Wow! What a twisted read. Lenny Marks is a tortured soul from childhood to adulthood. Haunted by her forgotten past. Storyline twists and turns to reveal the truth. Very good read. I was given an advanced reader copy of this well written book by NetGalley and I am freely sharing my review.

I was pleased to receive an advance copy of Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder.

Lenny Marks is an intelligent and quirky neuro diverse title character that you can’t help but LOVE. The point of view we get from Lenny; and the way she describes her every day world is magical. Despite being socially unaware in some situations, she was a strong female lead who didn’t shy from speaking her mind.

I usually go for dark thrillers, or gripping murder mysteries. While this book does involve murder, (shocking with a title like that) it’s much more of a slow relaxing read. I wasn’t on the edge of my seat, but yet I was still very invested in the characters and where the story was going. There were a few twists that I wasn’t expecting, and a few others that felt obvious but not in an obnoxious way.

For a debut novel, the story line and characters were incredible. I’m in love with Kerryn’s story telling, and I guarantee that she is an author to watch. I would absolutely recommend this book to all of my friends.

I loved. This quirky little book and its main character and how it showed how childhood trauma shapes the rest of our life . It was just a quick quirky good read

I enjoyed getting to know the main character, Lenny Marks. She finds it difficult to make friends, has a regular routine that she can't change from, has an interesting interaction with an employee where she shops for groceries, loves to come up with with several different words sharing same letters from the main word she's fixated on, she's a caring person with neurodiversity, doesn't trust people easily most likely due to her difficult and traumatic childhood. Her life starts to unravel the day she receives a letter from the Adult Parole Board Victoria requesting a submission by victims. Lots happen since then where she begins getting to know some people and having to face her step father whom she tried to forget. This was an entertaining read that was both sad and funny but with hope and a chance for love and family. Thank you, NetGalley, and the publisher for the ARC.

I thoroughly enjoyed Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder! Lenny is a quirky 5th grade teacher in Australia.. Early on we know bad things happened in her childhood. As the story progresses, the author drops bits and pieces of information. We learn and Lenny desperately clings to her denial of her truth. One weak bit of plot could have been edited out when Lenny encounters her party girl co-worker Amy and her lover having a spat in a parking lot. The plot doesn’t need this. Thank you to Net Galley and St. Martins Press for the advance digital galley. #NetGalley

This was good!! A little slow at times but the overall story was very interesting the way it came together. I loved Lenny’s character and this story portrayed the effects of a childhood trauma.

This was a way deeper read than I expected. But in no way is this a bad thing. Kerryn Mayne has written a triumphant debut about overcoming overwhelming traumas of our past in the middle of a thoroughly satisfying mystery. Highly enjoyable.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing an eARC for a honest review.

It’s hard to believe this is a debut. I loved Lenny! This novel is a unique mix of charming quirkiness and childhood trauma with a dash of mystery that somehow really works. Watching Lenny navigate social situations is both heartbreaking (Amy and Ashleigh) and heartwarming (Ned and Kirra). I couldn’t wait to find out what happened and I read it in one sitting. The ending is very thought provoking but I think most readers will be cheering for Lenny. I’m already excited for this author’s next book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital copy and a chance to read this early. All opinions are my own.

Lenny Marks is excellent at not having a life.


She has a strict routine and doesn't veer from it. She makes the same meals every week and owns 36 copies of The Hobbit. Her game playing friend is Monica from Friends. ( not real)

She is a teacher and something awful happened in her past. She is really good at blocking that out. Until the day a letter arrives from the parole board. It’s not really as unsettling as who it’s addressed to. A name she lost a while back.

And now she hears, “you did this” in her head. What exactly did she do? Oh, my!

A neurodivergent character? Oh yes, and thank you! What a tragic and lovely story with all of the elements of a good mystery!

NetGalley/ St.Martin’s Press July 09,2024

Interesting read. A young lady lives her life either trying to remember or trying to forget what happened to her when she was around 11 years old. Did her mother choose her stepfather over her or did something really bad happen? She doesn’t remember or doesn’t want to remember and becomes something of a reclusive person who goes to work, goes to the grocery and then goes home day after day. Until one day everything goes horribly wrong and she can’t take it anymore. It all works out in the end but she has a bit of a time getting back to her normal life or a better version of her normal life. I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

My favorite thing about this book was watching how Lenny, a wilted rose, bloomed into her new life. It wasn't anything I was expecting. This is not a face-paced book. I actually neared the end wondering when they would reveal the murder that she got away with. But I learned poor Lenny wasn't quite done blooming, and she did so in such a magical and interesting fashion.

