I HOPE YOU'RE LISTENING

A small town erupts when a child goes missing from the neighborhood in which a still-unsolved kidnapping occurred years earlier.

It’s been 10 years, but 17-year-old Dee is still haunted by the day her best friend, Sibby, was kidnapped as they played together in the woods. Anxious and risk-averse, she leads a double life as the anonymous host of a viral true-crime podcast that highlights missing person cases. Her ardent listeners, who call themselves the “Laptop Detective Agency,” have successfully used tips she’s received to solve several cases across North America, but Dee’s never wanted to put Sibby—and herself—under their scrutiny. Navigating high school and her budding romance with edgy new girl Sarah is complicated enough. But after a young girl goes missing, the media makes a connection between the incidents, and an LDA tipster suggests that Sibby is still alive, Dee is forced to face the past. Dee’s authentic, engaging perspective alternates between the day of Sibby’s kidnapping and the present, layered between episode transcripts that demonstrate her strengths as a storyteller and investigator. In her unspecified location, a White default is assumed, although the podcast’s current case centers Latinx and Black residents of Houston, with mention of the ways women of color are often let down by law enforcement.

A compelling, satisfyingly queer mystery that explores human connection amid the pressures and pace of today’s news cycle.