Okay Amy! You did the damn thing. This was soooo good! Super bingeworthy.. I never wanted to stop reading. Easily could’ve read in one sitting if I had the opportunity. I loved the chapter format and the podcast script at the end of some of the chapters.. so clever. Seriously this was a home run. Did not see the ending coming and was always second guessing myself. Everyone should read this and talk about it with a friend!! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Rating 5/5 stars

Lucy, our main character, was the prime suspect in her best friend's murder, but there wasn't any evidence that she did it. Even though she was found after that fateful night covered in Savvy's blood. In fact, Lucy has no clue if she even did it because she can't remember anything from that night. Like at all. Five years later, she's living in LA and hasn't been home since Savvy was killed. But a podcast has made Savvy's murder their subject for the season and Lucy has to go home to see if she can solve the murder. Even if she is the one who did it.

I had an absolute blast reading this! Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera kept my guessing the whole way through. One thing I really enjoyed was that there was some levity and humor sprinkled throughout. It wasn't JUST about the murder - impersonal and grisly. It had depth and the characters developed throughout the book. The transcripts of podcast episodes sprinkled throughout was such a unique addition and I really enjoyed it! It's so cool to see these unusual formats added to books.

I would happily read another book by Tintera! This is going to be my new go-to recommendation for those interested in thrillers/murder mysteries.

Thank you to Netgalley and Celadon Books for providing an ARC! All thoughts and opinions are wholly my own

Loved this book!!! The podcast format is becoming a favorite of mine! I love how this book kept me guessing until the final twist! Lots of red herrings will have you questioning who is telling the truth until the very end! Such a fun, twisty read!

Lucy is living in LA with her BF when a true crime podcaster launches an entire season featuring an unsolved murder of her best friend from her small town in Texas. She is the suspected killer but no one has ever proven it and she has amnesia for the entire evening. Lucy’s grandmother is throwing herself a birthday party and has lured Lucy back to town. The podcaster, Ben, just happens to be in town also and is interviewing the people who know Lucy best, or seemingly know her.
This is a page turner, with mixed media between the podcast excerpts and Lucy’s inner dialogue. There are also dual timelines with flashbacks to when Savvy’s murder occurred as Lucy is trying to piece it together.
Highly recommend!
#ListenfortheLie #NetGalley #CeladonBooks

Arriving back in her small town for her grandma's birthday wouldn't be so bad if Lucy wasn't the prime suspect in her best friend's murder and what is worse, the latest true crime podcast is breaking the case wide open. I loved this book, it gave me a Good Girls' Guide to Murder vibes. The misleading theories, the revealing, scandalous podcast episodes and all of the juicy, small town secrets made for an intriguing novel to solve Savvy's murder and reveal the truth Lucy is looking for.

Listen for the Lie is a captivating and exhilarating thriller that will keep readers hooked from start to finish. Set in a world where lies are deadly and trust is a rare commodity, Tintera weaves a tale of intrigue, betrayal, and redemption. The protagonist, Lyla, is a compelling and complex character whose journey of self-discovery is both relatable and empowering. As she navigates a web of deceit and danger, readers will find themselves drawn deeper into a world where nothing is as it seems.

Listen for the Lie follows Lucy five years after her best friend Savannah was murdered. Lucy's small Texas town all believed she did it but the police just couldn't prove it. After the famous podcast Listen for the Lie begins covering Savannah's case, her path crosses with the creator, Ben when she returns to her hometown for her grandmother's birthday. Together, they decide to try to solve her murder together, even if the evidence shows that Lucy did kill her. I loved this book! It was full of twists and turns, allowing for me to be completely surprised as I read through it. The characters felt real and I especially enjoyed learning about Savvy, especially at the fact that she was a deeply imperfect person. It is such a common thing that after someone dies, they are shown as being the best version of themselves. We learn about the worst of Lucy and Savannah, which shows that they were true friends, ones that accepted each other until the end. I especially loved the snippets from the podcast where we get to learn more information as Lucy does. I will definitely love to read more by Tintera!