Lenny isn't an immediately lovable character. You learn throughout the book that her idiosyncrasies are tied to her past trauma and abuse, and they are slow to reveal themselves, just like Lenny herself. The book kept me interested the entire time and I was smiling by the end at how it all came about.

Fantastic read. I'd be very happy to add this to my physical collection.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Sometimes the book just isn’t your vibe 🤷🏻‍♀️

This story takes place primarily in the characters own thoughts and there is very little interactions with other characters (if that makes any sense) and I found it boring. Maybe it gets better but I had to let it go.

Lots of great reviews on it though so it could just be a me thing 😉

Lenny Marks was a single 38 year old neuro diverse woman. Lenny followed her daily routine and didn’t like to deviate from it. But her foster mom, whom Lenny loved, wanted her to enjoy life and make friends. So she tried to do as her mom asked. Lenny tried her best to become friends with her popular teacher colleagues. However, the choices she made were not always the best ones for her. People were mean and not always welcoming. Additionally, Lenny had to deal with someone from her past that left her emotionally and physically scarred. Her once routine life was spiraling out of control and she didn’t know how to stop it.

Lenny was one of those characters that you rooted for from the start. She was so incredibly interesting. She had an air of innocence about her but also strength of character that was both feared and loved. I enjoyed how she evolved throughout the storyline and the connection to the title.

This storyline felt like an emotional roller coaster. There were heartbreaking scenes as well as heartwarming and humorous ones. It was nicely balanced throughout. Most importantly, from start to finish, this was a thoroughly engaging read.

Thank you @netgalley for the ARC of Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder by Kerryn Mayne.

This was an amazing debut. Don’t let the bright cover fool you. It seems like a light hearted beach read, but it has depth and tackles a lot of tough topics including animal and child abuse and focuses on childhood trauma. The author did an amazing job of really making Lenny come alive. She incorporated her personality into the story and you felt you really knew her. I liked how the author described Lenny as neurodivergent, but it wasn’t explicitly said and was just a part of who she is. This was an emotional book and I highly recommended it.

Lenny Marks has a predictable life as a primary school teacher. She finds comfort in her routine and solace. Her life gets turned upside down when a letter comes from her stepfather’s parole board. Lenny must confront some tough truths. Throughout the book Lenny’s story unfolds as well as her growth as a character.

Mein Leseerlebnis

Zur Abwechslung habe ich mal ein Buch gelesen, das nur am Rande eine Liebesgeschichte enthält und absolut nicht als Liebesroman beschrieben werden kann. Ich war mir nicht sicher, ob das mystery Buch wirklich mein Fall sein würde. Da sich die Geschichte aber faszinierend angehört hat, wollte ich ihr eine Chance geben.

Rückblickend bin ich über diese Entscheidung sehr froh, denn “Lenny Marks gets away with murder” hat mich nicht nur gut unterhalten können, sondern auch tief berührt. Zudem ist Lenny eine Heldin, die ich so schnell nicht vergessen werde.

Die Mystery wird intensiv und ruhig erzählt. Man hat im Verlauf der Geschichte die Chance die Charaktere und vor allem Lenny wirklich gut kennen zu lernen. Ich konnte sie mir ohne Probleme als echte Person vorstellen und habe sie beim Lesen wirklich ins Herz geschlossen.

In Situationen, in denen Lenny Probleme hatte soziale Interaktionen richtig einzuschätzen, hätte ich sie am liebsten in den Arm genommen und fest gedrückt (auch wenn Lenny solch ein Verhalten sehr verwirrend gefunden hätte).

Man macht sich im Roman zusammen mit Lenny auf eine Entdeckungsreise in ihre Vergangenheit. Diese Reise war mitreißend und hat mich teils zu Tränen gerührt. Ich würde Taschentücher bereit halten.

