Emily Listfield

Lisa Barkley seems to have it all – two beautiful daughters with enough money to afford private school for them, a handsome husband who is a journalist, and a prestigious job. But, beneath the seemingly perfect veneer are cracks. When Lisa listens to a voice mail on her husband Sam’s cell phone, she hears a woman’s whispered voice arranging a meeting. Lisa’s suspicions grow when inconsistencies appear in Sam’s itinerary for a story he is working on, and very quickly half-truths and show more omissions begin to add up to a certainty that Sam is having an affair. To make matters more complicated, Lisa begins to worry about losing her job; her best friend Deidre seems to be embroiled in a dangerous liason with a photographer; and Jack, an old friend from college and Deidre’s ex-boyfriend, arrives in New York to celebrate his 40th birthday with Lisa, Sam and Deidre. Doubts, betrayal, unspoken desire, and secrets come together to ignite the unthinkable, leaving everything changed.

Emily Listfield’s novel Best Intentions is classified as a mystery – and indeed, there is a murder and several suspects – but, at its core, the book is about relationships and how those relationships may be altered by misconception and half-truths. It is also about the secrets people keep from each other, the desires they hide, and the lies they tell – especially to those closest to them.

Listfield builds her story slowly. Narrated in the first person from Lisa’s point of view, the reader gains a deep understanding of Lisa’s fears and insecurities. This limited viewpoint works to build suspense as Lisa begins to doubt not only her marriage and relationship with her best friend, but also when she begins to uncover dark facts about her co-workers and clients.

Readers who are looking for pure mystery will be disappointed in Listfield’s book – not because it is not well written (it is), and not for lack of suspects (there are plenty)…but because the pace is slower than most mysteries. It is not until the last third of the book that the murder takes place and must be solved. Up until that point, the book reads more like women’s fiction or literary fiction with the focus on building the characters and their relationships to each other.

I like character driven novels and I was not put off by having to wait for the mystery to develop. I liked Listfield’s prose – direct, unswerving, and focused – and so I found this a hard book to lay down. I was pulled into Lisa’s life living in Manhattan, rubbing elbows with shallow and wealthy people…her tender relationship with her daughters, her self-doubt and desire for a simpler existence. I cared about her.

I recommend this book for readers who, like me, want more than a mystery. I am looking forward to reading more of Listfield’s work. show less

REASONS TO LIE by Emily Listfield

Pub Date: Feb 24, 2026 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Thanks to Thriller Book Lovers The Pulse for introducing me to Emily Listfield. “Reasons to Lie” is a fast, twisty thriller that hooked me from the start. I raced through it and gave it 4 stars.

Abby, Kara, and Hollis are moms with kids at Dearborn Academy, far from your standard PTA types. Abby and Kara balance life on the edge of privilege, while Hollis arrives as the cool new mom who changes everything.

Then the show more drama hits. Tragedy shatters their world, exposing how far the characters will go to protect their secrets and loved ones. The kids’ secrets are the pulse of the story, making the messy dynamics among the moms all the more riveting.

There’s a sneaky amount of heart tucked under all the suspense. The book is marketed as a thriller, but I think it’s more of a murder mystery. But it’s also about friendship, loyalty, and the lengths people go to when they’re desperate to hold on to the ones they love.

If you’re looking for a sharp, suspenseful read, give this one a try!

Thanks to Emily Listfield and Thomas & Mercer for the ARC via NetGalley. Opinions are all mine.

#ReasonstoLie #EmilyListfield #ThomasMercer #NetGalley #CapCut show less

Best Intentions is not a book I would normally gravitate to. I'm very happy I was introduced to Emily Listfield in this way, however, and I look forward to reading her other books. Best Intentions could be called 'a women's book' but as such it is a superlative example. The writing throughout is erudite and polished and the story is well wrought. There is an element of murder mystery included which adds to the piquancy of the tale.

