Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera
📚 Book Review: Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera
⭐️ 2 out of 5 stars
Five-Word Review: Grandma’s Great, the Rest? Meh.
🎧 If You Love True Crime Podcasts…
You might be tempted by Listen for the Lie. I know I was! Between the podcast angle and a small-town murder mystery, I was fully ready to dive in. But unfortunately, this one just didn’t live up to the hype. It has some good moments—especially Beverly, the grandma—but overall, it felt bloated, overdramatic, and filled with characters I couldn’t connect with.
🔍 What’s Listen for the Lie About? (Spoilers below)
Five years ago, Lucy Chase's best friend, Savannah “Savvy” Harper, was murdered—and Lucy was found at the scene, covered in blood and holding a bloody tree branch. But Lucy had a concussion and claimed she didn’t remember anything. There wasn’t enough evidence to arrest her, but the entire town has considered her guilty ever since.
Now, a popular true crime podcast called Listen for the Lie, hosted by Ben Owens, has picked up the cold case. And it's gone viral. Lucy loses her job, her boyfriend, and any semblance of normalcy.
So when her hilariously blunt and loyal grandmother, Beverly, invites her back to her hometown for her birthday, Lucy reluctantly returns—right into the spotlight of the investigation.
🏡 Back in Town: Secrets, Scandals & Shady Exes
Lucy reconnects with:
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Her parents, Don and Kathleen, who never really believed in her innocence.
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Her ex-husband, Matt, who kicked her out right after Savvy’s death.
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Her former friend Nina, now dating Emmett—a childhood friend of Lucy’s.
Ben (the podcast host) is in town interviewing everyone, and Lucy agrees to be featured. Against the wishes of her family, she starts poking around the case herself, curious about what really happened that night.
The deeper they dig, the messier it gets:
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Matt’s new wife Julia has just filed for divorce over abuse.
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Lucy finds out Matt had been cheating on her with Nina during their marriage.
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Savvy’s boyfriend at the time, Colin, was secretly having an affair with Lucy’s mom (!!).
So yeah… chaos.
💥 The Memory Floodgate Opens
Ben takes Lucy on a walk through the key locations of “that day”—which happened to be the day of their mutual friend Jill’s wedding. The goal is to help jog Lucy’s memory. And it works.
She remembers:
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Emmett tried to kiss her at the wedding and got weirdly aggressive.
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Later that night, Emmett confessed his feelings, and when Lucy rejected him, he snapped.
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Savvy tried to protect Lucy, stepping in front of Emmett—and he hit her instead. That blow killed Savvy.
Matt showed up just after and believed Emmett’s lie that Lucy was the one who killed Savvy. Matt, along with Lucy’s parents, decided to cover it up rather than risk more damage to Lucy’s already fragile mental state.
🎙 The Truth Finally Surfaces
Lucy and Ben are now romantically involved (despite him initially suspecting her). He helps her piece the final bits together.
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Emmett is arrested for Savvy’s murder.
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Matt and Lucy’s parents are charged with withholding evidence.
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Lucy, at long last, is cleared of suspicion.
🧓 Beverly Deserved a Better Book
While the mystery finally gets solved, the journey there was just… a bit much. The story is overstuffed with characters that don’t really matter, infidelity everywhere, and way too many unlikable people.
✔️ The Good:
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Grandma Beverly. Hands down the star of the show. Hilarious, blunt, and fiercely loyal.
✖️ The Not-So-Good:
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Everyone else.
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Characters felt shallow and inconsistent.
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Emotional stakes were there, but not earned.
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The "true crime podcast" concept was underused and could’ve added more tension.
💭 Final Thoughts
I really wanted to love this book. It has such a fun premise and great potential with the podcast format, but it never fully delivered. I didn’t care about most of the characters, and the twist—while surprising—wasn’t worth all the melodrama leading up to it.
If you’re into small-town thrillers with podcast vibes, maybe give it a try—but don’t go in expecting The Night Swim or Daisy Darker levels of twisty suspense.
My Rating: ⭐️⭐️ (2 out of 5)
Would I recommend it? Only if you’re in it for Grandma Beverly. She carried this one on her back.
📚 If You Liked Listen for the Lie, You Might Also Enjoy:
🎙️ Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson
A wildly clever, meta murder mystery packed with dark humor, unreliable narration, and a narrator who knows you’re judging him.
🎧 True Crime Story by Joseph Knox
A gripping novel presented as a fictional true-crime podcast transcript — if you loved the podcast angle in Listen for the Lie, this will scratch that same itch.
🌲 The Last Word by Taylor Adams
Another fast-paced, sardonic thriller where you’ll question everyone’s motives and wonder if the narrator’s paranoia is justified.
🕵️ The Night Swim by Megan Goldin
Blends podcast episodes with psychological suspense as a true-crime podcaster investigates a current and past case — perfect if you enjoyed the podcast thread in Listen for the Lie.
🤫 Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney
A twisty domestic thriller with secrets galore and a narrator who’s definitely hiding something.
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