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In Melville Heights, an upscale neighborhood in Bristol, England, teen Freddie is always watching from his attic window, taking photographs and documenting the goings-on. He’s very intelligent and would like to become a spy someday but has little in the way of friends or connections. His father, Tom Fitzwilliam, is a headmaster at a local school, brought in a year earlier to turn it around, which he has done successfully at many previous schools. He’s respected for his skill at the job and for being able to connect with students and adults alike. He’s charming and charismatic and handsome for a 50-something man, and people of all ages are drawn to him.
That includes his new neighbor Joey Mullen, who has recently moved in with her brother, Jack, and his wife, who live two doors down from the Fitzwilliams. Joey is a newlywed who met and married her husband while they were working at a resort in Ibiza. She’s drifting in life, trying to find her way, especially since she’s always compared herself unfavorably to her highly successful older brother. She’s trying to “grow up” now, but she is a bit bored, and she’s finding herself attracted to Tom and becoming a little obsessed. She finds ways to run into him, and the two flirt and find themselves in dangerous territory.
Student Jenna is not sure why so many people love the headmaster; her best friend fancies herself in love with him. She just knows he’s old and that something seems off. And her mother, who is falling deeper into mental illness, has decided that Tom is stalking her.
In the case of the title of this novel, almost everyone in Watching You is watching someone else for some reason: observing, calculating, even taking photos of others regularly. The question becomes: Which of the characters are dangerous? Which are paranoid? Which are trying to solve a mystery or protect someone else? And who brutally stabbed a woman right in her own kitchen? Why?
Of course, since Watching You is a thriller and mystery, not everything is quite as it seems, and the truth slowly is revealed. I was gripped by the story but I did figure out the perpetrator of the murder about two-thirds of the way through, so I just enjoyed watching the pieces come together and learning the full story.
Rated: High.There are roughly 30 instances of strong language as well as other uses of moderate and mild language. Sexual content includes some brief references to couples having sex, some fondling, a boy pulling his pants down with the intent to pleasure himself, and a few other crude references. Violence is mostly limited to the murder at the core of the story, with some detail of a lot of blood, and some references to domestic violence.
