Published 28th August 2025 by Avon.
From the cover of the book:
On the dark streets of Edinburgh, a killer is waiting.When a body is found, it is only the beginning. Soon there will be seven more.
In the city’s hospital, renowned surgeon Beth Waterfall is grieving.
Her beloved only daughter fell prey to a vicious stalker a year previously – and now he’s coming for her too.
Edinburgh’s police are desperate.
After one body comes another, and then another. The brutal deaths are all seemingly unconnected, yet DS Lively and forensic profiler Dr Connie Woolwine know they are dealing with a serial killer – they just need to prove it.
But time is running out, and Beth Waterfall already looks set to be the next victim…
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A body is found in Edinburgh, and more follow in close order. The fact that there is nothing to connect the victims has the police baffled, and they are under pressure to get the situation under control before panic ensues. When forensic profiler Dr Connie Woolvine is called in to consult on the cases she and DS Lively begin to believe that a random serial killer is at work on Edinburgh's streets.
Meanwhile, surgeon Beth Waterfall is grieving the loss of her daughter, and trying to piece together the scraps of her life, while a stalker watches her from the shadows. Can Lively and Woolvine prevent Waterfall from becoming the next victim...?
This cracking thriller unfurls in Helen Fields' excellent crime universe, with enjoyable appearances from some of her recurring characters. Multiple perspectives drive the action, focusing mainly on gripping police procedural elements via DS Lively and team; the unconventional forensic methods of Dr Woolvine (and her burly sidekick, Brodie Baarda); the professional and personal trials of surgeon Beth Waterfall; and the seriously creepy shenanigans of a stalker named 'The Watcher'.
Jumping back and forth in time Fields masterfully wields multiple threads like spinning plates, full of gritty Scottish noir crime content and lashings of psychological depth, that keep you guessing as they draw together in a gut-wrenching climax. Waterfall's backstory comes through flashbacks to the toll the stalker has taken on her family, which add atmospheric vibes of dread when it comes to the things you fear are going to happen if our team of sleuths cannot crack the case in time - especially given the budding romance that Fields conjures between Lively and the surgeon. And just when you think you know where the story is heading, Fields drops the slickest of twists that has you questioning everything you thought you knew!
Plus, if a suspenseful treat was not enough to keep you interested, Fields explores some meaty themes along the way too, particularly around toxic masculinity, stalking, and trauma, which will really provoke your thoughts.
It has been an age since I read a Helen Fields thriller, but Watching You has reminded me how good they are. I will be sure to catch up with the ones I have missed very soon!
Watching You is available to buy in paperback, ebook and audio formats.
Thank you to Avon for sending me a proof of this book in return for an honest review.
About the author:
Every book in the Callanach series has claimed an Amazon #1 bestseller flag. 'Perfect Kill' was longlisted for the Crime Writers Association Ian Fleming Steel Dagger in 2020, and others have been longlisted for the McIlvanney Prize, Scottish crime novel of the year. Helen also writes as HS Chandler, and has released legal thriller 'Degrees of Guilt'. In 2020 Perfect Remains was shortlisted for the Bronze Bat, Dutch debut crime novel of the year. In 2022, Helen was nominated for Best Crime Novel and Best Author in the Netherlands.
Now translated into more than 20 languages, and also selling in the USA, Canada & Australasia, Helen's books have won global recognition.
She has written standalone novels, The Institution, The Last Girl To Die, These Lost & Broken Things and The Shadow Man.
She regularly commutes between West Sussex, USA and Scotland.
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