Publication Date March 5, 2024
Reviewing Listen For the Lie by Amy Tintera will be a challenge to do without spoilers sneaking in…but I try to NEVER spoil the surprise in any book, so here goes. The female protagonist is a young woman named Lucy, who is living in LA after growing up in a small town in Texas. She was BFFs with Savannah (“Savvy”) as they grew up together, until Savvy was murdered. Lucy is returning to the small town she left behind (a place she swore she’d never set foot in again), to celebrate her beloved grandmother’s 80th birthday.
Before Lucy left town, she had married a seemingly perfect guy, complete with a big ring and a big house, and she and Savvy were social stars, and still best friends, right up until Savvy was murdered and Lucy was found covered in Savvy’s blood, unable to remember what happened. Lucy was never charged with the crime, but it seems like EVERYONE just knows she did it – including the gazillions of listeners to a popular podcast, whose host is investigating the murder and comes to town at the same time as Lucy (thanks, grandma!)
I loved this book. It was great fun, fast paced, full of surprises, and well written. Lucy has some family issues, and sees her parents as they are: “Dad’s so good at that Texas thing where you act polite to people’s face and then talk s%$t behind their back.” The story of what happened to Savvy and what Lucy had to do with it unspools gradually, and there is some relatively surprising stuff revealed about Lucy’s failed marriage, complete with outstanding commentary on relationships: “People don’t believe women who fight back. When a man lashes out, people say he’s lost control of his temper or mad a terrible mistake. When a woman does it, she’s a psychopath.”
Highly recommended. I loved the way the podcast was integrated into the mystery, and it all made sense. (I’ve read a couple of mystery/thrillers with podcasting as part of the plot, and it can be clunky if it isn’t well done. This book nails it!) If you want one of those I-can’t-stop-reading-this-please-don’t-even-talk-to-me books that will provide an excellent escape from whatever (in my case, news), GET THIS BOOK. Ms. Tintera has also written for the YA audience, and I hope to read more from her.