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

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When reports of a missing cat and a distant country cottage emerge, Ana raises numerous questions about the sister she thought she knew.

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 title keeps popping up whenever I browse the kindle bookstore. Guess I must have read similar titles before. So far I have resisted, but whenever I see a positive review my resistance is weakening 🙂 We read the story from the perspectives of three characters. There are quite a bit of other characters, some unlikeable and will make your skin crawl.Everyone seems to be either spying on a neighbor, being spied on or both. Hence, the name Watching You.

Watching You

The multi-perspective viewpoint with suspenseful novels really helps move these types of novels forward. Everyone comes from a different place and adds another layer to the story. The theme of secrets There are several characters in this book, all are well developed with perfectly timed introductions, leaving no room for confusion. The plot largely focuses on Josephine (Joey) Mullen who lives with her new husband in her brother and sister-in-laws’ house in a well-respected neighbourhood. They are trying to find steady jobs and get settled before finding a place of their own. We meet several of their neighbours, with chapters alternating between many of their perspectives. Each perspective brought a new layer of suspense and allure, each with a hint of secrecy that could possibly connect the intricate pieces of this puzzle together. The title says it all – “Watching You” – this applies to many scenarios throughout this fast paced and highly addictive novel. 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. 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.

On top of unmasking the identity of her real parents, it turns out that she is also the only heir of their deserted mansion in the lavish Chelsea neighborhood in London, on the banks of River Thames. 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 Lisa Jewell includes a number of red herrings that lead the reader to one suspicion and then another. What were some of the red herrings you noticed in the book? Did you fall for them?Welcome to Melville Heights - an idyllic, family based, wealthy neighborhood that is the kind of place everyone wishes they could live. Except for the fact

How did Joey’s mother’s death impact her and her decision making? Why do you think she married Alfie? Why did she become so obsessed with Tom? Down the street is the new headmaster Tom Fitzwilliam, specifically brought in to rescue the local school from looming disaster. Tom is charismatic, charming, suave...well you get the picture! He makes all the ladies swoon. As well as some of the school girls too. Welcome to Melville Heights - an idyllic, family based, wealthy neighborhood that is the kind of place everyone wishes they could live. Except for the fact that nothing is as it seems. Behind the picturesque closed doors of these painted beauty houses lies dark, ugly and sinister secrets. The kind of secrets that inevitably make it to the light of day through MURDER! Toby Dobbs’s father gives him a massive Victorian house with numerous bedrooms as a wedding gift. His marriage however ends in a month. Jenna Tripp describes the chat rooms her mother frequents as somewhere “she could go to have her craziness validated” (p. 130). Many people use online communities to form connections and feel less isolated, particularly if they feel misunderstood by those around them. Yet Jenna observes that her mother’s delusions are being exacerbated by talking to people with similar issues. Discuss what makes an insular community (like a chat room) supportive or detrimental. Can it be both?

Multi-perspectives

She felt a terrible hollowness open up inside her, a sense that she was all alone, that she had in fact always been all alone, that the corners of her life were folding in and folding in, and that there was nothing she could do about it.”

High on a hill in Bristol, England there is a street of colourful houses. The neighbourhood is called Melville Heights. It is here, in this affluent, innocuous location, that a brutal murder took place… 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. Loved speaking with @ danspapers about the first panel I’ll be moderating at @ HamptonsWhodun this year, featuring… https://t.co/hwrdV45fSz Apr 4, 2023, 11:48 AM Joey and her husband Alfie have recently moved in with her brother to help get their lives sorted. Joey I feel like is going through something as she stumbles across her neighbor Tom Fitzwilliam. Tom is the headmaster of the local school and lives with his wife and son Freddie. Joey becomes OBSESSED with Tom... watching his every move and somehow trying to come up ways to run into him.As described in the blurb, there is a set of estates called called Melville Heights and there is lots of watching going on between these houses. Tom Fitzwiiliam is the headmaster at the local school and just about everyone seems to love him. He is positive, sensitive, good natured, great with the kids and parents and even handsome, sound too good to be true? Maybe. His wife Nicola spends a lot of time trying to keep in shape by running and going to the gym and wearing the right clothes etc. after all I told you her husband was handsome, ha! Their son Freddie is quite a very different sort of boy, he goes to a private school and likes to spend a lot of time on his computer and using his new high powered, extra special binoculars to spy on his neighbors, well at the beginning he claims he was just writing about what was happening in his neighborhood. How much does he know about the crime? Meg is the practical one, Beth is the dreamy one, one of the twins is the mischief-maker, while the other half being the thoughtful one. A cozy picture perfect neighborhood with bright colors that makes anyone want to live on this street. Behind closed doors... someone is watching and is watching always.