Five years ago, twentysomethings Savannah Harper (Savvy) and Lucy Chase of Plumpton, Texas - who were best friends - went to a wedding, and drank and partied with the other guests.
After the wedding, Savvy was found in the woods, with a crushed skull, and Lucy was found nearby - injured, dazed, and covered with blood.
Lucy claimed to have no memory of what happened, and the police found no evidence to prosecute her. Nevertheless, the residents of Plumpton labeled Lucy a murderer; Lucy's marriage ended; and Lucy's parents acted like she was guilty. So Lucy left town and moved to Los Angeles, California.
Now, half a decade later, Savvy's murder is in the news again. A true-crime podcaster named Ben Owens, whose podcast is called 'Listen for the Lie', has taken it upon himself to solve the case (in other words, to prove Lucy did it). Thus Ben is interviewing people who knew Savvy and Lucy, and reconstructing the night Savvy died.
Ben's podcast goes viral, after which Lucy loses her job and gets the cold shoulder from her boyfriend Nathan.
Meanwhile, Lucy's grandmother Beverly is planning a big bash for her 80th birthday, and she implores Lucy to come to Plumpton for the celebration.
Lucy is VERY reluctant to set foot in her hometown, knowing that people will stare and whisper and possibly do worse. Nevertheless, Lucy agrees to visit Plumpton for her grandma's party.
As it happens, podcaster Ben Owens is in Plumpton at the same time as Lucy, and he asks her to give him an interview. Lucy is tempted, but the truth is, Lucy isn't convinced of her own innocence. She continually hears a voice in her head telling her to kill people, and suggesting ways to do it.
Still, Ben seems to be getting the local folks to open up and reveal new evidence. Moreover, Ben is handsome and personable, and Lucy finds him very attractive. After awhile Ben and Lucy get friendly, and decide to work together to reveal the truth.....even if it means proving Lucy DID kill Savvy.
The narrative is interspersed with episodes of the 'Listen to the Lie' podcast, where we learn - bit by bit - about what happened in Plumpton five years ago. The town was chock full of podcast-worthy occurrences, such as unrequited love; domestic abuse; violent outbursts; marital infidelity; and more.
At the book's climax we see how all the chicanery in Plumpton resulted in Savvy's death.
The best characters in the book are Lucy, whose observations are sarcastic and amusing; and grandma Beverly, a feisty octogenarian with a long line of admirers.
I enjoyed the mystery, but the plot isn't totally realistic. It seems that ALMOST EVERYONE in Plumpton lied about where they were at the time of Savvy's murder, but the police (apparently) didn't suss any of this out. They just focused on Lucy and let the investigation go stale.
Still, this is an engaging thriller with interesting characters and a touch of romance.
I listened to the audiobook, narrated by January LaVoy and Will Damron, who do a fine job.
Thanks to Netgalley, Amy Tintera, and Macmillan Audio for a copy of the book.
Rating: 3 stars
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