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

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For those readers that fancy themselves part-time literary sleuths, this is one sure to keep you guessing. Lisa Jewell—and just about the entire cast—put in quite a bit of work, the goal being to throw readers off the scent. Unfortunately, I figured things out earlier than I would have hoped to. Don't worry, the answer is not blatantly obvious and in no way did figuring things out hinder my experience. In fact, of the four Jewell novels I’ve read to-date, this is the one I struggled the most to set down for any length of time. Meaning, I had to force myself to put it aside to play pretend at being a functioning adult. A seize-you-by-the-throat thriller and a genuinely moving family drama.” —A.J. Finn, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Woman in the Window 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. Considering what the men in her life have told her, Joey wonders if, “while most women spent their lives searching for the perfect man, men sat around waiting to be chosen and then made the best of it” (p. 313). Do you think this is true? Why, or why not?

Meanwhile, twenty years earlier, a schoolgirl writes in her diary, charting her doomed obsession with a handsome young English teacher named Mr. Fitzwilliam… BUT ... friends out there who have read this book, please HELP ME! What in the world did I miss at the very end?? The brown hair? Whose was it? Nikki’s as a teenager? Viva’s? Was it not a suicide but a murder? By him or by her, or were they both in on it? I have re-listened to chapters trying to figure it out, and know it was a significant lightbulb moment, but I am just stymied and feel like a bit of a dunce. There are parallel storylines. Right off the bat, the reader learns a murder has taken place in Melville Heights but we don’t know who was murdered and who did it. At the same time, there’s also the mystery of Tom—while he seems to excel at his job and being a resource for his students, some are concerned he has ulterior motives. Multi-perspectives

DC Rose Pelham kneels down; she can see something behind the kitchen door, just in front of the trash can. For a minute she thinks it’s a bloodstained twist of tissue, maybe, or an old bandage. Then she thinks perhaps it is a dead flower. But as she looks at it more closely she can see that it’s a tassel. A red suede tassel. The sort that might once have been attached to a handbag, or to a boot. 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. Elsewhere in urban London, the newly married Lily Monrose is worried about her husband who didn’t return home from work. And as per the police, her husband never existed.

Poppy, Floyd’s youngest daughter, however has striking similarities to Ellie, which only leaves Laurel with more questions than answers. 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

Retailers:

This is Lisa Jewell’s sixteenth novel and she has honed her craft to such an extent that she is now one of my automatic buy/read authors. I need not even read the blurb, I’m sure to enjoy her work. Highly recommended!