I thoroughly enjoyed this one! Lenny is a quirky and very troubled girl who despite all her poor choices, I was really cheering for her. Her personality at times reminded me of the main character from Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine.,yet very original.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher St Martin’s Press for this advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review. My opinions are my own.

The Taco Bell Drive Through moved quicker than this book ( not to be mistaken for Taco Bell in your GI system which I wish this books pace had followed instead) I SLOGGED through this book.
I was expecting a fun "quirky" Lenny Marks to win me over with her innocent charm, almost like Molly the Maid , yet secretly "get away" with murder. This book was anything but.
Lenny lacked charm, charisma and winsomeness. She was too into herself and the book was too heavy for my liking. The writing style was very difficult to get into (See above mention of Slogging through). It was clunky. It did not flow. I desperatly wanted to skip over portions of text. It was at times confusing too about what was actually real or what Lenny told herself. But at about 70% I stopped caring because I was so bored. I just wanted to get to the end because I knew what was going to happen--which I was correct.
During the first part of the book I was okay with the slow burn because I thought it was building up to something grand....but the whole thing became so predictable, I was not shocked by anything.
I unfortunately cannot recommend this book. if you are looking for quirky, fun and murder, The Maid is a much better option.
Sorry, but not.

Thank you Net Galley for allowing me to review this advanced copy read of Lenny Marks Gets Away With Murder. I was not influenced or paid in exchange for this honest review.

Lenny Marks is one of my new favorite characters! She is a 37-year old teacher who is very content being organized and always prepared. She's in her comfort zone when she's playing Scrabble with her imaginary friend Monica and when she's watching reruns of Friends. Her favorite book is "The Hobbit" of which she has 36 copies.

Lenny had a traumatic childhood. Something happened when she was 11 that she's done a good job of forgetting but life is changing for Lenny. She receives something that triggers her memory and the details start to come back to her as we learn what happened. The characters supporting this story are real and wonderful.

There's so much more that I want to say but I don't want to spoil this amazing, beautifully written story. "Lenny Marks Gets Away With Murder" by Kerryn Mayne has it all...a mystery, a love story, family drama and friendship drama. You won't want to put it down!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press. I 100% recommend this book!

Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder is a super interesting book! Lenny is a character that reminded me a little of the main character from The Maid. I found her to be a pure delight. She’s funny and charming. The book was well written and entertaining. I definitely recommend it to other readers. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced electronic copy.

Thanks to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for the ARC of this book. All opinions in this review are my own.

I really enjoyed this book. It reminded me a lot of The Maid by Nita Prose. The setting was absolutely very different but the main characters definitely had some parallels and similarities. I loved that book, so that is a huge compliment.

Lenny is an elementary school teacher who lives here life by a very strict routine. She doesn't last any one get too close to her and feels very overwhelmed by making friends and relationships in general. She has a crazy history in that her childhood was full of turmoil and control helpa her to thrive. I really enjoyed reading about her navigating her complicated and traumatic past and learning to let people in. The ending was sweet and I would absolutely read another book by this author. Thanks for the opportunity to review it.

I haven’t been this emotionally invested in a book in who knows how long. I don’t remember the last book that made me cry! I’m in love with Lenny Marks and I truly want all the best for her.

Since I adored this so much, I couldn’t take away a five-star even though a major plot point was very unnecessary and made rethink how much I enjoyed this book. There was also a couple “wrap-up” scenes that leaned towards the cheesy side. That aside, I felt ALL the emotions reading this book and need to read more by this author.

I was given this book by net galley in exchange for a review.

This book is in the vein of Eleanor Olyphant or Molly the Maid, and for a debut author, it's pretty good. It's a really tragic story though, and while there are lighter parts and Lenny is a character you have to cheer for, it's fairly heavy and there's so much childhood trauma it was hard for me to read at times.

Lenny is a 37-year-old grade school teacher who endured a horrendous crime as a small child…she’s a victim but believes she’s the cause. As a little girl, her mom marries a brute and Lenny ends up living with her grandmother and eventually is placed in foster care. Her foster parents a re loving and do all they can for Lenny but they never push her to confront her trauma. Now, Lenny lives a Very structure life and she has a tough time understanding social cues and her personal interactions are fraught. Her trauma has significantly impacted her way of being on the world. She watches Friends episodes every evening after work and tells co-workers that Monica is her housemate. The imminent release of her stepfather from prison force Lenny’s trauma into the fore and her life will change forever,
This book blew me away. Lenny is such a difficult, sad, glorious and ultimately triumphant character. Her journey is amazing.

This was a super slow burn but so worth it! My mouth fell open in shock several times highly recommend!

Read this book!!! You will fall in love with Lenny and her attempt to make a happy life for herself!!
Lenny Marks is a quirky 5th grade teacher who lives a very self-controlled life. She bikes everywhere, shops at the same stores and can’t seem to make or keep friends. Even making friends at work seems impossible…but she doesn’t care…her life is very routine and always planned out. Lenny has issues…her mother left her twenty years earlier when she was just 11 years old, and she can’t recall all the details of what happened that horrific night…other than her step-father saying “you did this!”. Lenny was then raised by her grandmother and wonderful foster parents who only want Lenny to be happy. Lenny thinks she is …but she receives unwelcome news that disrupts her structured life! This book is wonderful….trying to understand why people think and act as they do when we don’t know anything about their past. The story delves deep into Lenny’s life and takes you on a wild ride! It is both heartwarming (a little romance) and heartbreaking (psychological thriller) as you’re taken through this totally unexpected journey! I was hooked from the very first page! Kudos to the author, Kerryn Mayne!! So happy I was able to experience Lenny Marks!!!!

