Melville Heights is one of the poshest neighborhoods in Bristol, England. Even though the houses are grand and opulent, the residents are a mess. That is never more evident than the night that the wife of the local headmaster is found stabbed to death in their kitchen. Tom Fitzwilliam is a bit of a dreamboat and the women (and girls) have a hard time keeping their eyes (and hands) off of him. It was his wife that was murdered and their son, teenage son, Freddie, doesn't believe that his father is completely innocent. Down the street is Jenna and her mother, who has been a bit off ever since her husband left her and took their son. Also on the block is Joey and her new husband, Alfie. They got married on the spur of the moment and are living with Joey's brother, Jack and his wife Rebecca. Jack is a successful doctor and Rebecca works from home. The police find a piece of evidence that leads them to believe that Nicola's murderer lives in Melville Heights. Was it Joey who had a crush on Tom Fitzwilliam? Or Jenna's mom who is a little unhinged. Or someone else on the block?


Watching You was exactly what I needed for a holiday break read. Her characters are always complex with more to them than meets the eye. None of them were completely likable, well maybe Jenna. She was struggling to hold things together for her mother and had to deal with stuff a child should never have to deal with. Same goes for Freddie. He was a bit odd, always taking pictures of friends, neighbors, and complete strangers. The author explains why a little later, but it was not soon enough to keep my spidey senses from being triggered. And let me just say that Tom Fitzwilliam gave me the creeps. From the very first page all the way to the very end. I did figure out the "whodunit" but not until nearly the very end. - CLICK HERE FOR SPOILERS.

Bottom Line - I love reading good mystery novels set in England. It serves as a reminder that England isn't all Royal Weddings and American Princesses. Watching You is a great mystery that will keep you on your toes and guessing to the very end.

Details:
Watching You by Lisa Jewell
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Pages: 336
Publisher: Atria Books
Publication Date: 12/25/18
Buy it Here!

What a great book! Kept me guessing and on the edge of my seat. The author knows how to tease the reader and it works!!

Another epic novel by Lisa Jewell- the writing is so realistic I couldn't read this book while I was home alone! Great plot!

I really enjoyed this book, which rather surprised me, because I went into it not expecting to. It has a little of everything, and was an easy read. My full review will be online, and I also chose this as my book of the month to feature in our store, so a review will be there as well.

I finished this a couple days ago and the more I think back on it the more I like it. I think this could translate so well as a tv series with all the different characters and their intertwining relationships. I love that all these characters feel so real and flawed. Great and exciting storytelling, Lisa Jewell!

Quick fun read that pulls you in right away. Lots of twists and turns in this one and is a solid thriller which leads you guessing through the plot. I highly recommend this one! This is one of Lisa Jewell's best.

Lisa Jewel never fails. Her books are well written, full of mystery that grabs your attention and holds it.

I have read several Lisa Jewell books and I think this is my favorite so far. The story line of moving into a new neighborhood and interacting with the neighbors is a good one to introduce some strange characters and situations. Joey and her new husband moving into an attic suite that her brother and his wife own. It helps both couples with money. Tom Fitzwilliams is the one neighbor who seems to have ties to everyone in the Bristol, England neighborhood. When Tom's wife is murdered the police begin uncovering some strange coincidence's. A page turner from page 1. Lots of great characters to choose for your murder guess. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Another winner by Lisa Jewell! She has quickly become one of my favorite authors and I love her books!

This was very well written and very character driven which I liked a lot. It will keep you guessing till the last page!

I couldn’t put this book down right from the start. You may think your neighbors are nice but are they? This book has great plot twists to the very end.

4.5 stars

Watching You is one of those books that drops all these clues and hints that’ll have you thinking you have it all figured out. By the time you get to the end you’ve done a complete 180° and you’re left wondering how you got there. (Bonus points if your jaw hits the floor!) These kinds of books are my favorite. At this point I’ve read enough of them that I almost always KNOW not to believe what’s being shoved in my face. (And I don't think this is a spoiler because I'm sure every other thriller lover knows this by now too.) I enjoy trying to figure out the least likely solution, sometimes I even get it right. But to be honest, I’m usually happier when I don’t, which is what happened with Watching You.

This book also uses different forms of media to tell the story (diary entries and interview transcripts) as well as chapters that each focus on a different character, which checks two more boxes in traits I love in my thrillers.

This story may have too many characters/story lines for some readers to follow, but I loved the way it all came together in the end.

This one took a while to really get going and in turn, took me longer than normal to read. I just couldn't get into the book. I felt like everything happened in the last few chapters. Had I only read those, I don't feel like I would have missed anything.

Twenty years ago, a schoolgirl wrote in her diary, detailing her tragic obsession with a handsome young English teacher named Mr. Fitzwilliam.

Watching You is set in Melville Heights, a neighborhood in Bristol, England where doctors and lawyers reside in classic, desirable homes situated on the top of a hill, looking down into the village. One of the people watching the goings-on en route to and in the village is Freddie, the teenage son of Tom Fiztwilliam. Tom is a headmaster with a knack for turning around troubled schools. Hence, he and his family have moved from place to place as he has accepted assignments to do just that. Now he is accomplishing the same success in Melville Heights. Tom is handsome in a middle-aged, educator sort of way and universally adored by his students. He also catches the attention of Joey Mullen, who has, along with her new husband, moved in with her brother and pregnant sister-in-law.

Joey becomes obsessed with Tom after a few encounters in the village during which Tom demonstrates that their attraction is mutual. Unbeknownst to Joey, Freddie has observed some of her interactions with his father from the window of his room on the second floor from which he surreptitiously watches and takes photos of the neighbors. Freddie, who has no friends, has also been busily tracking the movements of some of his classmates.

Among them is Jenna Tripp, who lives with and cares for her mentally ill mother. Jenna's father moved away, taking her brother with him, leaving it to Jenna to ensure that her mother's paranoia remains in check. She spends hours in internet chat groups with like-minded folks who are convinced they are being systematically talked. And, in particular, she insists that Tom is stalking her. Jenn, meanwhile, is developing a bit of paranoia herself which may be justified. She is not convinced that Tom Fitzwiliam is as genuinely compassionate and interested in his students' best interests as he seems. He seems to be paying too much attention to Jenna's best friend, who has a crush on him, and there is the matter of her mother's insistence that it was Tom they encountered on a vacation several years ago when he was attacked by a hysterical woman who hurled vile accusations at him. A murder in the Fitzwilliam home renders Joey a suspect, but she insists that she is innocent.

Author Lisa Jewell delivers a mystery set in a seemingly idyllic little village where everyone is acquainted, but nothing is as it seems on the surface. As they go about their seemingly unremarkable lives, they are harboring secret pasts and motivations. At the center of the story is Joey, who has returned to England to settle down with the husband she met while working at a tropical resort and married too quickly. Now he wants the to have a baby, but Joey knows she is neither reader to become a mother -- despite the fact that she is trained as a nanny -- nor fully devoted to her marriage. She is working at a dead-end job and restless, which contributes to her fascination with Tom. Freddie stays in his room when not in school, socially inept and keeping secret his troubling observations of the state of his parents' marriage. Jenna struggles to keep her mother's deteriorating mental condition from causing her to have to contact her absent father and seek his help.

Jewell keeps the story moving at a steady pace, elevating the tension level at precisely-timed intervals. At first, she does not reveal who has been murdered in the Fitzwilliam home and the eventual revelation of the victim's identity raises more questions that it provides answers. Because a motive is not readily apparent. However, at that juncture, Jewell begins unraveling the mysteries she has established in earnest, leading to the shocking and unpredictable truth that will have readers wondering how they missed the clues that Jewell injected earlier in the story. Yet again, Jewell has penned a chilling story that will keep readers guessing right up to the end and reading feverishly to determine if their suspicions and theories are accurate.

Another amazing book by Lisa Jewell. Each book of hers I read gets better and better. She has quickly risen to the top of my favorite authors list!
This book bounces between the view points of 3 neighbors, Freddie (a teenage boy) Joey (a lady in her mid-twenties) and Jenna (a teenage girl). While it takes a minute to see where the story lines converge, I was intrigued by the character development & never felt like the book “wasn’t going anywhere “.
I highly recommend this book any any of Jewell’s books to lovers of the psychological thriller genre.

Thank you to Atria books for providing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

WOW, WOW, WOW! What a great book. This is a great who done it page turner! One that you want to hurry and get to the end so you know who did it. Then on the other hand you don’t want it to end because it’s such a great book! Thank you!

Thank you to Netgalley, the Publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book in return for my review based upon my honest opinion.

I love Lisa Jewell`s books and this one is no exception. I was hooked right from the beginning, it took me no time at all to read, I took it on vacation, it was a great beach read!. The characters were flawed and as much as I suspected everyone, I was wrong every time. It was a great mystery, I loved the way the book was told, with the police interviews being interspersed throughout the book. The ending was a surprise the book a thrill ride.

Always on the lookout for new Lisa Jewell book and this one was great.

This was one of my most anticipated reads of 2019!
This book kept me guessing the entire time! I had so many theories about what might happen, what the crazy twist might be. Turns out, one of my theories was correct after all! It was pretty predictable once I got to a certain point in the book. I loved it and would recommend to those looking for a fast paced and quick read.

Lisa Jewell is a hit or miss author for me. I loved Then She was Gone, but I hated The Third Wife. Her newest book was released right before the new year and is called Watching You.

I read Watching You over a month ago, but I am just now getting to the review. Fortunately, I still remember the basic plot lines. Like the rest of Jewell's novels, this is a suspenseful thriller with female protagonists. Also, like her other novels, this one has a few twists.

Unfortunately, I picked up on the big twist (or guess who did it) early into the book making the big reveal not so much as a reveal but a why-did-this-take-so-long feeling. Here's what you need to know:

This book is about a small upper-class community and its inhabitants. In particular, it focuses on a grown woman but doesn't act it named Joey who is married but doesn't act it. She is infatuated with one of the neighbors - the head teacher of a nearby school.

However, she is not the only person who is into the teacher. Some of his students seem to also find him attractive. Except for a student named Jenna and her mother who believes he is stalking her.

This teacher, Mr. Fitzwilliam also has a son who seems to be obsessed with the neighbors and takes pictures of them without their knowledge.

But, it wouldn't be a Lisa Jewell novel if someone didn't end up dead. And someone does. And it was easy to guess who did it.

Overall, it was not my favorite, but it may be that I am have been oversaturated my this genre. If you are new to Lisa Jewell, and especially if you are new to this genre, then you will probably think it is great.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with a copy to read and review!

Lisa Jewell is proving herself to be one of the most dependable authors out there when it comes to great writing and suspense. Watching you is the third novel I've read of Jewell's and I am not disappointed. Watching You is a psychological suspense story that unfolds at juuust the right pace. We know from the beginning a murder has taken place but we've no clue WHO or WHY. After the prologue we go back the beginning. To a neighborhood in Bristol England where everyone watching everyone and
everyone has secrets.

Compulsively readable I read it over the course of a Sunday. Like Lisa Jewell's novel The Girls In The Garden you curse the author for being so good at buildings suspense but also thank her for writing with such detail to character and plot that you cared enough to be anxious.

Lisa Jewell does it again. "Watching You" is a slow-burn mystery which will leave you guessing right until the end. Although it's obvious from the get-go that this is another Jewell murder mystery, we don't even learn the identity of the victim until well into the story's development. Told by alternating points of view, the story unfolds in bits and pieces, leaving various clues in its wake. Although the characters are not particularly endearing, I did find myself engaged throughout the story to see how each story line would play out. I would recommend this tale for any fan of suspenseful crime fiction.

Thanks to Netgalley for this advance read.