Lisa JEWELL : Watching you

Melville Heights is one of the nicest neighbourhoods in Bristol, England ; home to doctors and lawyers and old-money academics. It’s 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…

It had the necessary ingredients to make a good thriller, but something felt off. It was a whodunit, you knew a murder has been committed, but who was murdered was only revealed near the end. Meanwhile, you met the different neighbours - some were creeps, you saw a few police reports here and there, and basically you wondered who was the guilty one with several twists and turns.
I didn't have all the answers I needed and the end, which bothered me some.
But mostly, I didn't find the novel compelling. Readable, yes, but I had no urge to keep reading, no problem with putting it down to eat or sleep. The pace was rather slow until we reached the last 40-50 pages.
So yeah, if you're a fan, why not read it - given the many excellent reviews on Goodreads, I feel I'm being picky, but I'll have forgotten all about this story when I go to sleep tonight.