Spoiler-Free Review

Listen, if you’ve been following me a while, you know that mysteries and thrillers are very occasional reads for me. But here’s a rare 5-star one – and if you like mysteries with unique formatting, you should read Listen for the Lie.

What’s Listen for the Lie about?

Everyone believes Lucy murdered her best friend years ago, but there was no proof, and Lucy herself doesn’t remember that night. Now a true crime podcaster is convinced he can crack the case.

This was the perfect quick read.

I’m a big fan of quick wins when it comes to books, especially in between my longer fantasy reads, and this fit the bill. The chapters were short, and spliced between them were scripts from the podcast segments (and according to a friend, the audiobook produces these segments to actually sound like a podcast).

So not only was it a fast read, I found the main character’s plight compelling. The small-town drama was enough to me riled up at times, and add to that everyone’s unfounded but determined belief that the main character was a killer, and I really couldn’t put it down.

The story’s characters were definitely one of the strong points. The personalities were distinct – not always likeable, but distinct. One of the consistent threads throughout was that truth doesn’t matter, and to that end, many of the characters were morally flexible when it suited their needs. This felt more realistic to me than everyone abiding by strict moral codes. Plus, the interactions between the darkly sarcastic Lucy and the smug, attractive podcaster added some fun to the story.

It kept me guessing, also. I bounced between suspects from chapter to chapter as new information would come out. Overall, it was a highly entertaining read.

Should you read Listen for the Lie?

If you like sarcastic main characters with occasional dark humor, small town settings, short chapters, and murder mysteries that keep you guessing right up to the end, you’ll like Listen for the Lie.