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Watching You
Watching You
A Novel
by Lisa Jewell
"Quickly and assuredly, Jewell builds an ecosystem of countervailing suspicions...Tricky, clever, unexpected." —New York Times Book Review
"Brace yourself as Jewell stacks up the secrets, then lights a long, slow fuse." —People
"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
The instant New York Times and #1 Sunday Times bestselling author of the Then She Was Gone delivers another suspenseful page-turner about a shocking murder in a picturesque and well-to-do English town, perfect "for fans of Gone Girl, The Girl on the Train, and Luckiest Girl Alive" (Library Journal).
Melville Heights is one of the nicest neighborhoods 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.
As the headmaster credited with turning around the local school, Tom Fitzwilliam is beloved by one and all—including Joey Mullen, his new neighbor, who quickly develops an intense infatuation with this thoroughly charming yet unavailable man. Joey thinks her crush is a secret, but Tom's teenaged son Freddie—a prodigy with aspirations of becoming a spy for MI5—excels in observing people and has witnessed Joey behaving strangely around his father.
One of Tom's students, Jenna Tripp, also lives on the same street, and she's not convinced her teacher is as squeaky clean as he seems. For one thing, he has taken a particular liking to her best friend and fellow classmate, and Jenna's mother—whose mental health has admittedly been deteriorating in recent years—is convinced that Mr. Fitzwilliam is stalking her.
Meanwhile, twenty years earlier, a schoolgirl writes in her diary, charting her doomed obsession with a handsome young English teacher named Mr. Fitzwilliam...
In Lisa Jewell's latest brilliant "bone-chilling suspense" (People) no one is who they seem—and everyone is hiding something. Who has been murdered—and who would have wanted one of their neighbors dead? As "Jewell teases out her twisty plot at just the right pace" (Booklist, starred review), you will be kept guessing until the startling revelation on the very last page.
"Brace yourself as Jewell stacks up the secrets, then lights a long, slow fuse." —People
"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
The instant New York Times and #1 Sunday Times bestselling author of the Then She Was Gone delivers another suspenseful page-turner about a shocking murder in a picturesque and well-to-do English town, perfect "for fans of Gone Girl, The Girl on the Train, and Luckiest Girl Alive" (Library Journal).
Melville Heights is one of the nicest neighborhoods 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.
As the headmaster credited with turning around the local school, Tom Fitzwilliam is beloved by one and all—including Joey Mullen, his new neighbor, who quickly develops an intense infatuation with this thoroughly charming yet unavailable man. Joey thinks her crush is a secret, but Tom's teenaged son Freddie—a prodigy with aspirations of becoming a spy for MI5—excels in observing people and has witnessed Joey behaving strangely around his father.
One of Tom's students, Jenna Tripp, also lives on the same street, and she's not convinced her teacher is as squeaky clean as he seems. For one thing, he has taken a particular liking to her best friend and fellow classmate, and Jenna's mother—whose mental health has admittedly been deteriorating in recent years—is convinced that Mr. Fitzwilliam is stalking her.
Meanwhile, twenty years earlier, a schoolgirl writes in her diary, charting her doomed obsession with a handsome young English teacher named Mr. Fitzwilliam...
In Lisa Jewell's latest brilliant "bone-chilling suspense" (People) no one is who they seem—and everyone is hiding something. Who has been murdered—and who would have wanted one of their neighbors dead? As "Jewell teases out her twisty plot at just the right pace" (Booklist, starred review), you will be kept guessing until the startling revelation on the very last page.
"Quickly and assuredly, Jewell builds an ecosystem of countervailing suspicions...Tricky, clever, unexpected." —New York Times Book Review
"Brace yourself as Jewell stacks up the secrets, then lights a long, slow fuse." —People
"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
The instant New York Times and #1 Sunday Times bestselling author of the Then She Was Gone delivers another suspenseful page-turner about a shocking murder in a picturesque and well-to-do English town, perfect "for fans of Gone Girl, The Girl on the Train, and Luckiest Girl Alive" (Library Journal).
Melville Heights is one of the nicest neighborhoods 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.
As the headmaster credited with turning around the local school, Tom Fitzwilliam is beloved by one and all—including Joey Mullen, his new neighbor, who quickly develops an intense infatuation with this thoroughly charming yet unavailable man. Joey thinks her crush is a secret, but Tom's teenaged son Freddie—a prodigy with aspirations of becoming a spy for MI5—excels in observing people and has witnessed Joey behaving strangely around his father.
