Thank you @celadonbooks #partner for the #gifted copy and @macmillan.audio @netgalley for the audiobook!
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Five year ago, Lucy was accused of murdering her best friend, Savannah in small town Plumpton, Texas. However Lucy does not remember a thing about that fateful night. She eventually moves away to Los Angeles, unable to put up with her town’s judgments even though she was not officially charged.

Independently, five years laters, Ben Owens, a popular crime podcaster decides to unearth this case and find out if Lucy did indeed kill her best friend. Ben Owens is shrewd and has the resources to resolve cold cases and decides to personally visit Plumpton and its cast of characters. He happens to bump into Lucy, who has returned for a week to celebrate her grandma’s birthday. Lucy has no interest to work with Ben but Ben will not be stopped.

The chapters alternate between Lucy’s narration and Ben’s Listen For The Lie podcasts where he interviews the townsfolk directly or indirectly connected to the case. The podcasts chapters are absolutely compelling and sound like real podcasts. January LaVoy and (Did you know they’re husband and wife?!) did a PHENOMENAL narration. Even though I would have enjoyed just reading this book, the audiobook made the story even more stellar.

There’s a huge amnesia trope throughout the main story and I know some thriller readers feel it’s been overdone, but I assure you, it was treated respectfully in this book. You’ll understand what I mean once you finish the book. Listen For The Lie is easily one of my favorite thrillers I’ve read and I can’t wait to see what Amy Tintera comes up with next!

This was a fantastic true crimes/podcast book. The fast pace and past/present timelines kept me hooked along with the narrator. I can't wait for Amy Tintera's next book!

Happy pub day to ‘Listen For The Lie’ and congrats to @amytintera on this super fun, enjoyable thriller— it’s sure to be a hit! In fact, @gmabookclub announced it as their March pick this morning. And thanks to @celadonbooks and @netgalley for the sneak peek. I know this book has been everywhere so some quick thoughts…

🎙️ I know it’s been done in books before, but with all the true crime podcasts in the world today — it makes sense to add that element to a crime thriller. And Tintera did a GREAT job incorporating it here, to help tell the story.

🎙️ In addition to the podcast, the MC also has a voice in her head that acts as an additional character, and the comic relief! Her thoughts are so funny and what really made this book stand out to me.

🎙️ I also found this book very relatable which isn’t something I can always say with a thriller. But I totally related to the small-town aspect here. Everyone has already made up their minds about what they ‘know’ happened five years ago, who is right and wrong, good or bad. And there’s no changing their minds.

🎙️ I’m also a sucker for an amazing grandparent character in a book- and Tintera certainly delivered on that here as well. Lucy’s grandma was top notch. I want to have a drink with her!

🎙️ I’d say this is for fans of ‘None of This is True’ and ‘First Lie Wins.’ It’s got that same bingeable, popcorn element to it! I know this was a BOTM choice and I’m here to tell you if that was your pick this month— don’t let it sit on your shelf! Read it!

🎙️ Once again, happy pub day to this one. I’m confident it’s going to be a hit!

1) This book should have been as witty and funny as it was considered there’s an unsolved murder.

2) If we don’t get more from Ben’s podcast, I’ll consider it a tragedy for the book world.

3) @amytintera nailed the Texas small town life setting.

4) I was wrong about who I thought was responsible for Savvy’s death. I love a good whodunnit red herring read.

I first read this book then picked up the audiobook and let me tell you, reading it again provided such a fun experience thanks to hindsight. Both options are fantastic options, and this is going to be top book of 2024.

This book is fabulous! It quickly grabs your attention and keeps it throughout the book to the very last word. I was absolutely captivated by the plot and the many interesting characters in this murder mystery thriller.

Is Lucy responsible for Savvy's death? Well, a new true crime podcast is leading people to believe that she is to blame. Unfortunately, Lucy does not even know she killed her best friend. But now that she is returning home to her small Texas town she will have to face the past that she ran away from five years ago. Then there's the host of this new podcast called "Listen for the Lie". This is only Ben Owen's second true crime murder mystery he has investigated through his podcast but he is very good at what he does. When Lucy meets him she is skeptical about his intentions of getting to the bottom of this crime through helping her to confront her forgotten past to try to uncover the truth.

