United States Publication: July 9, 2024

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this advanced reader's copy. In exchange, I am providing an honest review.

Lenny Marks lives a very solitary and regimented life. It keeps her safe and she's very invested in being safe. A scar on her leg reminds her of just how unsafe and unwanted she is. When she was young, she drove away her mom and abusive stepfather, and then her Grandma died. Nobody wants to be around for very long. Lenny's solitary life is working out well for her until the day a letter is delivered. She knows the contents and has no interest in acknowledging them. But life has other plans. In an effort to avoid the outcome of the letter, Lenny Marks breaks her self-imposed solitary life and starts to interact with her colleagues, her next-door neighbor, and the local grocer. But she can only push off her past for so long, and her routines will only prop her up for so long. The past is here, and it's time to face it once and for all.

Lenny Marks is a really endearing character because she is a wounded bird, and the routines she has created to protect herself bring out the Mama Bear in me. (I'm pretty sure the metaphor of birds and bears doesn't exactly work, but whatever.) She won the foster parent lottery with her foster parents. She has a few people in her life who are willing to put the work in to get beyond the walls she's erected, and we all need a few people who are persistent in our lives. Her quirky routines are right up this reader's alley - wordplay and Friends TV? Yes, please! Mayne created great characters, and the story was really creative. I love that I've been introduced to this author!

I would not classify this book as a thriller or even a cozy mystery for that matter. Instead, this book is a great debut that presents a wonderful representation of a character who is neurodivergent.

The main character Lenny (Helena) is interesting and unique. She functions by sticking to her routines. When she gets anxious, which is often, she rearranges words into as many anagrams as possible. Events from her past surface and this time she decides to face the trauma head on. This book is thought provoking and heartwarming. Lenny talking to her younger self who faced trauma really resonated with me. There was also a satisfying amount of character growth that left me feeling uplifted.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I don't typically like books that feature weak main characters. And at the outset, Lenny Marks is just that. She is not very socially adept and seems to be the "butt of jokes" without realizing it. She even made up a fake roommate. But there is something very intriguing about her that made me keep reading.

Lenny clearly has a secret about her past. The new name she goes by is clue one.
It takes some time to understand what that secret may be, we only know that it ties to a man in prison.
Did she lie to get someone convicted? Maybe.
Did she harm someone and blame it on someone else? Maybe.

As we waited to find out the questions above, we got to know more about Lenny and in the process, I grew to like her more than I expected.
1) I love how she rescued/stole a dog to protect them.
2) I love how she stumbles socially but opens up to people who make an effort with her (the grocery worker, Ned; her neighbor, Maureen; and a coworker). Through her interactions with them, you begin to see the real Lenny, instead of the guarded one.

Ultimately, we learn about her past, and it made me like her even more. She is not weak; she is a protector. Does she stretch the limits of right and wrong, yes, but in my mind, she does it for good reasons.

Overall, this was an endearing story, and I relished seeing Lenny come out of her shell and finally embrace life instead of hiding from it.

I enjoyed this book at times. The imaginary friends made it hard to figure out what was going on at times. Lenny has her quirks which makes her a bit more likeable

I was fooled by the cute cover and fun title, the inside was emotional and heartbreaking. Lenny Marks is an incredible character with the backstory to back her up as a strong woman.

Lenny, what can I say? I love this neurodivergent character. So quirky. Reminiscent of Eleanor Oliphant. Traumatic childhood, new beginnings, this book will make you laugh and cry. I need to arrange my books by height! I see myself in this character.

This book was about Lenny Marks. I found the story started a little slow in building.around the main point. Lenny was a creature of habit that had a hard back story. She tried to lead a normal life but her past came creeping up to invade her future. It is an interesting turn in the end.

Thank you to Kerryn Mayne and NetGalley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my review.

Growing up, I observed as much as I could, so I could catalogue as much as I could, so I could learn to be “normal.” We now know this is called masking and after 35 years, I am finally starting to unmask. But until then, I thought I was broken. Weird, off, wrong, incompatible. Throughout my life, I’d read weird or obscure books about characters who weren’t socially accepted. They were the outcasts.

