Thank you to the publisher for the gifted e-copy.

Lenny Marks Gets Away With Murder is pretty much the opposite of what I assumed it would be based on the cover and the title. Lenny is a teacher that leads a very routine and fairly solitary life. She only has the woman next door as a friend, although she really wants to be friends with two of the other teachers at work. She goes to the market, watches Friends, steals a mistreated dog, and as we start getting bits and pieces of Lenny’s past, we start to understand more about her personality and quirks. One day a letter from the parole board arrives, asking to talk to her and things start spiraling.

Lenny just stole my heart in the way that only the most special characters do. I just wanted to jump into the book and help her navigate things!

The fact that this book is a debut blew me away. It’s rare that a debut is written with such incredible emotion and insight into a character - it’s also rare that I enjoy character driven books as much as I loved this one.

Kerryn Mayne has earned a fan, and I’m going to just sit her waiting for her next book to come out.

This story follows the very routine life of Lenny Marks (formerly Helena Winters) who is 37 years old, single, and is a school teacher. Her favorite television show is “Friends”, and her favorite book is “The Hobbit”. As we learn of Lenny’s childhood and past trauma, we begin to understand why Lenny has so many routines and is comfortable being alone.

Keep on reading and you will love the twists and turns that come throughout! Thank you Netgalley, the author and publisher for the ARC!

An absolutely delightful book with a quirky and quite extraordinary main character. It was a joy to follow Lenny's journey from a life of loneliness to one filled with friends and hope and l0ve. This author's debut certainly hit it out of the park and I will be on the lookout for her next book. Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press.

📚 BOOK REVIEW: Lenny Marks Gets Away With Murder by Kerryn Mayne 📝

Lenny Marks lives a quiet, carefully controlled life, with identical meals, color-coded Hobbit collections, and imaginary Scrabble games with Monica Geller. But when a letter from the parole board forces her to confront her childhood trauma, Lenny's world starts to crack wide open, revealing a past she’s spent decades trying to forget.

Based on the title alone, I expected something similar to Finlay Donovan, but this was more of a quiet, quirky emotional unraveling than a zany caper. Lenny gave me Molly the Maid vibes: endearing, socially awkward, and layered with hidden trauma. As her memories return, Lenny slowly works to figure out who she really is—learning to open up to others and finally allowing herself to rely on the people who care about her. I listened to this one - and while I wasn’t deeply invested the whole time, more just along for the ride, I loved the moment she kidnapped the dog. Big fan. 🐶

Ultimately, this felt like a slow-burn, cozy "finding yourself" story with a hint of rom-com and a satisfying, heartwarming ending. If you enjoy character-driven fiction with emotional depth and a quirky, lovable main character, this one’s worth a read!

Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder isn't the book you think it is.

Lenny is a neurodivergent woman, dealing with a lot of traumas from her past, while trying to keep up with her everyday routine - as a schoolteacher. She's awkward in social settings, my girl has been going through it on so many different levels.

This book, had me rooting for Lenny, her future, her new dog and her friendships. Lenny shows you what it means to overcome, learn and heal through this parole hearing for her ex-stepfather. There were things about this man, that I assumed could be true and in part, I was correct. But the unveiling of these truths, didn't make it easier to know - just because it was predicted.

There were parts that hurt my heart, moments where I just wanted to shake Lenny so she could understand that those mean girl coworkers were not her friends and just... finally giving herself and malcolm the love they both deserved.

Contemporary Fiction

Lenny Marks doesn't fit in. She doesn't have many friends and keeps her personal information private. She had a traumatic experience when she was younger and doesn't trust anyone. She feels safe in the world she has built until a letter arrives from the parole board making the "truths" she's told feel like lies or makes the lies fall apart.

This story is about navigating the world as an adult and the times when you feel as if you are alone. What do you do? Where do you turn? How do you manage?

This was a very sweet debut. I'll definitely look to read future offerings by this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC of this book.

This was DNF for me had a hard time getting into the story and was wasn't able to connect. Would still recommend it to anyone to give it a try just a miss for me.

I really wanted to like this book, and I was excited to read it, but it wasn't for me. I feel like the beginning drug out a little and spent a lot of time in character development. I did stick it out and finished. The story was decent, just not my favorite.

**3 Stars: A Slow Burn, But Compelling Characters**

*Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder* offers a unique and intriguing premise, but the story’s slow pace made it difficult for me to stay fully engaged. While I really liked the characters, especially Lenny, I didn’t feel particularly invested in what happened to her. Lenny’s struggle to reconcile with her past and her peculiar, almost detached way of living gave the story an interesting depth, but I found myself not really caring about how or if she moved forward.

Lenny's life is orderly, almost to a fault, as she tries to avoid the messiness of emotions and relationships. Her constant rearranging of her thirty-six copies of *The Hobbit* and the way she avoids confronting her past, especially the trauma surrounding her mother's abandonment, gave the book a sense of quiet tension. But the plot itself, especially with the mysterious letter from the Adult Parole Board, felt like it dragged on for longer than necessary.