Lucy is an amazing character to get to know. So many things were uncovered about her and her friendship with Savvy. She has an unique dark wit that combined with Ben's seriousness created the perfect pairing. Lucy's grandma was my favorite side character her personality has me laughing out loud, you can truly see that Lucy gets her wittiness from her.

As the book unfolds the readers are sucked into Ben's podcast and it makes you feel like you are truly listening to a true crime series. There are so many times I thought I'd figured out who was to blame for the murder and then something new is revealed. The twist and turns are done perfectly throughout the storyline, they feel natural and not forced at all. The ending comes with such revelations I think my jaw may have literally hit the floor.

It was an absolute pleasure to read this book and I can without hesitation give it 5 stars. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

I am extremely grateful to Celadon publishing and Netgalley for the opportunity to read a digital ARC of this enthralling book in exchange for my honest review.

I started reading the preview pages on Amazon, already marked as To Read on Goodreads and noticed it was on Read Now on NetGalley. I quickly finished the preview and started reading the book, “Listen for the Lie” by Amy Tintera. It’s easy to read, interesting, sarcastic and funny. The main character, Lucy, was accused of murdering her best friend, Savvy, although no evidence was found and no arrest was made. Five years later, Ben starts a podcast about this unsolved murder and interviews Lucy’s family, friends and townspeople. Lucy is invited back to town for her grandmother’s 80th birthday party. She agrees to an interview for the podcast and quickly falls into bed with the podcaster. Someone says that the podcast becomes sex obsessed as numerous affairs are uncovered. Numerous alibis are discovered to be false as well. Lucy also has a voice in her head that suggests she kill…well, everyone. I just finished another book about a sociopath so I found this one quite refreshing. I read this in one day because I really wanted to know who killed Savvy and why everyone believed that Lucy did it. ARC was provided by Celadon Books via NetGalley. I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Are you looking for a great thriller that you CAN'T put down?!? This is going to be the one to read this summer!

What if you thought you murdered your best friend? And if everyone else thought so too? And what if the truth doesn't matter?

Lucy & Savvy became best friends after coming back to their home town a few years after high school. They weren't friends in high school but grew close after a night of hanging out. But then Savvy is murdered and Lucy is found wandering a backroad with Savvy's blood on her clothes and no memory of what happened.

True Crime Podcaster, Ben Owens, comes to town to help put the pieces together about what happened. As he digs into the case he finds that Lucy's marriage had some secrets that she didn't want people to know about. He also digs up secrets about her parent's marriage, and well....he pretty much digs up LOTS of juicy secrets. So what started out as Lucy being the only suspect, turns into a wide pool of possible suspects.

We get clips of what Lucy & Savvy's relationship was like. We also get to find out more about her history with her ex-husband. But I really liked hearing about her relationship with her Grandma, Beverly. She was really close to her and she would not have made a trip back to town to revisit old memories if not for her Grandma's guilting her to come to her bday party.

I loved how the plot all came together in this one. The further I read, the more the anticipation and intensity ratcheted up. The characters were well written and I just couldn't put this one down. I didn't guess the ending of this one until I was in it. This one was well written and executed. This one is going to be worth all the hype!

Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon Books for the opportunity to get an ARC for this exciting novel!

I really enjoyed this book. The chapters were short and I liked having one narrator the entire time. I also liked how the podcast broke up the story.

This was fun and bingey. I’ve already forgotten a lot of the details a few days later, but it was perfect for getting out of a reading slump.

Listen For The Lie by Amy Tintera is a brilliant, edge-of-your seat whodunnit mystery. A dark, sharp-witted, thrilling novel from the beginning until the very end. This was my first time reading a book by the author, but it definitely will not be the last. I could not get enough of this highly entertaining, captivating story. A huge thank you to the author, Celadon Books and NetGalley for the advanced electronic copy of the book.

If you don’t really know the truth about a situation what can you believe? Lucy certainly doesn’t know what happened the night her best friend, Savvy died, and she was found wandering through the woods injured and covered in her friend’s blood. The people in her hometown in fact think she is guilty of her best friend’s murder and she got away with it, including members of her family.

