Book Review: Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera
By Doreen Sheridan
March 26, 2024
Five years ago, beautiful, glamorous Lucy Chase was accused of murdering her best friend, Savvy Harper. There was never really any proof beyond circumstantial evidence – and definitely not enough to make a case strong enough to stand up in court – but the entire town of Plumpton, Texas, believed that she did it. With her marriage already in a shambles, Lucy got a divorce and took off as soon as she could to lose herself in crowded Los Angeles.
In the city, she tries to lead a relatively quiet, anonymous life, accompanied mostly by the acerbic voice in her head. Her main contact with Plumpton comes in the form of persistent phone calls from her grandmother, the only person who staunchly believes in Lucy’s innocence.
Thing is, not even Lucy believes that she didn’t kill Savvy. The main problem is that she simply doesn’t recall what happened that night. She’d gone to a wedding, and left with Savvy afterwards. The next morning, she was found roaming the backwoods, covered in blood and calling out for her best friend. At first, everyone thought that she’d been attacked, too. But her inability to explain what had happened, along with the scratches on her forearms and her skin cells being found under Savannah’s nails, soon turned the town against her. Not even her parents were on her side:
There is nothing my mother wants more than for me to confess to killing Savvy. Not just because she thinks it’s the right thing to do, but because she would excel as the mother of a murderer.
She’d be a star at church. She’d give long speeches about forgiveness. She’d write a book about overcoming the guilt she felt at raising a murderer. Sometimes I think that she’s angrier about me depriving her of this than she is about me actually (maybe) murdering someone. Mom enjoys being the best at everything, and I’ve denied her the opportunity to be the best mother of a murderer.
Lucy’s unexciting life in Los Angeles allows her the freedom to follow her hidden passions, until popular, handsome podcaster Ben Owens decides that Savvy’s murder is what he wants to investigate next. Losing her job and probably her boyfriend as a result of Ben’s spotlight on her past spurs Lucy to finally agree to come home to Plumpton at her grandmother’s behest. Beverly’s eightieth birthday is coming up soon, and she wants her favorite granddaughter in town to help her celebrate.
Returning to Plumpton is just about as terrible as Lucy thought it would be, but the last thing she expects is for her grandmother to have a secret ulterior motive for getting her there. Beverly has actually invited Ben to town too, and wants Lucy to speak with him on the record about the case. Given how Lucy has spent the past few years of her life trying to put this all behind her, she has zero interest in complying. But Beverly will not be deterred:
“Lucy, let’s not pretend that you’re not going to do this for me.” She pats my hand.
Dammit.
“You need him,” she continues.
“I do not need that idiot.”
“Yes, you do. People believe men. Especially men who look like that. If he says you didn’t do it–if he even casts enough doubt–people will actually believe him. Look at the Ronan Farrow fellow. No one believed that movie man assaulted all those girls until he said it was true.”
I sigh, because she’s right.
Of course, that also means that if Ben decides I did it, I’m extra fucked.
It is somewhat comforting that Ben seems to believe her. But in that case, who really killed Savvy? As Lucy and Ben dig into Plumpton’s past, they discover that not everything is as it seems in the bucolic Texas town, and that some people will stop at nothing to preserve their perfect reputations.
I was instantly captivated by Lucy’s wry and resilient narrative voice, and fell deeply in love with her delightful grandmother as well. The characterizations in this book, particularly of the “good guys” is outstanding. The feminist underpinnings of the novel are exemplary, even as they acknowledge that there are far too many circles of society in which a woman’s word will never be believed over a man’s. Plot-wise, readers will spend a lot of time wondering whether Lucy actually did it: the conclusion is thus a deeply satisfying cap to a wonderfully entertaining small town mystery.