Two-paragraph version: Lucy is found wandering the streets with a brain injury and with her best friend Savannah's blood on her dress. Savannah is dead. Lucy is suspected of the murder, but not charged, and she has no memory of that night. Five years later, Ben, a true crime podcaster, features the murder on his show, and he comes to her town to investigate. Lucy suspects the real killed might be her abusive ex-husband Matt. It's revealed that Lucy and Savannah had a plan to kill him, but Lucy didn't want to tell people that because it could reveal that Savannah once got away with murdering a guy who assaulted her. (Lucy and Ben become romantically involved.)
When Lucy's memory returns, she remembers that they abandoned the plan. Instead, Lucy rejected the advances of Emmett, a guy who had been in love with her since childhood, and he attacked her. Savannah died defending her. Emmett then told everyone that Lucy killed Savannah. In present day, Lucy confronts Emmett, and he's arrested. Ben tells everyone who the real killer is.
Five years ago, Lucy Chase was found wandering the streets barefoot with blood on her dress and a head injury while her best friend Savannah's body was found nearby. Lucy was suspected of, but not charged, for the murder. Now, Ben Owens, a true crime podcaster, is covering the murder on his show, Listen for the Lie. Lucy's grandmother convinces Lucy to come home while Ben will be in town investigating, hoping that Ben can clear her name.
The murder took place at night after a wedding, on a small road leading away from the estate where the wedding was held. Because of the traumatic brain injury, Lucy has no memory of what happened that day -- either during the wedding or the night after. All she remembers is stumbling around in the street the next morning.
Everyone in town believes Lucy did it, including her parents and ex-husband, Matt. The only ones who believe she's innocent are Lucy's grandmother Beverly and her childhood friend Emmett. Ben seems open to the possibility that anyone could have done it, and things soon turn romantic between Lucy and Ben as they investigate the murder together.
As Ben covers the story, he learns that Lucy's ex-husband Matt claimed that he went straight home that night but was actually seen leaving his house. Lucy also hasn't told people, but Matt was abusive. Lucy also remembers kissing someone who wasn't Matt at the wedding.
It's revealed that Lucy and Savannah had a plan to kill Matt. Savannah dropped out of college her freshman year after being assaulted by a guy. She killed that guy and got away with it. Lucy suspects that perhaps she and Savannah came across Matt that night which resulted her death, but she's reluctant to share this theory if she's not sure in case it leads to revealing Savannah's secret.
Lucy eventually remembers that she ended up kissing Emmett at the wedding. Savannah had seen and suggested they leave. She'd said they should focus on killing Matt instead, but Lucy finally told her she wasn't really going to do that. Instead, they talked about moving to Los Angeles.
However, Emmett follows them out and confesses his love for Lucy. Lucy tells him it's not going to happen and he gets angry. He attacks her, but Savannah defends Lucy. There's an altercation and Emmett eventually kills Savannah and bashes Lucy in the head with a hammer. Matt comes upon them, and Emmett tells him that he saw Lucy kill Savannah. Matt then tells Lucy's father, who soon tells Lucy's father.
In present day, Lucy sees Emmett get physically violent with his current partner and it triggers her memory of the events. She confronts Emmett and fights him, and Ben sees part of the fight. Lucy tells Ben and the police what really happened. Emmett is arrested, and Ben ends his show by revealing the true killer. The book ends with Lucy and Ben making plans to get together in Los Angeles.
Lucy Chase, 29, gets fired from her job as an assistant to Jerry Howell at Walter J. Brown Investment Services after a podcaster identifies her as the prime suspect in a murder. Her friend Savannah “Savvy” Harper was murdered five years ago. Lucy ended up walking home afterwards covered in Savvy’s blood and everyone in their hometown of Plumpton, Texas assumed she did it. The police never found the murder weapon.
Recently, a podcaster, Ben Owens, featured Savvy’s murder in his true crime podcast Listen for the Lie, bringing the case back into the public eye. Lucy’s boyfriend, Nathan, has just now learned about it.
In a clip from the podcast, Savvy’s sister Maya Harper says that everyone knows Lucy killed Savvy. Maya was 18 at the time, while Savvy was 24. Her family hired three different private investigators, but they all came up with nothing. Lucy and Savvy had been seen fighting at a wedding. And even though Lucy had been covered in Savvy’s blood, had her skin under her fingernails and scratches on her, the police said they didn’t have the evidence she did it. Lucy also claims to have no memory of that night.
Lucy’s not sure if she’ll get another job. She’s published three romance novels under a pen name, Eva Knightley, and this third one is actually selling some copies. It’s something only her agent, publisher and grandma know about. Her grandmother calls to say that she’s having a big party for her 80th birthday. She wants Lucy to come back to Plumpton for the party and, since she’s unemployed anyway, to stay for a week and she insists that Lucy stay with her. Lucy’s cousins Ashley and Brian will be there too, but only for a day or two.
