Watching You by Lisa Jewell

Joey Mullen is supposed to be getting her life together. She's married now and has finally found a job, even if it isn't quite what she'd hoped for. She's got a steady place to live as well, staying in the guest rooms of her brother's house while he and her sister-in-law await the birth of their first child. But even though Joey has successfully managed the adult thing of late, she finds her eye wandering when she catches a glimpse of her neighbor, Tom Fitzwilliam.

Tom is the headmaster of a local school - the man who's going to get things in shape, as he's done in every other school he's formerly taught at. Everyone loves him and Joey is certainly not immune. But as Joey's obsession with Tom grows, someone else has been watching Joey. And when things come to a head, a body is found with evidence that Joey may have played a part.

But how does an innocent crush turn into murder? That's what the police are hoping to find out.

Reading Lisa Jewell's work is really such a treat! Her pacing is fantastic and her characters even better considering she uses them to explore all the dark and nasty bits of a person's deepest thoughts.

Watching You plays out in a bit of an odd timeline. The book begins with the discovery of a body on March 24 and then jumps back to January, when Joey first notices Tom. As the story progresses from January, interviews with Joey and other potential witnesses from March are interspersed throughout, giving the reader a chance to follow the police investigation a bit while the events leading up to the actual investigation are still playing out.

This play in timeline keeps the tension at it's highest even as the psychological suspense continues to grow.

Joey isn't the only character to get ample story time either. Tom's son, Freddie, and Jenna, a girl at Tom's school, each get their bit of narrative too. How their stories intertwine with that of Joey's, Tom's, and the investigation is brilliantly plotted!

With each new release, Jewell amazes me with her talent even more. Her twisty plots, her careful doling out of clues, and her fantastically real characters all prove that she's a master of psychological suspense and I await each new book with great anticipation. Watching You is perfect for anyone in search of a truly clever page turner!