Watching You: A psychological thriller from the bestselling author of The Family Upstairs

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Her first novel, Ralph's Party, was the best- selling debut novel of 1999. Since then she has written another twenty novels, most recently a number of dark psychological thrillers, including The Girls, Then She Was Gone, The Family Upstairs and The Night She Disappeared. A few days later, Alix and Josie bump into each other again, this time outside Alix’s children’s school. Josie has been listening to Alix’s podcasts and thinks she might be an interesting subject for her series. She is, she tells Alix, on the cusp of great changes in her life. Lydia, despite being rich and accomplished, is still haunted by a distressing childhood; Dean is a jobless single father without a promising future; while eighteen year old Robyn, who is smart and popular, has just joined college with dreams of becoming a pediatrician. She is however performing dismally in class and is also getting to know what it means to fall in love for the very first time.

Upon come home from work not long after her twenty-fifth birthday, Libby Jones receives a life-changing letter. Is there some modicum of truth to the nonsense the crazy mother of one of Mr. Fitzwilliam’s students is constantly spewing outside of the painted houses of Melville Heights? 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 in their own kitchens. But it is the sort of place where everyone has a secret. And everyone is watching you. I think the characters I liked the most were Freddy, Tom's son's, who chronicled the little village's happenings, with notes and pictures, and Jenna, one of the school girls who was determined to look out for her best friend, who she thought was falling prey to an older man. But really, I thought all the characters were well written, including that of Joey, a 27 year old wife who develops an obsession with Tom. There is a lot of obsessing and spying and creeping around that goes on with these characters and the story has us thinking one thing is going on when it'll turn out to be something completely different. Or in some cases, what we think went on did go on but with a few twists and turns along the way.Only 3 percent of the population of the world has green eyes. Her mother had always told her that in an effort to make her feel special.” Two of the suspects/witnesses are a crazy lady and a lonely boy, who watched the neighbors the whole time. Thus the comparisons to “Rear Window” (although I would compare it to THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW.) And thus the title. Wonderful review Lynne. Lisa Jewell is an autoread for me as well. I love how she develops her characters and makes you connect with them in various ways. I am looking forward to her upcoming release, The Family Upstairs. Loved your review! I enjoyed this one also. Yes, well Snapchat is a bit of a mystery to me…and that is fine by me! LOL

The central theme of being watched or being the watcher is what elevates this novel from what I consider typical suspense to something much creepier in feel. There’s a host of participants running rampant throughout, the mystery found in deciphering which of the watchers/watched are in fact driven by dark motives. One midsummer night during a neighborhood party, Pip, who is on the brink of teenagehood, finds her blood-soaked thirteen-year-old sister lying unconscious in a luxuriant rose garden. This story is told via a few different points of view. While I'm not normally a fan of too many different narrators, it works in this case. We get to see different perspectives from each of the characters, so we're always on our toes trying to figure what the truth really is. The teenagers are the stars in this novel. Freddie and Jenna were my favourite characters. Freddie, with his first crush (with which his brilliance cannot help him) and Jenna with her struggles to maintain a normal life living with her paranoid mother. I even became fond of Joey, despite her poor life choices.Tom Fitzwilliam, the headmaster at a local school is a husband, a father, and a rather flirty guy who knows he has a way with the women.

She stands up and turns to survey the scene of the crime: a scruffy kitchen, old-fashioned pine units, a green Aga piled with pots and pans, a large wooden table piled with table mats and exercise books and newspapers and folded washing, a small extension to the rear with a cheap timber glazed roof, double doors to the garden, a study area with a laptop, a printer, a shredder, a table lamp. I absolutely loved that this book created so many questions and the subtle clues are perfectly interspersed in the storyline but piecing them all together was definitely making my head spin. So I decided that I was just going to read and let the story do the job for me. And, I am so glad that I did because what transpires in the end was absolutely stunning and so totally worth it! This was a very gripping fast paced read and it is so intense until the end when the secrets are revealed. I love this author. This is the second book that I read by Lisa Jewell and now I want to read all of her books.This is possibly my favourite Lisa Jewell book, and yes even ahead of ‘Then She Was Gone’ and ‘The Night She Disappeared’. The story took place in a small part of the village and yet it didn’t feel constrained, the story was largely character driven but the plot was amazing. The story weaved in and out of the different life stories of each character but still had purpose, flow and intent as the tension increased constantly. Lisa Jewell is gifted at building suspense and a superb psychological crime writer. This is a deliciously dark and tangled tale of burdensome and consuming lies, lust, and deeply hidden truths. A picturesque street in a nice neighborhood in England. Painted pastel houses with cozy surroundings. Behind closed doors, someone is watching... He’s not old,” Bess replied. “He’s mature. Like wine. Like Cheese. I love him. I actually love him.”