Nathan asks about her side to the story, but Lucy is dismissive, asking him if he’d even believe her. Lucy recalls how she heard from Ben five months ago asking about the case. He followed up two more times, but Lucy never responded. She didn’t see a point since no one believes her.
Chapters 5 – 6 (Episode #1)
Lucy arrives at her childhood home on Clover Street. She goes to see her parents. Her mom warns her that Ben Owens is back in town poking around.
In Episode #1 of the Listen for the Lie podcast, Ben describes arriving in Plumpton. He describes how the townspeople dislike mainly being known for being the location of Savannah Harper’s murder. The general consensus is that Savannah was “the sweetest girl you ever met” and that Lucy is horrible. Ben also notes that the Plumpton PD have declined to be interviewed or to cooperate with the podcast.
Ben interviews Gil Bradford, who was the one to discover Savannah’s body early in the morning on a trail near the Byrd Estate. Lucy and Savannah had been at a wedding there the night before. Savannah’s car was found by police on the side of a small country road leading out of the estate. Lucy and Savannah had left the wedding earlier before it started raining that night. By the time the other guests were leaving, the small road was flooded, so the other guests took a larger road out.
An hour after the discovery, Lucy is seen by Billy Jack walking down the street barefoot in a baby-blue dress, covered in blood with a welt on her forehead. Billy stops to see if she needs help, but she looks dazed. He calls the cops instead. Initially every is just relieved she’s okay after finding Savannah dead.
Next, is an interview with Savannah’s mother, Ivy Harper. Ivy says that the Harpers moved to Plumpton when Savvy was 12. Savvy and Lucy went to school together, but they were very different. Savvy was a cheerleader and homecoming queen. Lucy was known for punching a guy.
They didn’t become friends until after college when Lucy moved back to town. By then, things are very different. Savvy went to Tulane, but left after her freshman year. Lucy went to UT and met a handsome successful guy, Matt. When Lucy returns to Plumpton, she and Matt buy a huge beautiful house, and Matt is trying to start up a fancy restaurant-slash-brewery.
Chapters 7 – 10 (Episode #2)
(Throughout this chapter there’s a murderous internal voice that seems to pop up from time to time, which Lucy thinks to herself has been “so quiet since I left Plumpton”.)
Lucy checks her e-mails. Her agent Aubrey Vargas reassures her that they’re keeping her real name under wraps. Over dinners, her parents ask her about her copyediting job, which is what they still think she’s doing.
They go to see her grandma, who has sold her three-bedroom house and bought a modern pink tiny house to live in. It’s 250 sq feet and it’s on wheels. They talk about the party, and her grandmother says she wants an assortment of pies instead of cake.
In Episode #2 of the Listen for the Lie podcast, Ben interviews Ross Ayers, who went to school with Lucy. Ross says that Lucy was a bitch. Then, Ben talks about how Lucy’s return to Plumpton. She and Matt move into the Hampton House in an exclusive area of town that’s young and affluent. Joanna Clarkson, one of their neighbors in the area, says that Lucy’s family has a long history with this town. But while everyone loved Matt, they all thought that Lucy was beautiful but not very nice.
Multiple people are interviewed talking about how Lucy had a temper. Jill Lopez, whose wedding they were at the day of the murder, said she “would not hesitate to cut a bitch”. Ross Ayers says that Lucy broke his nose for no reason by throwing a basketball at him and then punching him. She also punched a guy at CVS a few months prior.
Nina Garcia, one of Lucy’s best friends from school, is now a nurse. She talks about how the restaurant-brewery that Matt opened in town didn’t work out, since it closed after a few years. She expected to reconnect with Lucy when she moved back, but Lucy and Savannah became really close in almost an obsessive way, so her own friendship with Lucy fizzled. Nina disagrees with the idea that Lucy had a temper — instead she thinks that Lucy was someone who knew how to stand up for herself when needed.
Also, Emmett Chapman, who had been one of Lucy’s closest friends growing up, says that Lucy always stuck up for him because he was bullied a lot. They both went to college at UT, but didn’t hang out a lot there. Instead, they became close again when they both moved back to Plumpton, and they hung out with Savannah, too. Emmett says Lucy and Savannah were close and there wasn’t any indication anything was wrong.
Lucy goes to grocery store and can tell that people recognize her. She runs into Nina, who gives her a hug. Nina encourages her to come by and meet her kids, but Lucy is doubtful she means it.
Sunday night, Lucy goes to pick up food at a local diner for dinner, and she sees Ben Owens there. She imagines him dead as her internal voice narrates his death. He invites her to sit, though he seems flustered. He asks her, again, to be interviewed, but Lucy is still adamant that she doesn’t want to. He tells her that at some point he’ll weigh in on what he thinks happened to Savvy on the podcast, but right now he’s still assessing.
He brings up her books, and Lucy is shocked the he knows about them. At first she assumes he is going to try to blackmail her into giving an interview, but he says that he isn’t going to reveal it. Instead, he just says that he read the books because he was curious, and he thought they were good. He admits that his assistant, Paige, told him it would be a “dick move” to reveal it.
Before she leaves, he asks her one question off-the-record. He asks if she knows Colin Dunn, who was Savvy’s boyfriend at the time. Lucy knows that he’s a natural suspect, but she also knows that he went home after the wedding so it wasn’t him. She tells Ben that she didn’t know him well.
Chapters 11 – 15 (Episode #3)
(Lucy continues to think random, murderous thoughts.)
When Lucy gets home, her grandmother admits that she purposely sent Lucy to the diner knowing she would run into Ben Owens and that she planned this whole party to get Lucy home at the same time Ben would be here. Her grandmother thinks Ben is her best shot at finding out who really killed Savannah and that Lucy needs someone like him to tell people that she didn’t do it, since people believe men. Her grandmother also says she thinks Ben may have already solved it because Ben knows Colin didn’t go straight home after the wedding.
Episode #3 of the Listen for the Lie podcast opens with an interview with Colin Dunn, Savannah’s boyfriend of four months at the time. Colin admits that he was unhappy with small town life and wasn’t particularly good to Savannah. They were sort of dating. He was at the wedding with Savannah, Matt and Lucy that day. Lucy and Matt had a fight during the wedding.
During the interview, Colin claims he walked straight home on foot, but Ben interjects that someone else has spoken up to say they saw him getting into a car with a woman. Colin then admits that he was with this woman, they hung out in her car, and then he walked home and he ended up getting home around 3 A.M. He says that the woman wouldn’t vouch for him because she was in a relationship.
Ben points out that the murder happened between midnight at 3 AM so he could’ve been “out and about” and walking around during that time.
Episode #3 continues with an interview with Stephanie Gantz, who had been friends with Lucy and Matt. She says that Matt and Lucy were often at odds with each other, and Lucy didn’t quite fit in with all the women around that area. It ends with Stephanie saying that Ben should really talk to Kyle Porter.
Party preparations continue. Meanwhile, Lucy’s mother has a book club coming by — Marian, Peggy, Betsy and Janet. They chat about the new podcast episode and about who could have cheated on their spouse with Colin.
Lucy’s ex-husband Matt has since remarried and is living in their house with someone else now. Matt’s parents helped them buy the house, and they paid for the brewery. Lucy was always uncomfortable with the rich people lifestyle. She finds herself driving by the house, and he sees her. He says he and his wife are getting divorced. He invites her in but she thinks about how he had treated her like he thought she was guilty after Savvy’s body was found and had asked her to leave the house. She declines.
Lucy meets Ben at the diner. He suggests they work together to find who killed Savannah, though he tells her that if it turns out to be her, he won’t hesitate to tell everyone. Lucy agrees to be interviewed.
The last part of Episode #3 is an interview with Kyle Porter. He talks about an affair that he and Lucy had lasting for a little less than a year while she was still married.
Chapters 15 – 20 (Episode #4)
Ben soon arranges a meeting with Lucy at the Plimpton Suites to meet his assistant, Paige. Paige is excited to meet Lucy and asks why she punched Ross. Lucy thinks to herself that only Emmett knows the truth. Out loud, she says that Ross was taking up-skirt photos of women. Paige suspects that Emmett knew based on his reaction. Paige then asks if Emmett keeps a lot of her secrets. Lucy tells her she hasn’t spoken to Emmett in five years and makes it sound like he stopped talking to her, but in her head she thinks about how she stopped responding to Emmett’s texts. They ask her to ask Matt to do an interview, and she feels a swell of panic.
In Episode #4, they discuss how Savannah’s actual case of death was a blow to the head. Soon, they conclude that Savannah had scratches from Lucy’s fingernals. Witnesses report that Savannah and Lucy had argued during the wedding after Savannah saw Lucy kissing Matt.
They also discuss how Lucy also suffered a traumatic brain injury that night and has no recollection of the night. Savannah’s date Colin went to talk to Lucy later a few days later, and Lucy said she only remembers getting in the car to go to the estate. Colin says Lucy has some recollection of showing up to the reception, but people told her she mis-remembered it and that upset her. Ben discusses how asking Lucy to recollect these things only a few days after her trauma probably put a lot of stress on her.
As for motive, Kyle discusses how Lucy thought Matt was cheating on her. He didn’t believe it at the time, but seeing as how Matt’s second marriage also quickly fell apart, now he’s not so sure. He also says Lucy had mentioned that Matt could be kind of an asshole to her, and Savannah thought it would be better for Lucy to leave Matt. Kyle ended things with Lucy since it seemed like things were complicated. Later, he saw Savannah and Matt in an intimate conversation and wondered if Savannah wanted Lucy to leave Matt because she wanted him instead.
Ben interview Emmett about this who thinks it’s ridiculous since Lucy didn’t even seem to like Matt that much. He also points out that she probably would’ve been angry at Matt if that were the case and he’s still alive.
Meanwhile, Nathan texts Lucy to say he thinks they should break up, and Matt wants to meet up. They meet at a Mexican restaurant. Lucy tells Matt that she’s helping Ben out with his podcast. Matt thinks it’s a bad idea because Ben isn’t “on her side”, but Lucy says that no one is on her side. At least Ben is on no one’s side and that’s as much as she can ask for. Lucy tells Matt he should do the interview.
Lucy thinks about how she stopped talking to Emmett because she thought he was better off without her after all this stuff started happening, especially since she’s been hearing these murderous thoughts in her head. Now, she wonders what her life would’ve looked like if she ended up with Emmett instead of Matt.
Lucy goes to visit Emmett at work, but sees Keaton Karper, Savannah’s brother, outside. She hurries into Emmett’s store. She apologies to Emmett for not returning his texts. Keaton comes and bangs on the window in anger, but then he leaves. Emmett says that he’s dating Nina now. He suggests that they all have dinner.
Meanwhile, in Episode #4, Joanna talks about how Matt throwing Lucy out of the house right after made it clear to everyone that Lucy was guilty. She says no one bought the argument that it could have been self defense cause Savannah died. Then, Lucy’s own parents start acting cagey. Her mom, Kathleen Chase, stops trying to defend her and her father, Don Chase, just stops talking about it.
The Chases run the Daisy Street Bakery. Lucy’s grandmother, Beverly Moore, was born and raised in Plimpton. Her three kids are Kathleen (Lucy’s mom), Keith and Karen. Keith and Karen both live in Houston.
On the podcast, Ben talks to a bartender, William, who tells him that Ivy says Kathleen told her she knows that Lucy killed Savvy. Ben then interviews Ivy. Ivy says she went to see Lucy frequently after the discovery, trying to get her to remember what happened that night. Ivy said Lucy’s behavior mostly consisted of her crying and shaking. But what made her really think Lucy had done it was her parents’ behavior. She says Don kept a close eye on Lucy like he was worried she was going to say something incriminating. Meanwhile, Kathleen said something to her at one point, asking her to “lust wait a little longer, okay?” and that she’d “make this right.”
Lucy’s mom freaks out when she hears this week’s episode, pointing out that she interviewed with Ben weeks ago and he hasn’t used any of it yet. Meanwhile, Lucy’s dad simply asks her if there’s anything he wants to tell him and that it’s “okay”. Lucy thinks about how he still thinks she killed Savvy, and she leaves.
Lucy meets with Ben, who says it was strange how much pressure everyone allowed her to under even as she was still coping with her brain injury. Lucy said she wanted to help Savvy. When he says she believes her, she thinks he’s being sarcastic, but he says he’s not and asks her why she always assumes everyone has “nefarious intentions”. Ben also mentions that he was invited to her grandmother’s party, and he asks if it’s okay if he accepts. He says he won’t if it’ll make her uncomfortable, and she says it’s fine.
Chapters 21 – 22 (BONUS EPISODE)
As a Bonus Episode, Ben teases that he’ll be doing interviews with Lucy and Matt, and he interviews Nina again. He asks her if he heard the rumors that Kathleen (Lucy’s mom) and Colin were having an affair, even though he’s 32 years younger than him.
Lucy expects her mom to freak out, but she doesn’t. Instead, the party for Beverly continues as planned. Their extended family arrives, and so does Ben. Kathleen is not pleased to see him there. Everyone else is shocked while Lucy jokes around with Ben. Eventually, the topic of the podcast comes up, and Lucy tells them she’s doing an interview for it.
Her uncle Keith starts getting riled up about the recent episode until Kathleen finally admits that it’s true. She slept with Colin that day. She says that she’s his alibi. Don sighs and Kathleen makes it clear he doesn’t have any room to be upset about anything.
All through the party, the murderous voice in Lucy’s head grows louder. As the party winds down, Lucy thinks about how the voice in her head is Savannah’s voice, and she thinks about that night.
In a flashback to five years ago, Lucy and Savannah had discuss a recent fight with Matt that escalated into violence. Lucy has a bruise, and Matt has some scratches on him. Lucy wants to go stay with her parents, but Matt is threatening to say that she pushed him down the stairs once. In reality, she’d been angry with him when he was drunk again and he’d tripped. But it’s a lie he likes to repeat like it’s the truth.
Savannah then tells her “the truth doesn’t matter. I have an idea. Let’s kill your husband.” (These are the “murderous voices” that’ve been on repeat throughout the book.)
After the birthday party, Lucy gets together with Nina and Emmett. Nina introduces her kids, John and Chris. Nina’s mom also comes over to watch the kids while they talk.
Nina says that people in town are realizing they were too quick to judge when it came to what happened with Savvy. She says that the fact that the police chose not to charge her probably should’ve held more weight.
As they talk, Lucy imagines Savvy there with them — but the real one. The version people talk about now is some “angelic blond angel” with “a halo shimmering around her head.” The real version was someone messy, with grown out highlights, imperfect makeup and a “frayed red bra strap sticking out from her tank top.”
Flashing back again to five years ago, Lucy tells Savannah she could never do that. Savannah says he deserves it and that she’s sick of seeing her with bruises. Savannah also says she’d never let her do it alone — she’d help her.
Chapters 23 – 24 (Episode #5)
On Episode 5, Ben interviews Matt. Matt says they had a passionate relationship, but they were poor communicators who should’ve gone to therapy. He admits that he asked her to leave the house after Savvy’s body was found. He says that it was a lot to handle, and the police were asking questions that made him uncomfortable. Matt says he feels bad for sending her away.
Ben then brings up that Matt was seen at woman’s house a number of times while Lucy was away, and Ben also says that sources have said Matt was sleeping with this person even prior to Savannah’s death. Matt denies it.
Ben then turns to the wedding. Matt admits he was drunk, but drove home. Ben starts asking if he stayed home, and then Matt interjects, saying he’s going to leave. Ben starts saying that a neighbor confirmed he was home all night, but admitted later to lying. Instead, they saw a car drive up and a woman came to see him, but they got into an argument in the driveway. She left, and the he drove away. Ben then notes that Matt walked away and hasn’t responded since then.
Lucy and Ben go to the woods where Savvy was found at Ben’s request. Paige joins them too. Then they get in the car and start driving down the small road, the one where Savvy’s car was abandoned, toward the Byrd estate. Then they get out and walk on foot. Lucy admits that being out here is upsetting for her. In her mind, there’s a swarm of memories of Savannah and she thinks about their plan to kill Matt. Lucy starts to feel unwell and collapses, but Ben slows her fall.
Ben takes her to her grandmother’s house to recuperate. They talk about Lucy’s books and her grandma tells her how unhappy she was with her grandfather.
In the second half of Episode 5, Ben interviews Beverly. Beverly says she was always suspicious of Matt. She felt like he was just putting on a show. Once she heard him say about Savvy to Don, “That little slut hates me.
Chapters 25 – 27
Kathleen gets mad at her mom for going on Ben’s podcast and trashing Matt. Lucy thinks about how her mom has a tendency to protect the men in her life.
Meanwhile, Lucy still hasn’t decided what she plans to divulge about Matt when Ben interviews her. She meets with Ben to grab a drink. At the bar, Nina is there too with some friends. She says hi, but seems disapproving of Ben and walks away. Ben says he like Nina and Emmett because they’re on Lucy’s side.
Later, they’re leaving the bar when Matt angrily confronts Ben. Lucy notices Ben start recording as Matt approaches. Matt slams him against the car and leaves.
Lucy and Ben go back to his hotel for a drink. Ben asks Lucy if she’s ever considered that Matt could’ve done it. In her head, Lucy thinks of how it’s possible they went after Matt that night and he killed Savvy in self-defense. However, Lucy is skeptical because she thinks Matt would have gone to the police if that happened. Lucy tells ben that he has no motive and Savvy was definitely not sleeping with him.
Lucy and Ben drunkenly have sex.
Chapter 28 – 29 (BONUS EPISODE)
The next morning Lucy sneaks out, but Ben calls her in the morning. He says that he’s cutting together an episode and there’s part of an interview that makes him uncomfortable so she can veto it if she wants. Lucy points out that his podcasting ethics have gone out the window. Then, he says that the interview is with Savvy’s younger sister, Maya Harper. Lucy asks to see it.
The clip includes the recording of what happened with Matt the night before. Then, in the unedited segment of the Maya Harper interview, Maya talks about Savvy hated Matt and loved Lucy. Maya says she thinks that Savvy thought Matt was abusive.
After listening to the clip, Lucy asks him not to include the part about Matt being abusive. She then heads to go see Maya. As she does she thinks about Savvy’s deepest darkest secret — that she killed a man once and didn’t regret it because he deserved it.
In a flashback from five years ago, Lucy recalls how after Savvy suggested killing Matt, she admitted to having killed a man before. His name was Troy Henderson, they met at a bar, and he “put his hands on” her. Savvy says that she stabbed him to death, put his body in her car and then dumped him in a swamp. She never heard anything about it. Lucy asks if that’s why she left college, and Savvy tries to be dismissive about it.
Chapter 30 – 31 (BONUS EPISODE)
Lucy finds Maya as she leaves work, and she asks to talk. At first Maya doesn’t want to talk, but Lucy mentions Troy. Maya wonders if it was someone who knew Troy that killed Savvy, but Lucy says she hired a PI a while back and it seems like no one was really looking for Troy. Maya then thinks out loud that Lucy must actually not remember that night since otherwise it wouldn’t make any sense to hire someone to follow a lead if she’s the killer.
