Despite the NetGalley tag, this novel is neither mystery nor thriller; it’s about a woman finding herself, and learning to love and forgive both the child she was and the person she is now, while opening herself up to the people around her. For genre romance readers, I’ll note that by the end of the book, she’s in a HFN relationship with an adorably nerdy man.

The protagonist is soon-to-turn 37 years old school teacher Lenny Marks; born Helena Winters, the extremely socially awkward Lenny exists within very rigid personal and professional routines that give her the illusion of control, and allow her to compartmentalize the trauma of her childhood into non-existence.

When asked, as she often is by Fay, her foster mother, Lenny will stress that she is fine, and that her life is all she wants and needs it to be.

Which is why she deeply resents the arrival of an official-looking letter addressed to her previous name; after all, she has never committed a crime, what would a parole board want with her?

The blurb claims that this book is equally heartwarming and heartbreaking, and by all that’s good and wonderful, it is exactly that.

Beware: anxiety; dissociative amnesia; social anxiety; autistic protagonist; domestic abuse; animal abuse; child abuse; murder of a child; alcoholism; suicide.

The novel is set in Australia, and starts at the beginning of the school week, before start of classes on Monday the 16th of May, 2022, ending less than two months later, with a final chapter set a few weeks after that. Because the dates and weather matter to the narrative, it’s important for readers in the Northern Hemisphere to be aware of the inversion of seasons: mid-May in Australia means that winter is approaching.

The story is told third person, past tense, and exclusively from Lenny’s point of view. Because of the aforementioned trauma, this means that the narrative thread is not strictly chronological, and, as this is hinted at heavily from the start, it’s not a spoiler to say that she is not the most reliable of narrators.

The way Lenny is written, she’s likely on the autism spectrum, probably with some ADHD thrown in; her routines help her feel in control of her life, and also give it structure. A set time for her to eat, exercise, read, wake up; set days to stop at the market, to order meal delivery, to visit Fay.

The periods between school terms are challenging, but Lenny has devised ways to cope: she plans long projects and schedules them, just as she schedules the always-disruptive parent-teacher conferences.

This term, her personal project–mostly imposed by Fay–is to “get a life”; Lenny has simplified this to “make friends”–actual living, breathing people, rather than the fictional characters she has claimed for herself for longer than she can remember.

“Pretending there were people in her life seemed to quell the concerns of others. She’d noticed many times that being alone was akin to having a medical condition, especially once she was over thirty. Well-meaning people wanted to offer solutions or anecdotes on a regular basis.” (Lenny, chapter 14)

To fulfill her promise to Fay, Lenny has already chosen two candidates amongst her co-workers: Amy and Ashleigh, the younger, prettier, and popular new preparatory (elementary in the U.S.) teachers. To that end, she schedules brief, polite interactions throughout the work day, and tallies up every “successful” exchange; after so many of those, she assumes they’ll all be friends.

Unfortunately, between her social anxiety and the decades she has spent keeping everyone but Fay at arm’s length, Lenny feels uneasy in most people’s company, and therefore can’t read them well–including coworkers she has known for years. And so, when fellow teachers Kirra and Trudy make sincere overtures of friendship, and show concern for her, Lenny reads those as rude nosiness.

And, because of staunchly unacknowledged trauma, when Amy and Ashleigh actively ignore and exclude her, she tells herself stories to rewrite disdain and dismissiveness as a desire for privacy, or lack of time, or even extreme politeness.

There is only one person in Lenny’s routine, aside from Fay, with whom she feels comfortable and relatively at ease: Ned McKnight, the assistant manager at her local supermarket. She still manages to blurt out things that she immediately regrets, but most of the time Ned seems to understand the intentions behind her words; he even seems to enjoy their interactions almost as much as she does.

Of course, Lenny reasons, good customer service requires him to make an effort; he’s too good looking (and too ‘normal’) to actually like Lenny–odd, quiet, abrupt Lenny.

This is how things stand when that thrice-damned parole board letter arrives, bringing with it brief and disturbing flashes of memories Lenny has done her best to bury for over two decades. But it’s okay, so long as ignores the letter, and the voicemails, and doesn’t answer her phone, she doesn’t have to remember.

Until she does, and the memories and flashbacks bring fear and pain and horror back.

