Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Fiction

Rating ⭐️⭐️⭐⭐️️/5

When I finished this book last night, I rated it 5/5 stars. I don’t think I stand by that, and it is a lesson in futility. I should not be rating books right after I read them, but alas, that is what my re-read is for. Nonetheless, I loved Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera.

This book was a great mix between mystery and psychological thriller with some dark comedy thrown in. Amy Tintera did a great job at writing complex characters and I really enjoyed seeing the juxtaposition of different characters’ view on the protagonist at different points of the story. This book also was one of the best representations of morally gray characters I have read in a long time. I’ll get into that later.

Listen for the Lie was a twist on the classic ‘whodunit’, in the best of ways. The thriller follows Lucy around five years after she was accused of murdering her best friend. I may hit some minor spoilers but so much of it is found out early on and I of course, will not reveal who in fact did kill Lucy’s best friend Savannah or “Savvy” as her friends called her.

Lucy grew up in a small Texas town where her family carried some respect, though not enough to shield her from scandal. After college, she moves back home to what’s often described as a livelier Stars Hollow from Gilmore Girls. With a husband in tow and little else going on, she befriends Savvy, a college dropout. The two become inseparable, until, after a friend’s wedding, Savvy is found dead in the woods and Lucy is discovered nearby, dazed, injured, and covered in blood.

Lucy quickly becomes the prime suspect. Her husband Matt kicks her out, her family muddies the investigation, and the case against her only grows stronger. The problem? Lucy can’t remember anything beyond the morning of the wedding.

Years later, a true-crime podcast digs into Savvy’s murder, unraveling the life Lucy built in Los Angeles. At her grandmother’s request, she returns home, where the real story begins.

The book alternates between Ben’s perspective, told through brief interactions and podcast interviews, and Lucy’s internal monologue. The shifts were handled really well, and Lucy’s POV especially stood out.

There was a lot I loved about this book, and only a little I didn’t. I enjoyed the story unraveling for both us and Lucy at the same time. You truly don’t know if she did it, because Lucy herself doesn’t know. Instead of being an unreliable narrator, she’s determined to uncover the truth about Savvy’s murder, maybe more than anyone else. If anything, her silence five years ago, thanks to her family, is what made her look guilty

Lucy was also hilarious. With nothing left to prove, already tried in the court of public opinion, she constantly said what everyone else was thinking, never sugarcoating, and it was so refreshing.

As I mentioned, Tintera excels at writing morally gray characters. Almost everyone (except maybe Lucy’s grandmother, Beverly) has skeletons in their closet, yet most remain likable. Lucy and Savvy are the best examples: imperfect, unapologetic, and real. A small town with too many secrets, plus a podcaster determined to dig them up, was exactly the spark this story needed. My biggest pet peeve is when a book is filled with insufferable characters, you just don’t care what happens because they’re the worst. This book avoided that trap.

Now, I can’t seem to escape a romantic subplot. Honestly, I picked this up so my ten readers wouldn’t think I only read rom-coms (even though I mostly do). But weirdly, I didn’t love the romance here. It did add a complicated layer, but I would have preferred it lean more emotional than physical, which would’ve deepened the moral dilemma for someone not entirely convinced of Lucy’s innocence.

Overall, I really enjoyed this read and would recommend it to anyone who likes thrillers, dark humor and the show Only Murders in the Building. I don’t think it was quite 5 star level as I’ve been trying to be stingier if I have notes on a book, but it’s definitely worth the read.