#BookRecommendation-‘The Watcher’ by Ross Armstrong

The debut by actor and writer Ross Armstrong is a strong, engaging thriller which will keep you guessing to the very last page.

Described as ‘Rear Window meets Gone Girl’, ‘The Watcher’ is the story of Lily Gullick, part time medical researcher, part time twitcher who may, or may not have seen a murder.

She and her husband Aiden live in a new build block of flats in London, overlooking older blocks that are soon to be demolished, ones already condemned and gentrified homes for the upwardly mobile.

The position of their flat makes it easy-too easy-to start an innocent enough hobby that segues into people watching,then neighbour watching.

It is then that Lily thinks she has seen a murder, connects it with the ‘Missing Girl’ posters she has seen on her travels and her life, and the narrative, takes a sharp 180 degree turn.

The first person narration makes it feel like you are the one being directly addressed by Lily, you are the journal she is confiding in and in effect, she makes you both complicit and voyeur to an increasingly violent set of actions.

Before long, she has , much to the chagrin of Aiden, made graphs for all the occupants, given them aliases, had altercations with local youths, started swearing at her boss and belittling her husband.

It is as though in the act of observing, she herself has been changed and we, the reader along with her.

Little hints are dropped through the story about Lily’s parents, how she became a birdwatcher and her motives for trespassing on a crime scene and why, most of all, she doesn’t contact the police with her suspicions.

The tension mounts to incredible levels, leaving you wondering where the story is going to go next. With a masterful command of the narrative, Ross Armstrong plays with the narrator’s voice leaving you constantly on the edge of Hitchcockian peril for his leading lady, Lily.

I am honestly happy to admit that I did not see all the twists and turns of the book, part of the fun is giving yourself over to the ride. It genuinely does not feel like a debut novel and I am very much looking forward to reading ‘HeadCase’, which features PCSO Tom Mondrian, his new recurring character.