I Did It for You

A Novel

By: Amy Engel

Narrated by: Sean Patrick Hopkins, Amanda Stribling, Jennifer Pickens

Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

A twisty thriller from the beloved author of The Familiar Dark, in which a woman returns to the town where her sister was murdered and finds a presumed copycat on the loose

It’s been fourteen years since Greer Dunning’s older sister, Eliza, was murdered, and Greer’s family has never been the same. And now there’s been a similar killing in Greer’s small Kansas hometown. A copycat, according to the authorities, but Greer is convinced there is more to the story. That Eliza’s murderer had help all those years ago.

So Greer returns home after more than a decade away, desperate to answer the questions that have haunted her for years. And in her drive to uncover the truth, she forms a bond with the unlikeliest of allies. One that puts her in grave danger, as almost everyone in her small town becomes a suspect.

At once a riveting mystery and a deep exploration of guilt, loss, and the ways in which a violent murder transforms both the family of the victim and the family of the killer, I Did It For You will keep listeners captivated through the very last chapter.

©2023 Amy Engel (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"In this stellar standalone…Engel elevates the already tantalizing mystery with an uncommonly raw portrayal of Greer’s grief—her palpable inner struggles form the backbone of the novel. Mysteries don’t come much better than this.”—Publishers Weekly (starred)

“I love diving into an Amy Engel novel, and I Did It For You is no exception. If you’re looking for an engrossing thriller, this one ticks off all the boxes: sleek writing, insight into the complexity of terrible crimes, and a plot that will keep you guessing and turning ‘just one more page’ late into the night.”—Julia Heaberlin, bestselling author of We Are All The Same In the Dark

“Amy Engel masterfully dredges the depths of small-town darkness. Raw and riveting, I Did It For You belongs at the top of your to read list.”—Laura McHugh, Award winning author of What’s Done In Darkness

3.5 rounded down

Ok I hate to say it but this was slightly disappointing. Only bc The Familiar Dark and Roanoke Girls are two of my favorite books. I can't put my finger on it but somewhere this fell short. I still think it's worth a credit though. I love Engel bc she isn't afraid to go there with some super dark themes but this one just wasn't quite as impactful. I'm gonna say too that I was fully expecting a 5 star book so if my expectations weren't so high going in maybe it would have been a 4 star listen

Not For Me

The rating scale says it all: this was not for me. I thought perhaps that it was a slow start, so I stuck with it for a bit. After another chapter, I was getting really aggravated at the protagonist's negativity. To make things worse, the narrator's whiny tone -- which completely encompassed the protagonist's self-pitying personality---overcame my patience. The story had some potential but there were contrived elements that made it seem forced. By the time I added this one to my archive to be best forgotten, I was hoping that the evil killer would put the protagonist out of her misery (and ours).