The Perks of Being A Wallflower was like my mind exploding open. There were others like me. Maybe I wasn’t so off? But it wasn’t until recently that I discovered books with neurodivergent characters. Britt Marie Was Here by Fredrik Backman and The Maid by Nita Prose being some of the firsts. It was the first experience reading first person of someone with a brain like mine.

All of the dialogue felt so similar. It felt like reading my own thoughts, and it made so much sense. I suddenly made so much sense. Now I virtually will read any book with a neurodivergent character, just to learn more about other people like me.

Lenny Marks Gets Away With Murder is on that list, and I loved it. I love a good story about character growth. Mind, not character change, but an acceptance of who you are, as you are. And the community coming together and accepting who you are, as you are.

I think that’s one of the things neurodivergent folks want the most: to be understood. We spend our lives trying to understand those around us, and yet, very rarely, does a community do that for us. It gets lonely and we isolate because it’s easier. But I love a good story about a sense of community being built around someone who is neurodivergent.

Overall, this was a complex and beautiful book. Even the acknowledgments had me chuckling. I think I will be a fan of this author for years to come.

This book is remarkable. Not only does it feature a curmudgeonly female character, it is also chock full of drama and comedy. Most importantly, though, it deals with abuse and its impact on its survivors. There is such an array of wonderful and important features of this book, it is truly remarkable. I love Lenny Marks; she has secured a cozy little nook in my heart. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

A slow burn cozy mystery with an endearing & quirky protagonist. Although I found the main character entertaining, this book moved a little too slowly for my liking, and the mystery was pretty tame after such a big build up. This book was introduced to me as a comparable to Fern in The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth (which I loved), but I’d say this book is more a cross between Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman meets The Maid by Nita Prose.

Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder
by Kerryn Mayne, narrated by Annie Maynard

I thought this story might be more lighthearted but instead it hides deep heartache and feelings of guilt. Lenny Marx is 37 when the story starts and she lives alone in her little house. She likes being alone although she's not really alone. She has Monica, from the TV series, with her when she wants to play Scrabble or needs to say she already has plans with her "roommate". Yes, yes, Monica is just a character on a TV show but Lenny knows her so well by rewatching the shows all the time and she doesn't have real friends. Well, soon she does have a dog named Malcolm and he really is a woman's best friend!

But Lenny's mom, the woman who had fostered her after her granny went away, has been urging Lenny to make friends, to get out more, to do things with others. So Lenny is trying, not very successfully, to become friends with the "cool girls" at work. Still, Lenny has trouble reading people and often misinterprets what they are thinking or meaning.

Now something very big is happening. Lenny's stepfather is getting out of prison. He's the reason people left her, why everyone leaves her. Or maybe it's Lenny's fault everyone leaves her. Lenny's stepfather's voice runs through her thoughts, "this is your fault" and Lenny applies it to all her life.

Now, just as Lenny is making friends with her elderly neighbor and enjoying it, walking dogs with her grocer friend and liking it, doing things with others and mostly liking it, Lenny's world is about to blow up in the worst way. Memories are coming back and what she doesn't remember, people are filling in. Things were worse than Lenny thought and the truth just may destroy Lenny.

I was fortunate enough to have the ebook and the audiobook and I enjoyed both. With the ebook I was able to see the anagrams Lenny makes from words when she's feeling distressed. Seeing what Lenny was doing with the words helped me understand a bit better exactly what she was doing. With the audiobook, I could "hear" Lenny and the narrator does a great job allowing me to feel what Lenny was feeling, speeding up as Lenny's anxiety became too much for her. Reading or listening, this story is heartbreaking, touching, and hopeful. There is so much more to Lenny Marx than meets the eye and she's amazing in her very special ways.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for this ARC.

Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder may be the textbook example of don’t judge a book by its cover. The title and artwork give a cozy mystery vibe, but it is anything but, and that is a good thing.

Lenny Marks is such a great character. I wanted to give her a hug throughout the entire book. I don’t normally include the blurb in my reviews, but “Eual parts heartbreak and heartwarming” is the absolute truth.

4.5⭐️

Thank you Macmillan audio and NetGalley for my ALC & ARC

Lenny Marks is in her mid thirties. She is a school teacher who does not have much of a social life, and has had to deal with a lot of trauma in her short life.

