Title: Watching You
Expected publication: out now
My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Book Description:
You’re back home after four years working abroad with a
brand new husband in tow. You’re keen to find a place of your own. But for now,
you’re living with your big brother, camped out in his spare bedroom. And then
– quite unexpectedly – you meet the man next door.
He’s the head teacher of the local high school. He’s twice your age. And he’s devastatingly attractive. Soon you find you’re watching him. All the time. But what you don’t know is that someone is watching you. Or that what has started as an innocent crush is quickly turning into an obsession as dark as it is deadly.
Family secrets, illicit passion, and an unexplained murder lie at the heart of Lisa Jewell’s gripping new novel.
He’s the head teacher of the local high school. He’s twice your age. And he’s devastatingly attractive. Soon you find you’re watching him. All the time. But what you don’t know is that someone is watching you. Or that what has started as an innocent crush is quickly turning into an obsession as dark as it is deadly.
Family secrets, illicit passion, and an unexplained murder lie at the heart of Lisa Jewell’s gripping new novel.
My musings:
Ever since reading The House We Grew Up In, I have been a
huge fan of Lisa Jewell’s writing, and am very happy she has taken the plunge
into writing psychological thrillers. Jewell is a master of characterisation,
and her portrayal of flawed and disturbed characters usually drives the story
for me! Watching You is a very apt title for her latest novel, as everyone in
this book is spying on one another. Joey watches Tom, Jenna watches Bess,
Freddie uses his telescope to spy on the whole street, and Jenna’s slightly
crazy mother thinks she is being watched by just about everyone else (she has a
point). With all this spying and lying going on, there is a constant sense of
menace and tension in the air, belying the idyllic setting of the colourful
painted houses in this expensive neighbourhood.
As usually is the case with Jewell’s novels, no one is quite
who they initially seem. Dark secrets simmer just below the surface and will
ultimately lead to murder – and I dare you to predict the ending of this one!
Most of Jewell’s novels take part in a small, closed setting, and this one is
no exception, featuring neighbours in the small housing community of Melville
Heights, much like one of her previous books The Girls (which I loved). The
author uses multiple POVs to bring her story to life, which in this context
worked very well for me. I love slow burning, character driven novels where
people present only the parts of themselves they want others to see. Jewell does
a great job in gradually stripping them of their masks, layer by layer, until
the ugly core is revealed. Most of the characters here surprised me with their
revelations, which made for some very interesting dynamics.
It is impossible to go into this story any further without
revealing something that may spoil the surprise for other readers, so I will just
say that it starts with a bang (or more accurately, a corpse) and then takes
you back in time to unravel the mystery. The path to enlightenment may contain
some clues but is also paved with red herrings, so the armchair detective has
his / her work cut out for them. Tense, creepy and utterly addictive, the story
soon drew me in and I was utterly absorbed with these dysfunctional characters
until the very end.
Thank
you to Netgalley and Random House UK for the free electronic copy of this novel and
for giving me the opportunity to provide an honest review.
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