Listen for the Lie

Although Savvy’s murder is the central plot line of the book, different characters’ experiences of domestic violence, abuse, and sexual assault are also important aspects of the story. Through these different kinds of violence, Tintera explores how, when, and why survivors are dismissed or believed, and how this is often connected to misogynistic beliefs.

The beginning of the book establishes that Lucy is largely disbelieved—not just by the public, but by most of her own family. Most people who speak about the case on the podcast are convinced that Lucy killed Savvy, and this opinion is so widespread and impactful that Lucy loses her job and her boyfriend because of it. The lack of belief in Lucy’s innocence, and even her memory loss, is mostly fueled by men’s actions and perceptions of Lucy. Ross describes how Lucy attacked him back in high school, and people describe how suspicion first fell on Lucy after Matt threw Lucy out of the house. Matt’s actions, and subsequently, Lucy’s parents’ behavior, convince most people of her guilt. Thus, people’s dismissal of Lucy is strongly connected to the elevation of the male perspective: Lucy’s parents believed Matt over her, and Matt trusted Emmett over Lucy.

The automatic trust that people have in a man’s word is demonstrated through multiple characters’ experiences. Besides Matt and Emmett, even Ben, and the success of his podcast, demonstrates this. As a man, his word holds a great deal of power, and his podcast becomes wildly popular, bringing Lucy back into the public eye. Beverly recognizes this power, and it is why she asks Lucy to work with Ben in uncovering Savvy’s murderer. Men’s believability is also why Lucy chooses to never speak about Matt’s abusiveness to anyone other than Savvy. Lucy is sure that people will believe Matt over her, especially if he claims that she is the violent one in the marriage. For the same reason, Ben backs up Lucy to the police after the confrontation with Emmett—he knows that the police will not take Lucy at her word alone.

As is evidenced in Ben’s preference to speak to the police, even when the women in the story are believed, their believability is rooted in misogyny. Another example of this is in the way Lucy is perceived to be unfriendly and unlikable because people see her as more capable of violence than Savvy, who is seen as sweet and angelic in contrast. Perceptions change about Lucy only because of Julia, who speaks up about Matt’s abuse. Julia’s story is believable because, as Matt’s second wife, her experience with him points to a pattern of Matt’s behavior rather than her failing. Thus, it is Julia’s credibility as a survivor that affects Lucy’s believability, rather than Lucy’s experience in and of itself.

Thus, through these different threads, Tintera explores how survivors of assault, abuse, and violence—especially women—still face misogynistic attitudes as an obstacle to having their stories heard and believed. This speaks to a larger issue often addressed within the true crime genre, via podcast or otherwise. The disbelieving of survivors and the lack of survivor support has long been a notorious issue, though this has positively shifted with societal influences such as the “Me Too” movement and the popularization of the genre of true crime, with its inherent ability to spread information and stoke empathy in its listeners and audiences.