Dreiviertel des Romans fand ich sehr stark, das Ende des Romans und vor allem den Bezug zum Buchtitel hatte ich mir allerdings etwas raffinierter vorgestellt. Gerade weil die Autorin selbst Polizistin ist, hatte ich mir von der Auflösung um den angedeuteten Mord mehr erhofft.

Davon abgesehen hatte ich mit “Lenny Marks gets away with murder” eine tolle Zeit und kann mir gut vorstellen, in Zukunft mehr von der Autorin zu lesen. Buchempfehlung!

🖤🖤🖤🖤 1/4

Für wen?

Wer mystery Romane mit einer besonderen Heldin und einer emotionalen Reise in ihre Kindheit ansprechend findet, sollte sich das Buch unbedingt näher anschauen.

Lenny is a teacher at a local school, and her nights are spent playing solitare Scrabble, watching TV, and arranging her The Hobbit books collection. When her mother encourages her, Lenny has unwillingly made up her mind to spice up the mundane but safe life she has.
Lenny gets a parole board letter about her stepfather that brings up traumatic childhood memories.
This hits many walks of life and ends on a good note.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC for this novel. I so enjoyed meeting Lenny!
Lenny is one of the most interesting characters I have encountered in a book. We learn her story little by little in the book. She lost her mother - literally we think at first and her stepfather is in jail. She went to foster care first with her Grandmother and then a family who did become her forever family.
Lenny is now a 37 year old primary school teacher who has many quirks resulting from all the trauma in her life.
We see Lenny try to blossom and widen her world. At the same time events are unfolding that will force her to reckon with the past.
There is a lot of humor and charm in this book to contrast the stark horror of what has happened to Lenny and her family. Lenny becomes a heroine one really wants to root for!
I did find the ending satisfying but also a bit bizarre for my taste.
This is an excellent debut novel and I love forward to reading more from this author.

Lenny Marks is one of those sweet characters like Eleanor Oliphant, Molly the Maid, or Ove whose existence is “many things: simple, predictable and uneventful.” She might initially be described as neuro-divergent, but as the narrative continues, she’s mainly been shaped by past trauma that she’s mostly forgotten and buried. She’s 37 years old, a primary school teacher who bicycles to work, has a schedule of meals for every night (except for Thai takeout on Saturdays), streams “Friends” all the time, plays Scrabble with an imaginary Monica, and owns her own adorable secluded house. But she’s mostly friendless and is still being encouraged by her foster mom to step out of her self-imposed boundaries. Lenny has been this way since childhood, but even more so since the day her mother and her stepfather suddenly disappeared from her life when she was eleven. She’s managed to keep control with rearranging words mentally. Is she…

Unperturbable: trueblue, ultrapure, reputable, upbeat, rebel
or
Disintegrating: danger, rigid, straining, stagger, insane, rant

However, at this particular moment in time something arrives that starts a chain of changes in Lenny: a letter from the Parole Board. First, she steals a Rottweiler named “Beast…”

Lenny is such a wonderful, complicated character who you can’t help rooting for as her regulated life undergoes a metamorphosis. Author Mayne has created a truly memorable personality and plot that keeps you engrossed until the last chapter . 5 stars!

Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): YES Lenny’s eyes have tones of olive and eucalyptus.
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): NO Lenny might not like them, but she knows that it’s necessary to deadhead the agapanthus.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for a free advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder by Kerryn Mayne introduces us to a character who will find her way very quickly into your heart.

Lenny Marks relishes her solitude, finding comfort only in the companionship of her beloved Friends reruns. She is a thirty-seven year old fifth grade teacher who is well-liked by her students and colleagues, but she never seems able nor inclined to engage with any of her peers outside of school. A look back at Lenny's childhood, one filled with trauma, pain, and a very big secret, will soon provide answers to the questions behind her odd behaviour as Lenny is confronted with pieces of her past that she thought had been left behind long ago.

This was a bit of a departure for me from my usual mystery/thriller genre, but I quickly found myself becoming thoroughly engrossed in the fascinating life of Lenny Marks. Kudos to the author for her sensitive handling of some very delicate themes. 3.5 stars

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC.

All in all, I think I was a fan of this book. The story was engaging, the characters were interesting, and it didn’t drag on. There were definitely bits that felt like a little too much, but it all ended up making sense in the end. Lenny was definitely an interesting character, there were parts that she made me crazy, and that she was perfect. Lol, a solid book!