Worse of all, the past is soon disrupting her present, and Lenny’s carefully constructed and isolated existence crumbles around her. First, she gets drunk during the one social event she attends with her coworkers; then, she steals a dog after witnessing its owner being physically abusive. Soon she’s losing control of herself and her life.

And the memories won’t stop surfacing, ever more vivid, more detailed, and more brutal, forcing Lenny to examine them as an adult, and to confront the facts with the lies she has believed for twenty five years.

As she does, she learns to confront the lies she has told herself in the present. Because Lenny Marks is not, in fact, fine.

“No one would notice Lenny Marks’s absence in their life. She likened herself to the word on the tip of your tongue that you can’t quite recall. It’s there, only it won’t come to mind and it is of no consequence if it doesn’t.” (Chapter 27)

Lenny, however, is strong, and resourceful, and brave.

It is really clever how well some of the secondary characters are fleshed out despite having relatively little page space, and despite all being seen through Lenny’s slightly skewed perspective. Kirra and Trudy are kind and generous women; Lora Pham is fair and open-minded; Amy is shallow and desperately unhappy; Ned is adorable, and genuinely interested in Lenny; her elderly neighbor is more than someone she shares a garden with.

This was not a comfortable book to read; even as the slightly off-kilter writing voice lends humor to the narrative, the heartbreak is never far below the surface–and boy, are there horrors in Lenny’s memories. (Heed thee the reader warnings above!)

I can see the ending being controversial; some readers will approve, some readers will hate it. I am firmly in the former camp, and wish Lenny a long and happy life with Ned and Malcolm the rottweiler.

Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder gets a 9.00 out of 10.

What a delightful surprise! Lenny is such a quirky character, a total "Routine Queen." She gives off Eleanor Oliphant vibes.

As she gets over past trauma, we get to read a touching story. I loved this one!

Thank you St. Martin's Press and Net Galley for an ARC of this book.

Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder lives up to the hype and then some. Detailed, complex, and well-plotted, with a main character who becomes more complicated by the minute as events from the past are revealed and memories are revisited, memories Lenny Marks has tried very, very hard to keep deeply hidden.

When we first meet Lenny she is boring, surly, unfriendly, deeply enmeshed in her routine. A quirky routine with no room or time for friends or relationships or really anything outside her home. When Lenny is unable to ignore a letter from the parole board – lots going on there to unpack – her control starts to crumble and her walls start to come down. Having to actually engage with people seems like a good thing, except for the horrible secrets of her past. Will she survive if they come out?

This story had me hooked from beginning to end and took me through a range of emotions from happiness to heartbreak to hope. Thanks to St. Martin’s Publishing Group for providing an advance copy of Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder via NetGalley. I thoroughly enjoyed it and recommend it without hesitation. I voluntarily leave this review; all opinions are my own.

Thank you to @netgalley for the ARCn of this book.

Lenny Marks lives alone, bicycles to work as a school teacher and does not want to get too close to people, but is lonely for friendship. Her week is planned out with what she eats for dinner every night and what days she shops at the market.

We learn that she has been abandoned by all that she loves due to many different reasons, the worst one being something that she discovers during the course of the story, that she remembers different than what actually happened.

The title is a nod to “Friends” and how they title the episodes. I enjoyed the book, but it was hard reading about certain events

Lenny Marks does everything on automatic. Everything, everyday and every week is the same. Schedules and organization are her best friends. She has no friends or social life. She has blanked out the day her mother and stepfather disappeared. That is until a letter arrives that has thrown her entire life into chaos.

The organization and sameness make her happy. You soon realize that her structured way of life is a defense mechanism. She has repressed something horrible from her past. Now her comfort zone has been destroyed.

You will go along this personal journey for Lenny that will at times leave you in tears.

Thank you to St. Martins' Press and NetGalley for this ARC. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder is a debut novel about learning how to heal, cope, process, trust, find strength and contentment to be able to move on. Well this book totally fooled me! I was thinking I was going to be reading a cozy, lighthearted mystery, but boy was I wrong, and I’m okay with being wrong.

Lenny Marks, the MC, is one of those quirky characters that you can’t help but love, especially as her story unfolds. She is a teacher that is all about her routine, humorous, a little quirky, tends to take things literally and is looking for acceptance. Through dual timelines, we learn more about her past, including a very traumatic childhood. After receiving a letter from the parole board sends a rush of memories and emotions back. She’s always been good at disassociating from her past, so much so that she gets confused between what happened and what she imagined happened.