Lisa Barkley is a happily married mother of two pre-teens show more living in Manhattan. The city itself is a minor character in the novel. Lisa is a PR executive; her husband is a reporter. They are not wealthy but send their children to pricey private schools. Their lives are as perfect as can be until one day Lisa listens to a phone message to her husband from an unidentified woman. From there on Lisa teeters between believing her husband is having an affair and returning to trust. Events in the book conspire to keep throwing her into one or the other position. Lisa's best friend and college roommate, Deirdre, doesn't share her concerns. Deirdre has her own issues and, nearing forty, has still not married. She wants children desperately. It is Deirdre's relationship with two men which precipitates the murder which occurs late in the book.

Lisa and her husband, Sam, are also both dealing with major changes in their careers. Her business has been taken over by new owners who patently don't want her to remain. Sam's print journalism career is constantly threatened by the internet news sources.

Emily does a masterful job of showing what life is like for these characters - juggling careers, motherhood, shaky finances (very timely), and the rocky shoals of New York society. It is in her depictions of NY upper-class women that I found the most amusement. These are Tom Wolfe's famous 'x-rays' and they haven't changed much since he wrote Bonfire of the Vanities. If you couple this book with The Nanny Diaries you can only feel pity for this group of women. Lisa and Sam do not actually belong in this group which causes Lisa some qualms now and then:

"My normal does not include being captain of an international fencing team in your spare time, having a college adviser at age twelve to help develop extracurricular passions (plain old interests are no longer deemed good enouch) or being the youngest congressional aide on record. My kids do not attend Exeter/Yale/Harvard during the summer break for extra classes. They go to camp. A Y camp at that. With positively no educational value. Except that they love it. And yes, my kids wander off sometimes. But in my heart of hearts I believe that children who never stray, who never test boundaries, will develop raging drug habits and a midlife crisis at twenty-two. Of course, I could be totally wrong. Their kids could easily be running the world while mine are nodding out on street corners."

Actually I think I pity the children of these parents even more. It is the parental concerns which make the book so appealing to anyone who is or has been there. Listfield ties all the ends up in a realistic and satisfactory way and even brings in a bit of 'happily ever after' at the end. I loved the characters in the book and would like to see more of them. At any rate I believe I have six more of Ms. Listfield's books to enjoy when I want and I am very glad she plans to keep on writing. show less

Is it possible that the world you carefully constructed can shatter in an instant based on an assumption you made after hearing a voice message on your husband’s cell phone? This is what Lisa Barkley begins to think after hearing the muffled message from an unknown woman to her husband.

On the outside, Sam and Lisa are happily married with two daughters, Claire and Phoebe. Lisa holds a top position at a PR firm, while Sam is a journalist. They met and fell in love during college and married show more shortly after graduation. Their daughters attend private school on the Upper East Side.

Lisa never thought to question her marriage until she hears this voice message. She shares her concerns with her best friend, Deirdre. Deirdre does not share Lisa’s suspicions and tells her it’s probably nothing. Lisa tries to shrug it off, however she just cannot seem to let it go.

Meanwhile an old college friend comes to Manhattan to interview for a job and to celebrate his 40th birthday. Jack is Deirdre’s former boyfriend and the four of them get together for a night of celebration and to reminisce. Jack and Deirdre entertain the idea of resuming their past love, only this time both have significant others. Jack is now married to Alice and Deirdre is in a relationship with Ben.

The four friends’ reunion sets the stage for past secrets, betrayal and lies to be revealed. Can we truly leave our past in the past? If we try to correct past mistakes, are really doing more harm than good?

Best Intentions is a book that you can easily get lost in. I was captivated within the first chapter and began to wonder if Sam was truly having an affair. Without giving too much away, the novels twists and turns and I began to question each character’s motive. At one point I truly felt for Lisa because I didn’t know who was telling the truth and who was not. I have to admit, after finishing the book and finally knowing Sam’s side of the story, I still had my doubts.

This is the first book I read by this author and it will not be the last. Best Intentions is one I highly recommend.

4.5 Stars show less