One of Tom's students, Jenna Tripp, also lives on the same street, and she's not convinced her teacher is as squeaky clean as he seems. For one thing, he has taken a particular liking to her best friend and fellow classmate, and Jenna's mother—whose mental health has admittedly been deteriorating in recent years—is convinced that Mr. Fitzwilliam is stalking her.
Meanwhile, twenty years earlier, a schoolgirl writes in her diary, charting her doomed obsession with a handsome young English teacher named Mr. Fitzwilliam...
In Lisa Jewell's latest brilliant "bone-chilling suspense" (People) no one is who they seem—and everyone is hiding something. Who has been murdered—and who would have wanted one of their neighbors dead? As "Jewell teases out her twisty plot at just the right pace" (Booklist, starred review), you will be kept guessing until the startling revelation on the very last page.
"Brace yourself as Jewell stacks up the secrets, then lights a long, slow fuse." —People
"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
The instant New York Times and #1 Sunday Times bestselling author of the Then She Was Gone delivers another suspenseful page-turner about a shocking murder in a picturesque and well-to-do English town, perfect "for fans of Gone Girl, The Girl on the Train, and Luckiest Girl Alive" (Library Journal).
Melville Heights is one of the nicest neighborhoods 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.
As the headmaster credited with turning around the local school, Tom Fitzwilliam is beloved by one and all—including Joey Mullen, his new neighbor, who quickly develops an intense infatuation with this thoroughly charming yet unavailable man. Joey thinks her crush is a secret, but Tom's teenaged son Freddie—a prodigy with aspirations of becoming a spy for MI5—excels in observing people and has witnessed Joey behaving strangely around his father.
One of Tom's students, Jenna Tripp, also lives on the same street, and she's not convinced her teacher is as squeaky clean as he seems. For one thing, he has taken a particular liking to her best friend and fellow classmate, and Jenna's mother—whose mental health has admittedly been deteriorating in recent years—is convinced that Mr. Fitzwilliam is stalking her.
Meanwhile, twenty years earlier, a schoolgirl writes in her diary, charting her doomed obsession with a handsome young English teacher named Mr. Fitzwilliam...
In Lisa Jewell's latest brilliant "bone-chilling suspense" (People) no one is who they seem—and everyone is hiding something. Who has been murdered—and who would have wanted one of their neighbors dead? As "Jewell teases out her twisty plot at just the right pace" (Booklist, starred review), you will be kept guessing until the startling revelation on the very last page.
Reviews-
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October 8, 2018
In the prologue of this crafty conundrum from bestseller Jewell (Then She Was Gone), a dead body lies on the kitchen floor of the Fitzwilliam family’s Victorian house in a posh neighborhood of Bristol, England. The author smoothly juggles multiple story lines—some dating back 20 years—centering on paterfamilias Tom Fitzwilliam. For some reason, the now middle-aged, nationally honored schoolmaster seems to effortlessly bewitch women and girls alike, among them his slavishly solicitous wife, Nicola; increasingly paranoid stalker Frances Tripp, the mother of one of his students, 15-year-old Jenna; and Jenna’s best friend, Bess Ridley, who has a schoolgirl crush on him. While all the people watching Tom facilitate the serpentine plot, they’re also the novel’s weakest link, since their respective obsessions remains baffling and at times border on the tedious. That said, prepare to be blindsided by the murder victim’s identity, not revealed until late in the game—and an even more stunning final surprise. Jewell does a masterly job of maintaining suspense. Agent: Deborah Schneider, Gelfman Schneider Literary. -
British narrator Gabrielle Glaister unravels Lisa Jewell's latest murder mystery with emotional authenticity and true English intonation. Headmaster Tom Fitzwilliam is admired by many in the English town of Melville Heights, including neighbor Joey Mullen, who develops a fixation on the married father. However, Jenna Tripp, one of Tom's students, doesn't think Tom is as perfect as everyone seems to believe. Furthermore, Tom's son, Freddie, is obsessed with observing people and their whereabouts. Glaister keeps the listener guessing using soft pauses and portrayals that reflect the characters. The way she expresses Joey's feelings toward Tom is emotional and distinctive. Freddie's compulsion and feelings of inadequacy are portrayed compellingly, while Jenna's inquisitiveness comes to the fore throughout Glaister's storytelling. An enticing listen. D.Z. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine
