What would you do if you believed you murdered your best friend? That is the question Lucy Chase has been asking herself for the last five years. Before rebuilding her life in Los Angeles, Lucy Chase was labeled a murderer by the residents of her hometown for the slaying of her best friend, Savvy Harper, after wandering the town soaked in her blood. Only two people really know what happened that fateful night; one cannot remember the events, and the other is dead. Enter Ben Owens, the charming and handsome true crime podcast host who is trying to find the truth. Lucy returns to her small, Southern hometown to assist in getting justice for her best friend. Even if it means remembering things she doesn’t want to remember. Even if it means realizing she’s the killer.
This is Amy Tintera’s adult debut, and she did. Not. Miss. The novel was such a gripping read that I struggled to put it down. I was up well past my bedtime being completely enamored by the writing. Tintera has a unique way of telling this story by utilizing the podcast format as well as first-person narration in the past and present. It tears apart each of the secrets and lies that people had been telling for the last five years. It played out like a movie to me, and that made it so easy to keep up with. It also had short chapters, which are my weakness, because, what’s another five minute chapter? I said that to myself too many times.
From the opening line of the novel, I had the sense that Lucy was a bit unhinged. A side effect of being accused of murder includes thinking about murder…a lot. Since her best friend’s murder five years ago, Lucy has had a voice living inside of her head that tells her to kill every person she comes in contact with; the voice also tells her how to kill someone. But the unwelcome thoughts never deter Lucy from being snarky and witty when anyone tries to dance around her status as a potential killer. Her dark humor made me laugh, and it added to her charm. It seems Lucy gets her humor from her confidant and closest ally, her grandmother. Beverly Moore shared more about her life than anyone needed to know, but she is always unapologetically herself. Lucy and her grandmother were a fantastic duo, and I loved every scene these two shared. Their relationship and perfectly-timed quips kept this novel from getting too dark, but it also made a story about murder funny.
Unbeknownst to me when I picked this up, there’s a little bit of a romance woven throughout the story. Maybe it was Ben’s charms and annoyingly good looks, maybe it was his belief in Lucy, maybe it was his slightly kinky desires, but Lucy could not resist him or ending up in his bed. But it was more than lust – there were moments where they gazed at each other for a little too long or touched hands and felt the spark. It was obvious to me that they were teetering on the edge of love. Not to mention their invisible string. Their romance was imperfect and messy, but it made them more realistic; I enjoy realistic romance. Their physical and emotional attractions to each other are morally compromising with Ben being the one in charge of potentially changing Lucy’s fate, but it gave me something to root for outside of hoping Lucy didn’t kill her best friend. Romance is a soft spot for me, and every interaction between Lucy and Ben left me wanting more of them.
This novel is super twisty and left me reeling in the end. I don’t even know how many times I changed my mind about who I thought the killer was. It’s funny without taking away from the crime at hand. It’s thrilling and heart-pounding, but I never had to worry about possibly getting murdered in my sleep. The secrets and lies kept coming. Tintera consistently challenged my thoughts and knowledge I thought I had about the characters, but she confirmed my suspicions at times too. It was such an adventure from start to finish with an ending that I never saw coming. That unpredictability made the novel such a gripping read for me, and I will be recommending it to everyone that comes in contact with me.
Rating: 5/5 Stars