Lucy promises not to tell Ben about it, but she says she wanted to talk to her so they could get on the same page about never telling anyone about that, since as far as Lucy knows Maya is the only other person that Savvy told.
The next morning, Lucy goes to talk to Matt, but instead she runs into Julia, his second wife, who is dragging some luggage out of the house and has bloodshot eyes. Julia says not to go in because Matt is in a bad mood. She also says she wants to talk to the podcaster. Soon, Lucy, Julia, Paige and Ben all meet up in a hotel room. Lucy leaves before they start the interview.
In the Lucy interview, Lucy talks about how she’s been separated from Matt for a few months and finally moved out today. They were married for three years. She says that Matt is good at making people feel comfortable. They met in Houston at a conference and were long distance at first. He pushed for her to Plimpton, but once they moved in together, he was moodier. She describes his drinking and the violence that accompanied his drinking. Then he’d turn it around and say that she was the one hitting him.
She was always curious about Lucy, not just because she was a murder suspect but because she wondered if she went through the same thing. Matt always had kind things to say about her and seemed sad that things ended between them.
She says that one night Matt drunkenly commented that he should have done a better job of protecting her “that night”, and when she tried to clarify what he meant he seemed to realize he’d slipped up. Julia thinks Matt may have been there when Savvy died.
Chapters 32 – 39 (Episode #6)
There’s a throng of people reaching out to Lucy after Julia’s episode is posted. Lucy still doesn’t know the best way to handle this and worries about what others might say in response. She hints to her parents that he hit her too, but says she doesn’t intend to make any tearful podcast confessions.
Matt comes to talk to her to make sure she doesn’t plan on saying anything. She recalls how after Savvy’s death he seemed to know he could make her seem violent to make things worse for her.
Matt then tells her Julia is wrong and that he wasn’t there that night. He says that she should stop helping this guy, and that she should trust that he’s protecting her by telling her this. Lucy keeps demanding to know who he argued with that night, and finally he admits that it was Nina Garcia. When Lucy talks to Ben, and she tells him that it was Nina and she thinks they were sleeping together.
The next day, Lucy and Ben are in bed together when Paige drops by and realizes they’re sleeping together. Paige yells at Ben.
Lucy and Emmett meet up later. He says that Nina is upset about the podcast, and he tells her that Nina is still sleeping with Matt. She’s been cheating on him. Nina’s an alcoholic, as is Matt, so they like to drink together. As they chat, Lucy recalls a night where she and Emmett kissed. Lucy wonders how different things would’ve been if she’d have left Matt for Emmett then.
Keaton Harper approaches Lucy. He says he just wants to talk. He says that he knows Matt and Nina well and it doesn’t sit right with him that they both been lying about being out that night.
In Episode 6, Ben includes some clips of people talking about Nina. There were rumors she and Colin slept together.
Then, he plays a clip of Nina saying that she didn’t really know Savvy. But Stephanie (someone from school) says that Nina and Savvy definitely knew each other and disliked each other. Apparently there was some drama between them about some guy.
Ben and Lucy meet at her grandmother’s place, wanting to talk about Nina. Lucy then checks on her phone and finds out that the internet has figured out that she’s Evan Knightley. Soon, her book reviews are inundated with people calling her a murderer.
Lucy goes to see Nina and demands to know why she went to see Matt that night. Nina says that she wanted to create a scene because she wanted Lucy to find out that she and Matt were sleeping together to force the issue.
Chapters 40 – 43 (Episode #7)
The next time Lucy goes to see Ben, she sees some papers describing how he thinks she had a mental breakdown and killed Savvy. Lucy is upset, but Ben says it’s just notes from before he actually came down to Plimpton. As they talk, Lucy’s mind wanders for a moment, and Ben asks what she’s thinking about when that happens. Lucy admits that she imagines herself killing people.
When she describes this to him, Ben seems to get turned on and they have sex.
Later, Lucy sees her mom, who is concerned about Nina. In their conversation, Lucy feels like her mom is so sure that she (Lucy) is the one who did it, so her mom thinks it’s unfair to Nina that she’s getting all this negative attention. Lucy wonders why her mom doesn’t feel the same way about her own daughter. She wants to ask her mom why she’s so sure she did it, but she doesn’t, since she’s afraid to hear the answer.
In Episode 7, Ben has his interview with Lucy. She says she remembers very little about that day. Instead, she remembers the next morning, being disoriented. In her mind, she’d just left the house with Matt to go to the wedding, and then she was confused why she was suddenly dirty and walking around.
Lucy mentions how no one seemed to believe her. Her dad kept saying that if she remembered anything, she should come to him first. Ben wonders if the trauma of being disbelieved by her mom, dad and husband caused her to forget as well.