Lenny is a very well developed character and I appreciated seeing the character growth from beginning to end. While working through the trauma she discovers her strengths and makes some new connections and relationships. The only people who were really there for her were her foster family, the only ones who were able to give her a safe and loving home as a child and were still there for her as an adult, they had a special connection which I appreciated being included in the story. I also loved that FRIENDS was her comfort TV show and played a role throughout the story.

Wow, this one was a shocker, in a good way, and had some twists I didn’t see coming. It had the perfect balance of heartbreak and heartwarming. I think the author did an amazing job, especially as a debut. It is clear that the heavy topics were well planned out and were presented in a sensitive and thoughtful way. I would definitely recommend this book!

I really enjoyed listening to the audiobook. Annie Maynard delivered a remarkable performance from start to finish. Her narration enhanced the experience, bringing the characters to life with impeccable tones and inflections while creating a believable narration.

Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder by Kerryn Mayne was a spectacular debut!
A clever and captivating story that hooked me and held me captive til the end.
With its engaging plot, well-developed characters I could not stop once I started.
I enjoyed Kerryn’s writing tremendously. I was captivated from the very beginning and the characters really drew me in.

Thank You NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

How well do you remember your childhood? Are you sure you’re remembering it correctly?

Lenny Marks is alive, but she’s not living. She’d be fine with that if it weren’t for the fact she knows it makes her mom (well, her former foster mom but the closest thing to a mom she’s had in a long time) upset if she doesn’t at least try and engage with the world around her. If Lenny had it her way she’d keep to her strict routines and schedules, never letting anyone get too close to her or know anything much about her. It’s safer that way. No one can abandon you if you don’t let them in, after all.

The themes of abuse, abandonment, fear, anger, loneliness, and loss are all at the heart of Lenny Marks Gets Away With Murder. If you think this book is lighthearted at all, be forewarned it’s not. I cried more than once. My eyes are unhappy with me.

Debut author Kerryn Mayne has written a book with an extraordinary protagonist who will rip your heart out from your chest, break it, then repair it before placing it back inside and stitching you back up all shiny and new. Lenny Marks is written as a neurodivergent character who also has a large issue with dissociation surrounding a traumatic event from her childhood. Lenny’s type of neurodivergency isn’t explored or explicitly stated, but Mayne did a terrific job of writing a neurodivergent character without coming across as precious or exploitative. If you don’t fall in love with Lenny I don’t know what kind of person you are, because Lenny is so easy to love. I think that’s why this book has been so widely lauded for breaking people’s hearts and making them cry. You just feel so much for Lenny and what she’s been through. And after all she’s been through, she’s still out there trying her best to survive and do right when so many people who should know better choose to do wrong.

The pacing of this book is lovely, with a natural progression and no filler. Mayne’s writing style is sharp and insightful, with a dark sense of humor and a deep well of emotion. Her characters are well-drawn and her plotting is clear and well-rounded. The dialogue in this book is a delight and one of its best features.

This is definitely women’s fiction, but it’s definitely on the lit fic side of women’s fiction. It’s women’s fiction because the book deals with, in a large amount, issues that widely affect women and their children. The take on these issues is more on the darkly humorous side, which I always enjoy. If you love a tale that ultimately results in revenge, then you’ll end up loving this.

TW for child abuse
TW for mild animal abuse (one scene)
TW for violence
TW for child death
TW for domestic abuse

I was provided a copy of this title by NetGalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.

File Under: 5 Star Review/Dark Comedy/Disability Rep/Literary Fiction/Women’s Fiction

This story starts out a little slow and you have to keep pushing forward, but the story and characters will pull you in. This isn't a simple mystery, and it keeps you guessing, which makes for the perfect kind of book. You never want to know the mastermind right away. Great character development and plot development. Great story. We highly recommend this 4 star read and suggest everyone one-click it because once it gets going, you can't put it down.