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for the advanced copy!

I picked this one because I kept hearing that fans of Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine would love this one.
I completely agree with that statement. I thought the author did a good job specifically with dialogue. Sometimes I cringe reading dialogues but I felt the conversation could actually be real convos.

When I read the synopsis for this book my heart skipped a beat…. Over the past three years with the introduction of Elenor Olifant I have fallen in love with a Neurodiverse Character. My youngest was diagnosed Autistic and reading characters like this, how they feel and using problem solving skills in real life help a parent to understand their child in a better way.
Lenny, isn’t very different then all of us in the beginning but as this book unfolded and the details of her youth unfold, I look into my own past and wonder what experiences I have changed to fit my own narrative? Do we all wish for a better outcome or feel by changing the story we then don’t have to deal with the part we played in the story?

Lenny Marks is so quirky and adorable, I want her to exist in real life (1) so I can be a friend to help her through her heartbreak and (2) so I can take her to trivia with me. Fans of Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine will love this novel!

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, @StMartinsPress and Netgalley @Netgalley for this ADC in exchange for an honest review.

She bikes home from work at exactly 4pm each day, buys the same groceries for the same meals every week, and owns thirty-six copies of The Hobbit (currently arranged by height). The closest thing she has to a friendship is playing Scrabble against an imaginary Monica Gellar while watching Friends reruns.

I instantly feel in love with Lenny! I loved the author's description of her and her quirkiness. In recent years, there have been a quite a few books that explore neuro diverse characters and I think Kerryn does an exceptional job with Lenny! I was shocked to learn that Kerryn Mayne was a debut author while looking for other books by her. The entire story was engaging, funny, emotional, and mysterious. My only critique was the length in getting there. There were parts that were repetitious and while they may have been intentioned to demonstrate Lenny's neuro diversity, I didn't feel it was necessary.

This was such a good book! I loved the characters, and their story. The dialogue was realistic and enjoyable. I was very surprised by the ending!

This is such a great debut novel by Kerryn Mayne. I actually thought it was going to be a much lighter read than it actually was, but in the end I adored Lenny Marks. At the end of the book I still wasn't sure whether Lenny's quirks were just her, or if they were a result of the extreme childhood trauma she experienced, but they all made Lenny who she was. The beginning was a slow start, and with not understanding the history of Lenny and her family, it did drag a little. However it definitely picked up and I flew through the last half of the book.

I really enjoyed all of the characters we were introduced with the exception of Amy and Ashley. They felt more like caricatures than real people, however that also could be attributed to the fact that we are reading this story from Lenny's POV and this is how she sees them. I loved how Lenny had a great support system, even if she didn't realize it until the end. When each layer is peeled away and you see everything she had endured as a child, it was really amazing that she was any type of functioning as an adult. She had been through so much in her life, it was amazing to see her growth and where she ended up. I also really enjoyed the anagrams throughout the story and how they would appear any time Lenny was feeling anxious or uncertain to help ground her.

I do think the ending wrapped up a little too neatly, but I loved that Lenny ended up with her little version of a HEA. It was a little sunshine after A LOT of hearbreak. Overall it was such a lovely story that I'm so glad I read.

Thanks to NetGalley and SMP for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Lenny Marks is a loveable quirky schoolteacher with a traumatic past. By sticking to her strict routines, she has managed to suppress the memories of her youth. When her past starts to catch up to her, her whole life starts to change for better and for worse.

Lenny is such an endearing main character and the main supporting characters are all equally loveable. While this book deals with heavy themes, there is also redemption and hopefulness. This book made me smile at times but also made me want to cry.

This book reminded me a bit of Strange Sally Diamond and Eleanor Oliphant but was not as dark and with a more loveable main character.

I highly recommend this debut and look forward to her future books. Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for an advanced reader copy.

Highly enjoyable and captivating. I had actually picked it up because the title made me think it was a comedy but it definitely wasn’t. And for a character driven book with just a touch of mystery, this one still did so well at keeping my attention and I had a hard time putting it down, rooting for Lenny the whole way.

Lenny is well portrayed as someone with both a lot of trauma because of an abusive stepfather and also is somewhere on the spectrum, so it adds to the character development and interactions she has with others, trying to sort thru daily interactions and idiosyncrasies, filtered thru her devastating childhood.

I loved the themes of friendship vs self-protection, and how some things get translated in our heads negatively then how easy it is to snowball it when we isolate ourselves or stay silent. I thought the writing style was also really good and enjoyed it quite a lot.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy of this book. All opinions are mine.

What a great read! Lenny Marks is a quirky, and often awkward, woman who lives a life dictated by routine and thrives on the comforts of the known. She has trouble reading social cues and prefers the company of the tv show Friends over raucous social outings. Lenny is also hiding in plain sight of her complicated past.
Don't let the fun cover art mislead you. This book has some serious depth and covers some hard topics but somehow still manages to be heartwarming. This is a fantastic debut by Kerryn Mayne!
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

I received a free copy of, Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder, by Kerryn Mayne, from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Lenny Marks keeps to herself and stays under the radar, until she gets a letter in the mail, which can change her whole life. I found this book to be a little oft putting. Lenny Marks is something else, very odd. I still do not not know if I liked the book though.