Lucy says she tried really hard to remember what happened initially, but then she stopped, hoping it would just come to her if she stopped forcing it. Ben asks if she has revisited these places to try to remember things, and she says she hasn’t for the most part. Lucy also talks about how she’s also stopped trying to remember since she doesn’t know if she’s just creating memories out of things that people have told her.
Lucy decides she wants to revisit the wedding venue to see if it’ll jog her memory. Lucy also invites Matt. As they walk around, Matt narrates what he remembers. Lucy has an image in her head of Savannah lying dead on the ground, but then she’s confused since in her memory there’s daylight and this is something that happened at night. Lucy also has a memory of kissing someone who isn’t Matt.
Chapters 44 – 45
Later, Matt’s drops by and she goes to his place against her better judgment. They talk, and Lucy admits that she was kissing someone at the wedding. When Matt looks upset, she points out he was also cheating on her. Lucy says that she thinks Savvy saw her and tried to stop it.
Lucy and Matt start kissing, but then a memory resurfaces. Lucy remembers how Matt found her right afterwards when she was covered in blood. She recalls saying something about what Savvy tried to do. She recalls holding a tree branch.
Matt tells her that he took the tree branch from her and drove it to throw it out in a dumpster behind the bar so there’s be no murder weapon. When he returned the small road was flooded, so he headed home and assumed she’d be there but she wasn’t. In retrospect he thinks he should’ve done a better job of protecting her.
But then, he talks about their violence and going at each other, Lucy gets confused knowing she wad the one who always ended up injured. She thinks she’d never hurt Savvy and Matt was the abusive one. She stops him and says he’s lying and leaves.
At home, Lucy’s mind is spinning. She can’t remember what’s real or not anymore. She tells Ben she’s going back to Los Angeles. He asks her what’s wrong and if she remembered anything, but Lucy just says he can say whatever he wants about her.
In a flashback from five years ago, Lucy recalls kissing Matt at the wedding and him apologizing for something, promising to do better. She remembers wanting to have sex with him, but also knowing she’s getting drawn back into the something messed up.
Savvy sees them and disapproves. She yanks her away and reminds her of what Matt actually deserves. Lucy doesn’t want to do though, but she also doesn’t want to go off and have sex with Matt in the bathroom, considering how he was holding her underwater in the bathtub yesterday. Instead, she hears a familiar voice.
Chapters 46 – 47
Back at home, Lucy talks to her dad. She asks him if Matt told him that she killed Savvy, and her dad says that he told him that night. Her dad then told her mom a few days later. They wanted to just come clean but they thought they’d wait until Lucy regained her memory.
Lucy asks why he believed she was capable of that and why he believes Matt. Her dad said it seemed like he wanted to protect her.
Her publisher texts her to say that the book is selling really well. Later, Lucy goes to have dinner with her grandma. Lucy talks about how everyone thinks she did it, but her grandmother reminders her that she doesn’t think that so it’s not true. Lucy starts to say that maybe she thinks she did it, and grandmother stops her and tells her that she knows she didn’t do it.
She stops to see Emmett after dinner, who is painting a mural. She tells him about being upset over everything and he kisses her. Suddenly, she remembers that he’s the person she was kissing at that wedding. She remembers that Savvy had seen them and been disapproving. Lucy had left and run after Savvy.
In present day, she’s still kissing Emmett when Nina interrupts. Then she remembers something.
In a flashback to the wedding, Savvy had told her to get in the car, disappointed with her for kissing Emmett and Matt. She especially gets angry about Matt, saying that they should be planning his demise. Savvy also tells her that Emmett isn’t the guy she thinks he is — he just has her on a pedestal.
Savvy says that she slept with Emmett a few months ago. She said the sex was rough in an uncaring way and he was rude afterwards. He also asked her not to tell Lucy. After that he got mean, saying he thought she was down all the time. As they talk in the car, they see Emmett’s headlights flashing behind them.
Lucy then says that she doesn’t think they should kill Matt, but she knows she should leave him and leave Plimpton. They talk about leaving town together and going to Los Angeles. They giggle about it, but then Savvy notices something.
Chapters 48 – 49
In present day, Nina and Emmett are arguing. Lucy calls Ben and asks him when Emmett left the wedding. Ben says that Emmett claims he stayed the whole time, until 3AM and some people remember seeing him there helping to arrange rides home. Lucy asks if he could’ve left and come back, but Lucy says she remembers him leaving. She says he was driving down the small road and she remembers their eyes meeting.
She says she remembers bits and pieces, and Ben encourages her to go with him back to that road tonight to see if she can remember anything else. Before Lucy leaves, she sees Emmett grab Nina and hurt her, though she yanks free.
In a flashback, Lucy remembers how Emmett showed up on that road, wanting to talk to her. He tells her he’s crazy about her, he says he loves her and wants her to leave him. He starts kissing her, but she tells him it’s not going to happen. When he starts to argue with her, Savvy tells Lucy it’s time to go and starts to pull her away, but Emmett grabs Lucy as well.