Lenny Marks has life on her schedule. What time she leaves work every day, when she grocery shops, each meal she cooks is set to a schedule that rarely gets changed. That is until a letter arrives at work that brings her past crashing into her perfectly scheduled life. How will uncovering what really happened in her childhood change her future? Will she learn to let others in to help her move forward?
This was an interesting book with a lot of heavy topics. Lenny has some major trauma in her past that comes to light bit by bit as she begins to remember it. At the beginning I thought her quirkiness may be due to her being on the autism spectrum, but as the story progressed I wondered if it was more due to coping mechanisms from the past trauma. It was a lot heavier than I was expecting and that lost some stars for me
Plus, I struggled with how to feel about the ending.
In between the heaviness there were heartwarming moments and funny dialogue/scenarios!
It is set to be published tomorrow, 9 July! I was provided this free advanced copy from @netgalley in exchange for my honest review!
#NetGalley #LennyMarksGetsAwayWithMurder

Lenny Marks may break your heart. This novel starts off in a familiar way. I was worried that it would just be another book about an odd duck getting friends. It was so much more. It was about the things we do to protect ourselves. Lenny Marks protects herself by never putting herself out there. She protects herself by inventing a life.

While the title and cover art might make readers think this is just another cozy mystery with a quirky main character, Kerryn Mayne’s "Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder" is so much more than that. Despite the misleading title and cover, this is a hidden gem waiting to be discovered, and Lenny Marks, the enigmatic protagonist, defies expectations and lodges herself firmly in readers' hearts.

Lenny, once Helena Winters, is a character you’ll want to hug, console, and befriend. Her routines and solitude mask deeper wounds, and Mayne peels back the layers with sensitivity. Lenny’s favorite TV show and book provide poignant glimpses into her soul. Supporting characters—each with their own secrets—add depth and complexity. Mayne weaves a delicate tapestry of Lenny’s life—a routine existence that belies the turmoil within. As the story delves into her past, secrets emerge and the emotional stakes rise. The twists will catch readers off guard, leaving them hungry for more. The murder mystery takes unexpected turns, and Lenny’s journey becomes a gripping exploration of identity and resilience. Mayne’s prose is both evocative and heartrending. She balances emotion with suspense, drawing us into Lenny’s world with the pacing keeping us turning pages, eager to uncover Lenny’s truth.

Lenny’s resilience, the unexpected twists, and the emotional resonance make it a standout read. Mayne’s ability to surprise and move us ensures that “Lenny Marks Gets Away With Murder” will stay with readers long after they’ve finished reading.

Lenny Marks would love to have friends or thinks she should love to have friends, but that is, for her, easier said than done. A teacher whose horrific childhood in an abusive home comes to us in bits and pieces, seems to be fine with her solitary life outside the classroom. But when a letter comes from the parole board she begins to self-destruct as she is forced to resurrect a long-suppressed memory of why her stepfather was in prison.
This debut author has done a bang-up job with her first novel, and I will absolutely look forward to her next.

I absolutely adored this book. The title and cover make it seem much more cozy mystery-esque than it actually is. There is a lot of substance and several dark themes in this book, but it still manages to be funny and uplifting in so many ways. Lenny grabbed my heart immediately and I found myself rooting for her so much throughout the story. I also loved the last ~20% of the book and found it unexpected despite the title making perfect sense. Highly recommend!!

This was one of the most original books I’ve ever read. Lenny does not have anything close to a warm personality, but it’s hard not to like her from the beginning. Her unfaltering routine and collection of 36 copies of The Hobbit suggest a need for order. Lenny prefers a solitary existence and limits her interactions with her colleagues.

But when she gets the letter from the parole board, everything changes.

Obviously I’m not going to tell you what happened to Lenny in her past, but I will say that I appreciated the way the backstory unfolded gradually. It’s clear that SOMETHING major happened, but the reader is kept guessing for most of the narrative, mostly because Lenny is an unreliable narrator. She is not intentionally deceptive, but the reason for the memory lapse is related to her own confusion about the past.

The letter from the parole board serves as the catalyst not only for Lenny having to confront her past, but also for major changes to Lenny’s life. These changes occur concurrently with the letter, but are not necessarily actively the result of the letter, mostly because Lenny is trying very hard to avoid even thinking about the letter.

I don’t want to imply that there’s anything wrong with Lenny’s routine, especially since it was created out of a need to protect herself and avoid unknown variables. However, as Lenny deviates from her routine, her world opens up to surprising and unexpected possibilities, and not all of them are unpleasant.

I would absolutely recommend Lenny Marks Gets Away With Murder. This is a stunning debut and I hope this is only the beginning of a long writing career for Mayne. I would love to see this book made into a limited series on a streaming service!






