Book Review: Listen for the Lie | Amy Tintera

I have an idea… Let’s kill…

I will never not chuckle when I think about that line and I will never not hear it in the outstanding narration by January LaVoy. Let’s back up a bit before I get into that more… I am absolutely buzzing to talk about Amy Tintera’s latest psychological thriller, Listen for the Lie. This is one of those mysteries that is humorous and dark in equal measure.

Lucy is accused of murder

Lucy Chase is infamous, particularly in her hometown of Plumpton, Texas where everyone thinks she killed her best friend Savannah “Savvy” Harper and got away with it. Lucy was never charged, though she was found covered in Savvy’s blood the night of the murder. Unfortunately, Lucy can’t really defend herself because she has no memory of what happened after she and her husband Matt arrived at the wedding reception that evening. The rest of the night is a black hole. Lucy herself has never been certain if she killed Savvy or not, and she’s afraid of the answer. Not long after, Lucy and Matt divorced and Lucy fled the accusing stares and cold shoulders for Los Angeles.

Lucy is back in the spotlight

When a popular true crime podcast hosted by the attractive and dogged Ben Owens launches covering Savvy’s murder, Lucy finds that her name is back in the public eye. Her job lets her go and her boyfriend Nate breaks up with her. When Lucy’s grandmother asks her to come home for her birthday, Lucy doesn’t really have a reason to say no. Not long after she arrives, Lucy remembers why she left in the first place. Everyone in the town seems to hate her and think she’s guilty. Savvy was “the sweetest girl you ever met”, and Lucy was the sarcastic misfit who returned home from college with a big ring on her finger, a husband, and a beautiful dream home in Plumpton.

Lucy wants the truth

Lucy isn’t the only one who recently arrived in Plumpton—podcaster Ben Owens has come as well to record interviews and gather evidence for his podcast. He hopes to uncover the truth about Savvy’s murder. Lucy also wants to find out what happened, even if the answer is one she doesn’t want to accept. Agreeing to her first interview about the case ever, the podcast kicks off and people from around the town have some interesting things to share. As the townspeople spill secrets on the podcast, it becomes clear that there was a lot that was kept hidden during the original investigation. Meanwhile Lucy continues to hear a voice in her head “I have an idea… Let’s kill…” that she can’t seem to shut out. Will the real killer finally be unveiled?

What did I think?

I picked this up and didn’t want to think about anything else until I finished reading it. The mystery was interesting and there was enough new information coming out throughout the book to keep the reader’s mind engaged trying to figure out what happened the night of Savvy’s murder. This isn’t only a good mystery, though—it’s entertaining. Tintera writes with a dark humor that is positively addictive. Lucy is a highly sarcastic character, but not in a way that is alienating or off putting. Her commentary both in her head and to others is just my type of humor and I found myself chuckling on more than one occasion.

The opening sequence with Lucy losing her job and her relationship could have been sad, but Lucy doesn’t care too much. She doesn’t actually like her boyfriend very much, and finds it more amusing watching him try to come up with an excuse for spending time apart that isn’t “I heard on a podcast you murdered your best friend”. Lucy’s grandmother is a delightful character—a real spitfire! She is one of the few people in Lucy’s life who understands and accepts her. She also is in contact with the podcaster Ben and convinces Lucy to do the interview.

The town of Plumpton is not as idyllic as it may seem! The investigation and podcast interviews reveal a lot of secrets hidden beneath the surface in this town. Some were known and some weren’t—but let’s just say there don’t seem to be a lot of people in Plumpton who are faithful in their relationships! And it wasn’t just who may have slept with who in this case, there were a lot of relationships between characters that were surprising or different than what was known. In a small town, everyone knows everyone and that leads to a complicated social matrix that is just bursting with juicy gossip.

One of my favorite elements of this book were the podcast episodes sprinkled throughout. The chapters are told from Lucy’s perspective, but the podcast episodes are Ben’s voice. I love a podcast element in a book and I highly recommend the audiobook in this case (more on that below) because it’s presented with a different style that feels like it’s a real podcast. Ben was an interesting character—he’s outside of the case and this world and is there as a supposedly unbiased narrator and detective. But often I wondered, is he unbiased? Unexpectedly, he and Lucy form a bond that probably isn’t appropriate (doesn’t this violate some sort of podcast ethics?) given that he is investigating a case where she is the prime suspect. I wondered throughout if he was on Lucy’s side or not. Did he think she was innocent, or was he just manipulating her to get the story and interviews?

Lucy is plagued by a voice throughout the book and it was so funny and well-executed in the audiobook. Lucy will be in the middle of a conversation with a character, for instance her ex-husband Matt. And as the person is talking to Lucy, the voice will speak up, “I have an idea!” Lucy shuts it down and her inner dialogue with this voice tickled me. Eventually you’ll learn more about the voice and what its purpose is.

A major theme in this book relies around how a person who tragically loses their life becomes an idealized version of themselves. At the beginning, all we hear from people in the town is what a sweetheart Savvy is. Many muse that Savvy really wasn’t friends with Lucy. They blame Lucy for more than just Savvy’s murder, they blame her for Savvy’s life not being what it could have been. Ironic because Savvy dropped out of college and moved home long before Lucy arrived back from college with Matt in tow. Lucy and Savvy had a much closer friendship than people acknowledged, and Savvy was much dynamic than how she is described since her murder. I loved the Savvy we got to know through Lucy’s memories. She was spicy, brazen, funny, and flawed. In other words, she was human.

If you like a good whodunnit with a wickedly sharp sense of humor and a compelling format—this is your book! And I’m not the only one saying that. This book is getting major attention from some big-name authors that is well-deserved!

Audiobook Review

I touched on this throughout but I want to mention it again—do the audiobook for this one! January LaVoy as Lucy is incredible, and I particularly loved the way she narrated the voice in Lucy’s head. I laughed every time it happened! January captures Lucy’s humor perfectly as well. Lucy is dry, sarcastic, and has a certain nonchalance that it fascinating. Will Damron narrates the podcast episodes in Ben’s voice. The podcast element was so well done—Will Damron was a fantastic choice for Ben (I seriously wondered if he is a real podcaster) and the way the audiobook was produced with music and audio quality differences to make it feel like a real podcast was masterful.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and Celadon Books for my copy. Opinions are my own.

About the Author

Amy Tintera started writing novels as a kid during her middle school science classes, which probably explains why she has always been very bad at science. She is now the NYT bestselling author of several novels for young adults, including Reboot, a Kids Indie Next pick and YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers, the Ruined series, The Q, and All These Monsters, a YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults selection. Her novels have been translated into 16 languages and sold into more than 20 territories. 

She has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Texas A&M and a master’s degree in media arts/screenwriting from Emerson College. She worked as a talent agency assistant in Hollywood before becoming an author. Raised in Austin, Texas, she frequently sets her novels in the Lone Star state, but she now lives in Los Angeles, where there’s far less humidity, but not nearly enough Tex-Mex. 

Her first novel for adults, Listen for the Lie, was published March 5, 2024 by Celadon/Macmillan.