Watching You by Lisa Jewell

Watching You by Lisa Jewell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

You’re back home after four years working abroad, new husband in tow.

You’re keen to find a place of your own. But for now you’re crashing in your big brother’s spare room.

That’s when you meet the man next door.

He’s the head teacher at the local school. Twice your age. Extraordinarily attractive. You find yourself watching him.

All the time.

But you never dreamed that your innocent crush might become a deadly obsession.

Or that someone is watching you.



Well constructed and intricately plotted novel with a creepy voyeristic flavour that keeps you going until the end. Nosey neighbours, bored housewives, slightly biopila resident all come together in this clever story of tragedy, lust, paranoia and revenge.

It opens up (as so many of this genre do) with the body of a woman murdered in her kitchen with a very convenient clue to the possible murderer at the scene. It’s all too clean to be the real murderer and so the story begins to unfold and lead the reader on many red herrings to throw the reader off the scent.

I did guess who the murderer was but not the reasons behind until almost the end so Lisa Jewell did well to keep the secret almost to the end.

Enjoyable read, lively short chapters that kept the pace moving forward well. Just enough information on the characters to keep the story alive and believable. A recommended read - 4 stars