Five years on Lucy has been living out her life in Los Angeles, and avoiding anything to with the night that her best friend died. But now she has decided to return to her hometown in Texas for her Grandmother Beverly’s 80th birthday celebration. Incidentally Ben Owens a true crime podcaster has arrived in town to solve Savvy’s murder for the next season of his "Listen For The Lie" podcast. Is Lucy really guilty of what everyone else already believes? Was she actually capable of killing her best friend on that night so long ago?

I absolutely loved the alternating storyline between the main character, Lucy and the podcast episodes. All the characters were so well developed throughout the story, which really made this book extremely hard to put down. Listen For The Lie is a fast-paced, whip-smart, surprisingly humorous and very hypnotic book filled with twist and a shocking ending that you won’t see coming. A fantastic read not to be missed.

Thank you to Celadon Books for egalley. It may only be March but listen For The Lie is definitely going to be a contender for one of my favorite reads of 2024. I was hooked from the start.

What I loved…
🎧 The podcast element. Lucy is accused of killing her best friend and when a podcast host comes to Plumpton to uncover the truth of Savvy’s murder, Lucy is forced to remember things from that night. The podcast element allowed for great pacing of how truths were revealed.

👩🏻 Lucy. Lucy gave off Veronica Mars vibes she may not have been a teen investigator but the snark and wit were there. And I am a huge Veronica Mars fan.

😆 The humor. For a dark topic of murder the book was surprisingly funny at times. Lucy’s grandmother was a hoot.

😬 The suspense. When I wasn’t reading I was thinking about what could possibly happen next, who did it?! Did Lucy?! I was so nervous during many of the scenes. The ending did not disappoint.

What I didn’t love…
…🧐…🤷🏻‍♀️

This book is generating a lot of positive publicity and it certainly did not disappoint. It was a fun, twisty thriller that kept me guessing the entire time.. I loved the way that the podcast was used in this story and liked how it contributed to the solving of the murder. Additionally, the best part of the book was the witty and often sarcastic dialog between characters.

4.5 out of 5 Stars!

Listen for the Lie had ZERO problems holding my attention and killing my nail beds. It was very addicting. I found the plot to be hauntingly dark and the characters were chilling, especially the MC. I thoroughly enjoyed it and can’t wait to read more from Amy Tintera!

Very solid, fast paced thriller! The only thing that seemed a bit far fetched was the Savvy had already killed a man, and it seemed very much not given enough important or weight.

The podcast in between was well done. Overall, I really enjoyed this one!

Listen for the Lie was hard to put down! I was fully immersed in this story from the first few chapters. I couldn't wait to find out what Lucy's real story was and it was so hard to not skip ahead. Amy Tintera created a very realistic set of characters and a believable, suspenseful plot. This book is perfect for readers new to the thriller genre and will provide an interesting reveal!

I would love to see this story get adapted!

This was an exciting, fast-paced whodunit. The plot was tight, the characters were addictively hate-able, the banter and internal monologue was hilarious. Hard to believe this was an adult debut. Thank you to Netgalley and Celadon for the e-ARC!

Lucy returns to her hometown at the insistence of her turning 80 year old grandma's birthday party. But Lucy isn't totally welcomed there since the death of her best friend following a wedding 5 years ago. Though she was a suspect, the murder has never been solved though as Lucy was found wandering in the dark in a bloodied dress, hands coated in Savvy's blood and skin from Lucy under her fingernails, there isn't enough evidence to say Lucy did the deed. On top of that, she has no memory of the moments leading up to being discovered wandering the dark road in the middle of the night. And on top of that, she left town for LA and hasn't been back since that night. Hmmm... all rather suspicious. Now not only has she come back but also, a true crime podcaster named Ben has come to this little town to hopefully find the answer to who killed Savvy. As he goes around town interviewing anyone who might have some backstory to this crime, he begins to ruffle some feathers and stirs up some long settled dust in the matter. It isn't until Lucy's grandmother convinces her to allow Ben to get her side of the story does she find the courage to return to 5 years ago and hopefully unblock that memory.
This is a good story with many plot twists and red herrings. There are also some difficult themes such as domestic abuse and gaslighting for Lucy and her ex-husband's new wife at the hands of Matt. Lucy has trust issues because of this relationship but also because of how the town thinks of her without really knowing the actual truth. This makes her put up emotional walls. As Lucy manages her daily life, she is haunted by the "voice" of Savvy to "kill" in her mind whenever a person is making her life difficult. She has been dealing with these thoughts since that terrible night and the reader wonders if in fact, Lucy did do it. I could see this as a movie with Savvy as a character invisible to everyone else but Lucy talking into her ear. I wasn't a big fan of the some of the dialog between characters as it seemed a bit silly and juvenile. But overall the story is a good one with a very tidy and a predictable ending though the actual murderer was a surprise.

