Mini Reviews: Mysteries Perfect for Fall

I love a good romance, but there's something about the fall weather that lends itself to thrillers and mysteries. Today I'm sharing two mysteries that will be sure to keep your flipping the pages this fall season.

Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera

Pages: 352

Genre: Adult Fiction

Pub. Date: March 5, 2024

Publisher: Celadon

Source: Personal Copy

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

 

Goodreads says, "What if you thought you murdered your best friend? And if everyone else thought so too? And what if the truth doesn't matter?

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. But after Lucy is found wandering the streets, covered in her best friend Savvy’s blood, everyone thinks she is a murderer.

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 who did it.

The truth is out there, if we just listen."

 

Lucy left her small hometown in Texas years ago, but after losing her job, she returns home to attend her beloved grandmother's birthday party. But this isn't just any homecoming. In her twenties, Lucy was accused of killing her best friend, Savannah. Savannah was found in the woods bludgeoned to death and Lucy doesn't remember what happened. She was walking around delirious covered in Savannah's blood. All arrows pointed to Lucy as the murderer, but there wasn't enough evidence. Plus, why would she kill her best friend? Now Savannah's case has been reopened by Ben Owens, a famous true crime podcaster. He is asking around and taking interviews about Savannah's death. Lucy starts to work with him to  uncover what happened to Savvy and slowly secrets are revealed and more evidence is gained through Ben's interviews. Fans of true crime podcasts will eat up Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera; it's a debut that will surely keep readers flipping the pages.

At first I didn't really like Lucy in Listen for the Lie. She's brash, has a lot of dark humor, and makes really poor choices, not to mention she hears voices. This part of the novel took some time to get used to. I was thinking she was a bit of a headcase, but slowly, as readers get to know her, they can empathize with her and her situation.  She was in an unhealthy marriage and has tried to escape that as well as her hometown's prejudices, but now she must face them when she returns home. Her slow burn relationship with Ben, the podcaster, was also done well, and I was desperate for them to uncover the truth regarding Savvy. Tintera told the story very well in that she tied in podcast episodes and like everyone else, I went through a true crime podcast phase, so this book was right up my alley. My only gripe was how so many dysfunctional (not to mention abusive!) people can live in one small town. They were all so  tragically flawed, but I guess that makes for an entertaining story. Other than that, I thought it was a well-executed mystery. This would be a great pick for fall!

 

 

 

Wrong Place, Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister

Pages: 416

Genre: Adult Fiction/Audio Book

Pub. Date: May 23, 2023

Publisher: HarperCollins

Source: Personal Copy

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

 

 

Goodreads says,  "Can you stop a murder after it’s already happened?

It is midnight on the morning of Halloween, and Jen anxiously waits up for her 18-year-old son, Todd, to return home. But worries about his broken curfew transform into something much more dangerous when Todd finally emerges from the darkness. As Jen watches through the window, she sees her funny, seemingly happy teenage son stab a total stranger.

She doesn’t know who the victim is, or why Todd has committed such a devastating act of violence. All she knows is that her life, and Todd’s, have been shattered.

After her son is taken into custody, Jen falls asleep in despair. But when she wakes up… it is yesterday. The murder has not happened yet—and there may be a chance to stop it. Each morning, when Jen wakes, she is further back in the past, first weeks, then years, before the murder. And Jen realizes that somewhere in the past lies the trigger for Todd’s terrible crime…and it is her mission to find it, and prevent it from taking place."

Jen is a happily married divorce lawyer and mother to a son, Todd, who is eighteen years old. On the morning of Halloween, she witnesses her son stab an older man, who appeared to be following him. Her brain can't process this! How could her sweet son do this? Consequently, Todd is arrested and her family is left in shock. The next morning she wakes up and it's October 29th, the day before the fateful incident. Jen has no idea what's going on, but she realizes that maybe she has "time traveled" and can stop Todd from committing this horrific crime. Hopefully, she can also piece together who is the man he has stabbed and how things have led up to this. Each morning Jen wakes up and she is further back in time. Slowly she starts to piece together the puzzle of crime, why her son did this, and what secrets her husband is hiding. Gillian McAllister's Wrong Place, Wrong Time is a thrilling mystery that's perfect for the fall.

Jen is a lawyer in Wrong Place, Wrong Time, so it was interesting to see  her piece together this crime and slowly solve the puzzle along with the readers. I must say I didn't see the resolution coming at all, so McAllister provides readers with a lot of plot twists. But this isn't just a thrilling mystery, it also includes a lot of commentary about family, and especially motherhood. I could appreciate Jen's observations about the different phases of raising a boy and how fleeting each stage is, only to be replaced by another. The novel also dabbles in the butterfly effect - how even small actions can change the future. This was the first novel I've read by McAllister novel and it certainly won't be the last.

Have you read either of these novels? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.