I went into this story blind (as I usually do) and I was so pleasantly surprised at how much I loved and adored Lenny! I thought this was going to be a *cheesy* mystery, and it wasn’t that at all. Lenny is complex. She is loveable and has been broken down by people who should have loved her unconditionally. Lenny is a character I wanted to hug through the phone. Despite all of this, she is so strong, brave and wants to fit in with society. This wasn’t a strictly sad story by any means, but rather sad events took place and we see as readers how Lenny overcomes each and every obstacle. The audio was done perfectly and I binged it in one day!

What a wonderful debut novel! The reader can’t help but fall in love with Lenny and there are twists and turns throughout.

Ohhhh this book was so good! Absolutely devoured it! Can't wait for more from this author. Thanks to the author and Netgalley

Listen, I know some people get annoyed with book titles like LENNY MARKS GETS AWAY WITH MURDER and FINLAY DONOVAN IS KILLING IT and ELANOR OLIPHANT IS COMPLETEY FINE, but I, for one, love them. This is the perfect title for this book.

Lenny Marks is what you'd get if you combined Sally Diamond (from STRANGE SALLY DIAMOND) and ELANOR OLIPHANT.

Based on the title and cover alone, I was expecting a cozy mystery with an armature sleuth but I was SO WRONG. This is not really cozy (okay, maybe a little) and it's not really a mystery (also MAYBE a little). I'd describe it as a character study in which readers learn about the character as she simultaneously learns about herself. It almost felt like a coming-of-age story, but in reverse, as she tries to go back in time to her childhood to understand who she is today.

This is darker than I expected but it is dressed up to seem cutesy with a socially awkward character who has 36 copies of THE HOBBIT, plays scrabble, and talks to her imaginary friend. Only once the many layers of past trauma are slowly revealed through flashbacks do we begin to understand the awkward and quirky Lenny Marks is really a scarred and broken human who doesn't even fully understand how dark her past was until she gets a call from the parole board and things begin to unravel.

Even with her broken past, Lenny is still an overall delightful character and one I was rooting for the whole time. I was very pleased by how the story ended for her and I'll remember her for a long time.

I loved that the author thanked Sally Hepworth in the author's note for encouraging her to write this book because I really think Sally fans will love this book!

4.5 stars rounded up for GR

This will be available for purchase on July 9th!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the copy of Lenny Marks Gets Away With Murder by Kerryn Mayne. I was anticipating a cozy mystery so I was surprised at how dark parts of this book were. This was a new author for me, and after a bit of a slow start, Lenny grew on me and she became one of my all-time favorite main characters. I loved how she took everything literally and how honest she was when expressing her feelings. If you're looking for a well-paced book with an intriguing story and a heroine you will root for all the way, grab this book! 4.5 stars rounded up to 5.

"Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder" by Kerryn Mayne presents a premise that holds a great deal of promise. The protagonist, Lenny Marks, is portrayed as a quirky and reclusive character with a mysterious past. Her character is likeable and draws the reader in early on.

Lenny is a character who is grappling with suppressed memories and the possibility of a dark secret from her childhood. While this is intriguing, there is not a great deal of mystery or intrigue. The plot has very few twists and the reader can make a guess from very early on in the book as to what the "mystery" will be.

Despite this, "Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder" does have moments of poignancy, particularly in its exploration of themes such as truth, secrets, and the complexities of family relationships.

In conclusion, Kerryn Mayne's debut novel shows potential, but it ultimately falls short in delivering a truly compelling mystery narrative. Readers seeking a captivating mystery may find themselves disappointed by this mediocre offering. I would classify this as a fiction read, with the main focus being the protagonist's neurodiversity.

I loved the story, the world building and meeting the different characters. I felt completely immersed in the story and couldn't stop reading it.

Lenny Marks seems to be inspired by “The Rosie Project” by Graeme Simsion, another Aussie writer. Because I loved The Rosie Project so much, I may have been unfairly comparing Lenny Marks to the Rosie hero, Don Tillman who has Aspergers.

“Lenny Marks” was hard to get into and the character had no real appealing qualities.

I am thankful to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.