This was extremely entertaining and hard to put down! I enjoyed the podcast format and that we had a few answers sprinkled in every couple chapters. The main character was funny, witty, and sarcastic which made it a fun suspense. I did think that there were some loopholes, but I didn’t get hung on them too much.

This was a page turner. Once I started reading it, I didn’t want to stop. I loved the mixed media format which included podcast transcripts as a way of telling the story, along with more typical prose. This one kept me guessing almost to the last page. I recommend it to anyone who loves a thriller or who’s interested in fictional true crime stories.

Everyone thinks Lucy murdered her best friend, Savvy, but Lucy doesn’t remember. It’s now five years later and Ben Owens decides to do a podcast to investigate the murder. Will the truth finally come out about what really happened to Savvy?

This was a fun, fast paced thriller. I loved Lucy’s character; she’s an unreliable narrator but she’s also sassy and at times funny. The story is filled with suspense of flashbacks from the past, current timeline and excepts from interviews from the podcast. There was also some romance. I can honestly say I didn’t see the ending coming, so I loved the surprise. I definitely recommend this one!

Oh my gosh this book was so captivating and thrilling, I finished it in one sitting! This was brilliant! I loved the podcast vibes too. This was heartbreaking but brilliant, and I couldn’t get enough!

Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera is a murder mystery/thriller. This book has so many aspects going for it. There is a 5 year old crime, lots of suspense and the beginning of a romance all to grab the readers attention. There’s also a podcaster named Ben Owens that is dead set on solving the crime! The story takes place in the small town of Plumpton, where Lucy Chase is suspected of killing her best friend Savannah. I liked Lucy right from the start. In the beginning I thought her personality, both vocally and through her thoughts, was really humorous. I actually laughed out loud at some of the things that she was thinking. Deeper into the story it got more suspenseful but I was never able to foresee how the crime actually took place and who was involved until it was all revealed at the end. It was a really interesting story and I’d recommend it to anyone who likes reading mysteries and thrillers. I’d like to thank Celadon Books and NetGalley for the arc. I’m giving it a 4 star rating and would be very interested in reading more books by this author.

📚 #BOOKREVIEW 📚
Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / Pages: 338 / Genre: Mystery & Thriller
Audiobook Narrator: January LaVoy and Will Damron / Duration: 9 hours 18 minutes

Five years ago, Lucy was found dazed and covered in her best friend Savvy’s blood. Everyone thought she killed Savvy but she has no memory of what happened that night. Now, a rising podcaster has dug up the case, turning Lucy’s life upside down once again. So she goes back home to Texas to face her demons and finally figure out what happened that night. Is she a murderer or isn’t she?

I’ve seen this murder mystery all over bookstagram and after having listened to the audiobook, I can confirm that it is as good as everyone is saying. Fast-paced, quick-witted, and deliciously twisty, I really enjoyed this one. I was originally going to read it since I got the ARC for it, but when I found out that one of my favorite narrators, January LaVoy, narrated it with her IRL husband William Damron, well, I had to hear it! Highly, highly recommended.

Thank you, @NetGalley and @CeladonBooks for the advanced copy of this book. I really enjoyed it.

This was so fun! I loved the podcast element and the self-depricating main character. Definitely felt like a fresh thriller, even with the podcast element which is done frequently now.

Podcasts are all the rage, so I can see this book having a large target audience. While I enjoyed it, the story did miss the mark for my expectations. I found the characters and plot more superficial than anticipated. I didn't really like Lucy, so it was hard to root for her. The romance angle felt forced and totally unnecessary. The big twist was lackluster and rushed. I did like the short chapters. Nothing about this book will stick with me now that the final page is turned.