Ultimately, while the characters were enjoyable and the writing was solid, the pacing and lack of urgency made it hard for me to get truly invested. The story has promise, but for me, it just didn’t hold my attention as much as I hoped.

This book is definitely character driven. Lenny is a character you probably won't forget. She has a quirky vibe and tries to deal with her anxieties as best as she can while also harboring some secrets. She doesn't let anyone get to close to her but as the book goes on, the reader finds out more about her history and why she is the way she is. As others have stated, you would like this book if you enjoyed Eleanor Oliphiant and Ove!

I'm sorry this one just wasn't for me. I know there's are quite a few people who enjoyed this one, but I just didn't like it. It reminded me of Eleanor Oliphant, which I absolutely loved, but this one just didn't wow me. Unfortunately, not for me.

*Thank you partner @stmartinspress and @macmillan.audio for the #gifted e-galley and audiobook.*

Lenny Marks and Eleanor Oliphant are two characters cut from the same cloth. Lenny is definitely on the ASD spectrum, her coworkers mock her or don't give her the time of day, and she is deeply cared for by people who genuinely like her along with her quirks.

Much like Eleanor, Lenny has trauma - serious trauma - that she doesn't deal with until it truly becomes a problem. In a nutshell, if you enjoyed Eleanor Oliphant, you'll find a soft spot in your heart for Lenny Marks as well.

As a debut endeavor, I found this completely delightful. As a 5th grade teacher, I empathized with Lenny's plight at work and cringed at times with the way she handled some situations. This is a totally character driven piece, so if you're looking for something that zips along with twists and turns, this may not be for you. It does drag a bit at times, but Lenny was so endearing it made up for it!

This book was really interesting. I wasn’t sure what to expect as I was offered a chance to read it and I’m so glad I did. Thank you @stmartinspress and @netgalley. I’d read another book by this author.

"Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder" was not the Cozy-Mystery I thought it would be...

Still, I love Lenny Marks! I love how she is regimented, doing certain things a specific way, time after time. Making word anagrams calms her. Being surrounded by quiet soothes her. Order and routine are two of her favorite things.

Lenny loves teaching and her students, and is super good at her job. What she isn't good at is dealing with change.

When Lenny receives a letter in the mail and continuing to ignore it doesn't work, her peaceful, quiet existence begins to spin out of control...

"Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder" is a thoughtful and thought-provoking story with themes of grief and loss, abandonment and secrets, and friendship and acceptance. Horribly sad at times and incredibly heartwarming at others, it was a bittersweet read.

This was an immersion read; the audiobook is read by Annie Maynard, who recounts the story flawlessly in a lovely Australian accent and delivers the perfect voice for Lenny. Her gender voicing is distinguishable and brings life to each of the characters. The result is a pleasurable listening experience.

"Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder" is an enjoyable debut novel, and when I was finished reading and listening, I was sorry to see Lenny Marks go!

3.75⭐

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Macmillan Audio, and Kerryn Mayne for a DRC and an ALC through NetGalley. This is my honest and voluntary review.

🥰 Loved this! 🥰
I absolutely adored this novel and the FMC Lenny Marks. I’ve said this before, but I will fall into protective parent mode when I read about an abused child (fictional or real), and this one was no different. This reminded me of The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth, but maybe just slightly less dark. I honestly had trouble categorizing this one into a genre. It falls under mystery, which is accurate, but doesn’t fully encompass what the book is. So much of this is a joy to read- Lenny’s personality and mannerisms will have you smiling and laughing out loud. (She is obsessed with the TV show 𝘍𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴, which I was most of my life, too. So I loved all of those references!) But when we get the dual timeline, it takes a darker turn. Then it was very bingeable as I just had to know what had happened to Lenny earlier in her life. It does get very dark, so check the CW’s if you’re nervous about that.

𝑾𝒉𝒐 𝑰'𝒅 𝑹𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒐:
This would be great for any fans of cozy or fun mysteries, or fans of quirky characters and dark twists.

It makes me so sad that this book didn’t get more attention when it was released. It’s so much more than the cover conveys—smart, compassionate, sweet—and perfect for fans of Eleanor Oliphant. Love handselling it.

This felt like a book I should have loved- it had all the components. But the tone just fell a bit flat, and I struggled to finish it.

This book has been sitting in my Kindle for a long time and I just can't finish it. It is no fault of the author but I probably should have paid more attention to the comparison to other books since I didn't enjoy those either. Lenny Marks is a quirky, neurodivergent character just trying to survive in her neatly planned out world. When things don't go as planned, it all starts to fall apart. She is a likeable enough character but this type of story just isn't for me. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing the chance to review- apologies it took so long.

I went into this book thinking it was more of a thriller/mystery but was surprised with a little hidden gem of a more thought provoking novel. Lenny was such a joy to get to know. It was heartwarming and had some mysterious elements but really it was about Lenny finding herself. This novel has similar vibes to Elenor Oliphant is Completely Fine. If you enjoyed that novel this would be one to consider.

While this wasn't my favorite, I couldn't help but feel for Lenny. Great characterization, heartfelt and heartbreaking.