Amy Tintera's "Listen for the Lie" is like a rollercoaster ride for mystery lovers—full of twists, turns, and heart-pounding moments. From the very first chapter, I was hooked, and I couldn't put it down until I knew how it all ended.

The story centers around Lucy, who returns to her hometown under a cloud of suspicion after her best friend's murder years earlier. With no memory of that night due to a traumatic injury, Lucy finds herself doubting her own innocence. Teaming up with a podcaster to revisit the case, she works to uncover the truth.

I loved "Listen for the Lie" and how it incorporated the world of podcasting. It adds a unique and modern twist to the classic mystery genre, making the story feel fresh and exciting. But what sets it apart are the intriguing characters. From Lucy, the unreliable heroine, to the colorful cast of suspects and side characters, each person in this story feels fully realized and unpredictable. Amy Tintera's writing is sharp and thrilling, drawing you into the story and keeping you guessing with every chapter. The plot is smartly crafted, and let me tell you, that ending? It's crazy—in the best possible way. As someone who's new to Amy Tintera's work, I have to say, I'm officially a fan.

"Listen for the Lie" has solidified her spot on my must-read list. If you're looking for a fresh and thrilling mystery, look no further!

The book revolves around a murder investigation that is conducted by a podcaster and is told through flashbacks and present time. The book features two strong female characters - the main character and her grandmother - both with great senses of humor. The story highlights how people can jump to conclusions and distort the truth to support their beliefs, a relevant topic in today's political climate. It also delves into the ethics of podcasting. Overall, it is a decent book.

This was exactly what I needed after a reading slump. The short chapters and fast pace, kept me wanting to know more. I didn’t want to put this down.

I loved the podcast elements and how the story was untold through it. I was able to piece things together towards the end, but overall solid thriller

Super fast paced thriller!! Shorter chapters with threads of the podcast as a chapter throughout—-really enjoyed this and the format.

Lucy has returned back to her hometown after 5 years and being accused of murdering her best friend by the townspeople, no actual charges. She does have this voice that is written in, telling her how to kill people just when having a conversation with them, did find this annoying often but was able to skip over it—-feel it would have been better as voice of her dead friend in her head which later in book it’s portrayed more that way or even left out. Connected with her character easily, very well developed and totally enjoyed the vibe of how small town people can treat others.

Didn’t particularly care for the added in sex scenes…just don’t need vivid descriptions of that in my thrillers.

Loved Beverly the grandmother and her character! She added to the story well. Lucy’s parents—got on my nerves and really think their relationships could have been written better and more believable.

Overall—had me thinking about it when i wasn’t reading, still thinking about it and wanted to be reading when i wasn’t able do 4.25 stars!!

Thanks to Netgalley and Celadon books for my electronic advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

I am glad I listened to this as an audiobook because I don't think I would have liked it all if I had read it. I didn't like Lucy. I felt she was snarky and aloof. The internal dialogue felt cheesy and unbelievable to me. I liked the podcast parts.

MY DREAM THRILLER ❤️🖤

LISTEN TO THE LIE by AMY TINTERA is what all my thriller dreams are made of.

Past & present mysteries. A reluctant return home. Darkly and fantastically funny. Small town vibes. Murder. A true crime podcast. Some moral ambiguity. And all the dark and messed up people doing all the dark and messed up things.

There’s a reason this book was one of my most anticipated releases and I loved every word of it. AMY TINTERA crafts such a fantastic story. The writing is bingeable. The weaving of the past and present flows perfectly. I love how the podcast element is leveraged to reveal not only critical pieces of the plot, but also insight into the characters. And the humor is so on point. And as if this isn’t all amazing enough, this book is a total slump buster!

And then there’s Lucy who is such a compelling protagonist. I felt her frustration and her pain. Her pitch black sarcasm. And her desperation to find the truth no matter where it led.

This book is not to be missed!

Here’s the brief synopsis (the less you know, the better):

What if you thought you murdered your best friend? And what if everyone else thought you did too? And what if the truth of what really happened didn’t matter?

Five years ago Lucy was found wandering the streets of her small Texas town, covered in her best friend Savvy’s blood. Lucy can’t remember anything about that night, and despite a police investigation, the murder remains unsolved. But that doesn’t stop everyone in town from believing Lucy is a murderer.

She moved to L.A., desperate to leave her past behind. But when Ben Owens, the host of the true crime podcast Listen For the Lie, decides to feature Savvy’s murder in the 2nd season of his show, Lucy has to make the reluctant return home and solve Savvy’s murder once and for all.

ARC Review
4.5 stars
What a great read! I highly recommend listening to the audiobook as well. The narrators did a phenomenal job, distinguishing several different characters' voices, and the podcast sessions were so fun to actually listen to. I thought the book itself was funny, twisty, and had interesting subplots that kept you intrigued from start to finish. So so good. One of my favorite mystery/thrillers this year.