I received a digital ARC of this book from St. Martin’s/NetGalley

This book kept me going even though it was a bit of a slow burn, and I was too intrigued to know how it will end, Lenny was such a puzzle and I needed to get through even though the slow burn was what made it a little difficult for me to really like. We get to see why Lenny became who she was, what she went through, which was so sad. She has imaginary friends as a kid and somehow they come around when she’s an adult. The secrets revealed about her past come to light and she has to face everything from her past, I love how she changed my mind about her at the end, because she is so bad ass.

Thanks Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

Reminiscent of Graeme Simsion’s Professor Don Tillman and Nita Prose’s Molly the Maid, both on the autism spectrum, Kerryn Mayne’s Lenny Marks will capture readers’ hearts with her difficulty reading body language, her social awkwardness, her meticulous planning, her dozens of copies of The Hobbit, and her obsessions with the TV series Friends and Scrabble. Certainly, Lenny will also evoke laughter, but at its core, Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder tackles much more serious social issues, most importantly domestic violence. This may be due in part to the author’s current career as police officer in suburban Melbourne, Australia.

The story opens on Monday morning, May 16, 2022, as 37-year-old Lenny Marks prepares to begin another week teaching fifth grade at Selby South Primary School outside Melbourne. Well prepared fr class as always, she is caught off guard by the school’s snoopy office administrator delivering a mysterious letter from the Parole Board to Helena Winters--a name Lenny thought she had left behind decades ago. Although Lennie has tried to forget Fergus Sullivan, the stepfather she hasn’t seen for more than twenty years, she refuses to open the letter or to say anything to the meddling Mrs. Finlay about what Lenny knows the letter must concern.

Lenny’s life moves forward as she tries to follow her foster mother Fay’s advice to make friends, but her story occasionally moves backward as the author fills in child Helena Winters’ past, years filled with memories that haunt Lenny’s present. Dates are clearly indicated..

Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder will keep readers turning the pages as they gradually come to understand what made Helena Winters into Lenny Marks, why Lenny named her stolen dog Malcolm, what that hard object is inside her one-eyed Teddy bear, which friends are imaginary and which are real, and how Lenny finally builds up the courage to accept hugs and “get a life.”

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advance reader egalley of Kerryn Mayne’s captivating new novel.
4,5 out of 5

I think this might be my favorite book of 2024 so far. Like many others, I was expecting a comedic murder-mystery type read but was instead surprised by this novel full of emotion, intrigue, and neuro-spicy dialogue.
While Lenny herself is full of quirky habits, the story itself is not quirky. You quickly learn that there is more to Lenny's story than meets the eye, much of which Lenny has forgotten or blocked out from her memory. This book was so much more emotional and full of trauma than I was expecting, but was equal parts heart-breaking as it was heart-warming.

LENNY MARKS GETS AWAY WITH MURDER by Kerryn Mayne is an engrossing and memorable story of buried secrets and lost and found family with a quirky main character I was rooting for from beginning to end. Thirty-seven-year-old Lenny Marks (formerly Helena Winters), is a school teacher who relies on strict routines to navigate her mostly solitary world. She bikes home from work at precisely the same time every day and eats the exact same meals every week. She passes the time playing Scrabble against an imaginary Monica Gellar from Friends, while endlessly watching reruns of her favorite show. Her attempts to interact with colleagues and acquaintances meet a dismal end. Up to now, Lenny has successfully buried her past, but that changes when she receives a letter from the parole board about her step-father. Slowly, memories from the past begin to emerge and Lenny is forced out of her comfort zone and is surprised to find people who actually want to help her. Will Lenny be able to overcome the trauma and loss of the past? This story is both heart-breaking and heart-warming and deals with some difficult topics with honesty and compassion. I enjoyed this compelling book and I thank the author, publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read and review an early copy.

What a fantastic debut novel!
After suffering significant childhood trauma, 37-year-old Lenny Marks has learned to cope with life by sticking to routine and keeping to herself, but when she receives a letter from the adult parole board asking if she wishes to write a victim impact statement, Lenny can't ignore her past any longer. I don't want to give too much away as I think this book is best enjoyed without knowing too much about it beforehand. It is full of wonderful, quirky characters, and it was a pleasure to watch Lenny grow and bloom despite her awkwardness and troubled history. The book is well written and the mystery components were well plotted, with clues to the truth of Lenny's past slowly revealed (with surprises along the way).