When Emmett refuses to let go, Lucy punches him. Then, he lunges at her.
In present day, Emmett tells Lucy not to leave that he wants to talk to her. He then hangs up her call with Ben and takes her phone. He also grabs her keys and starts easing her out of the car gently.
In the flashback, Emmett is furious, calling her a bitch. Lucy grabs for Savvy as she falls down, scratching her arm. Savvy tries to grab Emmett head so Lucy can get free and finally the two women start to run into the trees. When they think they’re safe, they start to walk back to the venue, but Emmett comes after them with some type of construction hammer. He catches up to them and swings at them.
Savvy is on the ground bleeding when Emmett is about to take another swing at her. Lucy wraps herself around her and begs him to stop. Then, Matt shows up looking for them. Before Lucy can yell out for him, Emmett swings at her with the hammer. Savvy manages to yell for Matt, but them Emmett takes another swing. Savvy tries to shove Lucy out of the way and gets the full force of it instead. Lucy remembers one more swing before everything goes black.
Chapters 50 – 51
In present day, Emmett reminds her she’s trying to hard to remember things and it’s causing her to make things up in her head. Emmett demands to know whether Matt told her that Emmett was there that night, despite promising not to say anything. Lucy thinks about how Matt didn’t say anything.
Emmett starts to tell her that Savvy was mad about seeing them kiss at the wedding because he and Savvy had hooked up. He says he left the wedding briefly to go let his dog out and came upon Lucy after he’d attached Savvy. Lucy points out that his story doesn’t account for her head injury or why he left Savannah out there to die. He says he doesn’t know how she got her head injury and that Savannah was already gone.
Lucy then says that she should’ve punched him harder, but now she’s had practice. And she punches him in the face. Emmett is confused at first, but that quickly turns to anger. He grabs at her, but she punches him in the stomach. He punches her back, but she breaks free. They continue to wrestle and crash into the store. He run in and grabs a hammer.
He swings and hits her in the chin, but she lunges at him, grabs the hammer and hits him with it. She continues to do so until Ben shows up. Emmett tries to say she’s crazy, but Lucy tells Ben that it was Emmett and that Matt saw him there.
Chapters 52 – 53
Shortly after, Lucy is in a hospital bed with a police officer hovering nearby. Ben says that he heard Emmett admit to having tried to kill Lucy once before. When they’re alone, Lucy points out that Emmett never said that, but Ben knows. He says that people will believe it if he says it.
Matt is waiting when she gets out of the hospital, along with her parents. Lucy confronts him. She says that she knows Matt saw him there that night. Matt says Emmett showed up moments after he did, saying that he’d seen Lucy kill Savvy. Lucy says that Matt should’ve known Savvy tried to save her and that Emmett killed her for it.
Matt and her parents all say they tried to protect her, but Lucy disagrees. She says they was trying to protect themselves because they knew what would come out if the truth was revealed. She says they all withheld evidence.
Chapters 54 – 55 (Final Episode)
In the final episode of Listen for the Lie, Ben tells the audience about Emmett’s arrest for the murder of Savannah Harper. Matt and Lucy’s parents have all been charged for withholding evidence.
He interviews a number of people with varying opinions about what happened. Ivy Harper is still processing it all. Beverly (Lucy’s grandmother) sticks by her. Lucy’s neighbor Johanna is skeptical of Lucy’s story until Ben chimes in to back up her version of events.
Ben also talks to Lucy again, who says there are still some blank spots like why she left Savvy’s body there or why she had the tree branch when Matt saw her. They also talk about the difficulties of not being given the benefit of the doubt. She talks about how Savannah died to protect her.
In the last chapter of the book, Lucy admits to her grandmother there is a little more to the story than the one that Ben told on his podcast, but her grandmother reminds her that “you don’t owe anyone your whole story. Or Savvy’s”.
Over texts and online, there’s a ton of support for her. There’s also a video making the rounds saying that she framed Emmett, but she ignores it.
The book ends with her making plans to see Ben again.
Highly Recommended Published March 05, 2024
Page Count 352 pages
Goodreads4.12 (out of 5)
From the Publisher
After Lucy is found wandering the streets, covered in her best friend Savvy’s blood, everyone thinks she is a murderer. Lucy and Savvy were the golden girls of their small Texas town: pretty, smart, and enviable. Lucy married a dream guy with a big ring and an even bigger new home. Savvy was the social butterfly loved by all, and if you believe the rumors, especially popular with the men in town. It’s been years since that horrible night, a night Lucy can’t remember anything about, and she has since moved to LA and started a new life.
But now the phenomenally huge hit true crime podcast "Listen for the Lie," and its too-good looking host Ben Owens, have decided to investigate Savvy’s murder for the show’s second season. Lucy is forced to return to the place she vowed never to set foot in again to solve her friend’s murder, even if she is the one that did it.