I am a SUCKER for an unreliable narrator, and apparently I am also a big fan of the podcast trope that’s becoming popular in thrillers. This was super fast paced, told between Lucy’s account and podcast episodes. Quick read with a satisfying ending!

This book was superb. It’s so well-written, so tightly and compactly plotted, that you don’t know any more than the main character does. And she doesn’t know anything. Everybody in town – including Lucy’s parents if their behavior is to be believed – thinks Lucy is a murderer who got away with it. Lucy can’t believe she would have killed her best friend Savvy, but she can’t remember not doing it. And she was covered in Savvy’s blood, so she must have done it, right? Her brain is like Pandora’s box. She wants to open it and learn the truth, but maybe not that truth, so she keeps the lid on.

Saying everyone in town believes Lucy is guilty is a bit of an overstatement. Lucy’s grandmother doesn’t. But she’s old, quirky, eccentric – and drinks a lot. She guilts Lucy into coming home for her 80th birthday party. It’s not long, however, until it’s clear that Grandma actually wants Lucy to meet with the podcaster who’s dredging everything up again and ruining Lucy’s life (more? again?) in the process. Lost her job, lost her boyfriend. Okay, things with the boyfriend weren’t that great anyway, but still. Ben Owens is the handsome, charming-when-he-wants-to-be, mostly, kind of, usually ethical golden boy of podcasters. This is a big story and he’s making the most of it. And Grandma has the brilliant idea that Ben and Lucy should work together to find out who did kill Savvy. But why would Lucy want to spend time with Ben? He’s ruining what’s left of her life. Plus, if Lucy really didn’t do it that means there is a murderer still on the loose in her hometown, and that’s dangerous and scary. And another thing – what if they learn the truth and it’s the truth Lucy can’t bear?

This was one of the most enjoyable reads ever. Full of characters that are surprisingly quick to throw Lucy under the bus. But Ben is a skilled podcaster and maybe he really does want to get to the truth. He gets people to admit what’s ifs and maybes and reveal more about themselves than they intended to, and soon the reader is wondering who has ulterior motives, who’s hiding something, what really happened.

Listen for the Lie is a roller coaster ride of uncertainties, clues that don’t seem plausible, statement that seem to be lies. Lucy isn’t always likeable and it’s difficult to decide what Ben is really up to, which just adds to their depth. The story is unexpectedly funny, very funny, at times, in a dark, dark way that it shouldn’t be, but the intensity never lets up. There are false trails and red herrings and big, big surprises. And a really unforgettable reading experience. Thanks to Celadon Books for providing an advance copy of Listen for the Lie via NetGalley. I recommend it without hesitation. I voluntarily leave this review; all opinions are my own.

Five years ago, Lucy Chase was found wandering along a dirt road covered in blood and suffering a head wound. Her best friend, Savannah, was found dead and Lucy is covered in her blood. Except Lucy can’t remember what happened. In fact, she can’t remember any of the night. The whole town turns against her (including her family) and calls her a murderer. But is she? And if she’s not, who did kill Savvy?

Listen for a Lie is a fantastic podcast-style whodunit novel. The main character, Lucy, is likeable with her sarcastic comments and “take no shit” attitude. Ben, the podcast host, delves into many theories on different suspects, uncovering many secrets thought buried in the small town. I truly did not see the ending coming, with so many twists and turns! Short chapters, witty banter, and likeable/unlikeable characters kept me intrugued until the very end.

Thank you Amy Tintera and Celadon books for the ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review!