So I'm a little podcast book-ed out, so I went into this a bit hesitant, but also excited because it was my April book club read. WOW. This was so much better than the other podcast thrillers out there. I think the key was the main character being the accused, as opposed to the podcaster! And the characters were so likable - I mean how could you not love the grandmother!!!! She is an A+++ secondary character. I also truly appreciated how real the interactions and decisions were. I never once thought - wow that would never happen in real life. Everything was so relatable, despite it being about someone accused of murdering her best friend! That takes skill, folks! This is possibly my favorite read of 2024 so far. 100% worth it - even if you're skeptical of podcast books, like I am! Thanks to the author, NetGalley, and publisher for the ARC!

Very well thought out book! Solid 4-4 1/2 ⭐️. The main characters quirky banter to herself really made the story. The podcast format also added the who dun it effect perfectly!

Would recommend this book!

This book was so good! I really dug the humorous style it's written in and I liked how the podcast was written in. For a suspense book, it was a surprisingly light and refreshing read. I laughed out loud a couple times. Lucy is such a fun, sarcastic character and I loved that under her tough, armored exterior she really had a heart of gold. The book was definitely a page turner, but I did feel like the ending was a little anticlimactic for me. All-in-all, though, I really enjoyed this one and would love to read more by this author.

Thanks for the ARC!

I received a DIGITAL Advance Reader Copy of this book from #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

If you're looking for an edge of your seat thriller then this isn't the book for you. But if you're looking for a really good mystery that unfolds at a good pace with a great main character then definitely read this book.

I loved Lucy as a character. Her sense of humor is amazing and her personality is fantastic. Also her grandma is either the best character in the entire book or a extremely close second.

I really liked going back and forth between the podcast transcript and Lucy's point of view. It was interesting to find out the brand new information in the podcast and then see the characters dealing with the aftermath in the next chapter.

It quickly became apparent that Lucy was going to be my kind ofFMC. Her savage and cutting sarcastic commentary *made* this book for me. Yes, she was technically an "unreliable narrator with memory loss," a trope I usually hate, but it was hard to get too mad at her when she was consistently giving the other characters her zero fox attitude.
Between Lucy and her likewise hilariously honest Grandma Beverly, I was thoroughly entertained — and then, add in the fun podcast element and a mystery plot that kept me guessing until the end, this was absolutely a 5 star read for me!

Lucy is anxious about returning to her hometown for her grandma’s birthday. Not only is her family dysfunctional (her parents seem to sleep with everyone but each other), but in the eyes of everyone in the small Texas town, Lucy is guilty of her best friend’s murder years ago. Granted, Lucy was found wandering the woods with her friend’s blood on her dress, but there just wasn’t enough evidence to bring the case to trial, and, conveniently for the plot of this mystery, Lucy can’t remember a thing. Further complicating her homecoming is the presence of the popular podcaster, Ben Owen, who is in town to solve the mystery of Savvy’s murder once and for all. But Ben seems to be on Lucy’s side, and like most people in town, the two hook up fairly immediately.

This thriller was entertaining, and the podcast components within the novel's structure moved the story along quite nicely. However, the attempts at humor fell flat for me, and the character’s were all unrealistically unlikeable. The eventual reveal of the murderer felt anticlimactic.

Those looking for a sardonic tone and a quickly moving story will likely enjoy this book, but it’s not particularly memorable.

Thank you to NetGalley and Celandon Books for providing me with an advance copy of this book. My review is voluntary and reflects my honest opinion.

I really enjoyed this novel, and am kind of kicking myself for waiting to read it.

I have read a few of these podcast reviewing a cold case books recently. This one honestly was the best version. The MC is easy to follow, she has some attitude and sarcasm and is a unreliable narrator. I love this version of an unreliable narrator. There were lots of really great parts of the book. I really enjoyed Lucy I liked her attitude and how she was sarcastic. I liked the little digs on herself here and there. This book made me laugh out loud multiple times. The story itself was good, the writing was wonderful, and the story sucked me in from the beginning.

10/10 out absolutely recommend.

So many twists and turns, an unreliable narrator. Small town gossips. Loved the podcast sections of the book. Couldn't stop reading it.

This was such a great thriller! I was skeptical about reading yet another true crime podcast that calls a suspect home to relive the events. But people, this one worked so well. The pacing was spot on, the banter well done, had very realistic characters and of course a super hot podcast host. Throw this one in your beach bag!

This was a good mystery that kept me guessing throughout. I enjoyed that it contained humor to offset the serious subject. The main character definitely did some questionable things, but I still found myself rooting for her. I would recommend this book for those who enjoy a good mystery and fictionalized true-crime podcasts.
Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon Books for the ARC.

I liked the quick pacing of listen for the lie, but the writing style just wasn’t for me. I find that pop culture references tossed into a novel that isn’t about pop culture, not only dates the book, but brings me out of the story that’s trying to be told. In this case the references were not only unnecessary, but weirdly dated the book even further back with the Arya stark comment that didn’t actually make sense. I did think the story moved quickly and I enjoyed the twists and turns but ultimately had to give it two stars because the writing just wasn’t for me.

I really liked this book! Good Thriller! I didn't figure it out! I liked the podcast parts of it.

I am so happy I read this book and sad to be done with it. I miss these characters and this town but I really miss Lucy. The mystery blended so perfectly with the podcast that I could not turn away from this book. I will be recommending it an irritating amount I'm sure.

Thanks to NetGalley and Celadon Books for the ARC!