Lucy is found roaming the street covered in her friends blood and not sure where she is. After going to the hospital and the police finding her friend Savy, Lucy is discovered to be facing amnesia and cant remember a thing. But then things start taking a turn when suddenly the blame is put on Lucy and the entire town turns on her. Things get ugly so Lucy moves to California and ends of meeting her current situation. Fast forward to a few years later and Ben an esteemed podcaster decides to do a podcast of Savvy and Lucy with the intention of finding the truth. And then one day Lucys grandmother calls to ask her to come to her birthday party and Lucy is forced into coming back into her home town. And things dont go as they should when she returns.

This was a very well written book and kept me thinking about what really happened. Lucy didnt necessarily help herself during her return and I had a hard time feeling sympathy for her. But I also felt immense anger at certain people in the book as well for how they treated her and what they did wrong. This was one of those books that was a little different than other books in their genre but it was the right mix of suspense and romance too. I would recommend and say this was a solid read!

I ended up listening to the audiobook for this one and I definitely recommend that route because it was just so well done and added so much to the story/characters.

My favorite parts were the bits of podcast throughout and her grandma. At times the voices in her head got to be a bit much but also at times I had to laugh because they were so ridiculously vengeful.

One thing that kind of gave me the ick was all the infidelity throughout the book. It was like everyone was just sleeping around with everyone other than their spouse/partner, but this won’t bug everyone like it eventually got to me.

4.5/5

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?

Review

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 rea 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!

This book was a very quick and binge worthy read. I loved the FMC Lucy! She was sarcastic, witty and her dark humor had my laughing at multiple points of the story. She is a very likable character even though was was a hot mess throughout the book.

I had so many different theories throughout the story and of course none of them were correct. I definitely didn't see that twist coming at the end.

I really enjoyed the podcast chapters but I wish that they had been a bit longer then the 2-3 pages they where.

This would be a perfect book to take on vacation or to be used in a book club. There are so many things to discuss about this book. This book I think would be great to get you out of a reading slump should you find yourself in one.

Thank you Netgalley and Celadon for the gifted copy in exchange for my honest review.

Listen for the Lie is Amy Tintera's first novel for adults, although she has several YA books under her belt. This book pulled me in from the beginning, and I had no idea how it was going to end. Did Lucy kill her best friend like everyone thinks, even her parents? Or was someone else there and they're getting away with murder? No one knows, because Lucy can't remember.

Now, five years later, podcaster Ben Owens has decided to do a deep dive into this unsolved case and find the answers...and he needs Lucy's help to do it. Lucy ran to Los Angeles and never really looked back, but she's returning to her small town in Texas to hopefully clear her name, and not end up in prison. It seems everyone in this town has lied and kept secrets, and Ben and Lucy are going to have their work cut out for them trying to solve Savvy's murder.

An epistolary novel, the chapters are broken up by transcripts of the Listen for the Lie podcast, where some people seem to be telling the whole truth, and some are continuing to hide things. With a wide cast of characters from Lucy's family to ex-husbands to ex-friends, there is no shortage of suspects, especially when the truth starts being revealed. Although there are quite a few people, it wasn't difficult to keep them separate, and they all had their own little backstories, lies, and secrets.

The writing of this was immaculate, I was drawn in from the beginning and could hardly wait to find out who, or what, really happened. The transcripts were a nice way of filling in information without Lucy having to talk to every person and make the novel feel bogged down. The pace was nice, and the red herrings made sense at the time. I really had no idea until there was maybe 10% left in the book, and even then I was questioning my suspect.

All in all, a great first outing for Amy in the adult mystery genre. The FMC had flaws, just like the rest of us, and even though she doesn't always make the best decisions, you still don't want her to be the killer. Although none of the characters were great people, they were all realistic and well drawn out. If you enjoy a murder mystery where almost everyone is a suspect, or where you don't know who you can trust, then definitely give this one a read!

Thank you to @NetGalley and @CeladonBooks for a digital copy for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.

Trigger warnings for domestic abuse and alcoholism