it was a bit slow, but livened up considerably towards the end. Be prepared for twists! There was an element of creepiness in the behaviour of some of the residents, none of whom came across as normal, run of the mill people, especially Joey (Josephine). I’m a fan of Lisa Jewell but liked her other books more than this one.

Newly-married Joey returns to her home town with her husband Alfie after meeting while both working abroad and move into her brother's spectacular home in an affluent neighbourhood that he shares with his pregnant wife.
Despite her marriage being in the first flush Joey quickly finds herself drawn to her brother's neighbour - the handsome and charming Tom Fitzwilliam who is headmaster of the local school.
It is a creepy and thrilling read which opens with a brutal murder then gradually works up to the events surrounding it.
A very good read from a favourite author of min. No hesitation in recommending this to all!
Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

You cannot pick up a book by Lisa Jewell and expect to put it down and with this one I couldn’t.
Absolutely gripping loved it.
Can’t wait for more.

An interesting and twisty tale of the comings and goings of a group of people in one street/ town. Lots of creepy people and it's a wonder they all found each other! Basically it centres on someone from this group being murdered and chops and changes between the present and then to figure out who did it.

Thank you to the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.