Lenny Marks is someone very special. Sure she is socially awkward, but she is self-aware, self-deprecating, kind, honest, forthright. All things most of us should strive for - minus the social awkwardness. Sure, she gets away with murder, but he was asking for it, so it can totally be forgiven. I loved this story and Lenny!

What a delightfully unexpected book! This was absolutely giving Eleanor Oliphant, so if you’re a fan of that overall story and the MC, this would be right up your alley. The style and quality of writing here were top notch, the story was an intriguing mystery and kept me wanting more. But mostly, I adored Lenny. She was incredibly quirky but so multifaceted and real that it was hard not to love her. Also, the Friends (and other popular 90’s shows) references throughout were super fun and nostalgic.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advanced copy of this ebook!

3.5 stars rounded up

Have you ever thought you were going to really like or love a book and it ended up being rather okay? That was my experience with this one. Lenny Marks has had a tragic life, and the reader learns this early on in the book. And Lenny is also "quirky" (she is rather reminiscent of Eleanor Oliphant, which I read a LONG time ago, so I'm going off memory). Was her quirkiness caused by her trauma, or is it just her, regardless of her experiences? It's hard to tell.

Lenny is a fifth grader teacher, and apparently all the kids love her...their parents and the other teachers - not so much. I don't recall fifth graders being that accepting of quirks, so that didn't land for me. Lenny is trying to be friends with the "cooler" teachers (reason unknown since she has been fine for most of her life with her imaginary friends playing board games), and these other teachers don't want much to do with her. However, there is a sweet teacher who welcomes Lenny with open arms. There's a found family element that expands to Lenny's older neighbor as well, which I really liked.

Lenny's stepfather is due for parole, and the parole board gives notification to Lenny that it's approaching, and that prompts Lenny to search out what her mind has been blocking for so long.

In my opinion, this novel sat in the trauma for a long time. The reader felt farther along than Lenny since the context clues reveal what Lenny had been blocking pretty early on, and then things seemed thrown in to be quirky, like her coping mechanism of anagrams. This novel felt like a mishmash of Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine (loved), the Finlay Donovan series (didn't like), and the Bookish Life of Nina Hill (liked) with a lot more trauma thrown in.

I wanted to like this more than I did, and maybe my perceived unoriginality in the main character and plot brought it to a lower rating for me. Or maybe this novel tried to be too much (mystery, romance, triumphing over trauma, found family, etc.).

So many great things about this book! Lenny Marks is someone who prefers to be alone and has a daily routine that she always sticks to. She doesn’t have the best social skills but one day she decides to go out with her coworkers from school and that sets a chain of events that changes her routine going forward. As the story progresses we learn why Lenny is the way she is and you can’t help but feel for her. She went through a traumatic childhood and an even more traumatic event which ended up shaping her life.
This was such a beautifully written story and you just can’t help but love Lenny and root for her.
Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press. All opinions are my own.

I didn't have any expectations going into this book, which I think helped it immensely. I felt there was a lot of character development as we learn about Lenny, but we still only seem to know her superficially. The title implies that yeah, she's getting away with murder, but her life is so simple that these thoughts don't seem to reconcile. When did she get away with murder, or is she going to get away with murder? I was a little lukewarm on this book for maybe 60% of it, then liked it, and then finally once I got all the pieces could appreciate it. I will definitely pick up another book by this author!

This is a funny story about Lenny Marks. The character of Lenny is so well developed and well written! The reader moves backwards in her life as the book shifts from past to present. Lenny does have past trauma which is why she is socially awkward. She is 37 and a primary school teacher. She really loves her job!

Lenny receives a letter from the parole board and she attempts to ignore it. Lenny's life begins to unravel. Lenny excels at forgetting what happened the day her mother and her stepfather disappeared. The letter is a reminder of her past.

A great debut that is truly enjoyable and charming.
Heartbreaking, Humorous Character, and Internal Struggles. 3 stars

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy. The release date is 7/9/24

I loved this book - the main character Lenny Marks delighted me in the same way that the main character did in the book “The Maid”. A fresh voice, a story about Lenny who is a neurodivergent character - I was emotionally grabbed and engaged throughout. Lenny works as a teacher in an elementary school in Australia where her routine defines her days and nights. Bicycling to work each day, shopping at a local small grocery (less stimulating than the larger supermarket) on the same days each week, dinners planned to the letter, uniformed neutral outfits, and endless watching of Friends reruns each night. At age 37, her life and routine are shaken up by a series of events including a letter with some news about her past and a dog coming into her life in a special way. Don’t forget about the title! It all comes together perfectly and I think and hope this book will find a welcoming audience in the US.

I wish I could read this book again for the first time because wow it left me speechless. Kerryn Mayne did an amazing job of writing this story and bringing it to life.

This was a great representation of the effects of trauma on mental health! I loved the characterization of Lenny, and was intrigued by the plot throughout the entire story!

4 stars

I really loved this book. It wasn't a typical murder mystery, but that's a good thing. Lenny is different yet I found myself relating to some of her quirks.

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was not at all what I expected from the title. I expected it to be a murder mystery where the main character (murderer) is so clever that she gets away with it due to some unexpected quirk that she employed to hide her identity as the real killer. And I guess in hindsight, it was that. But it was so much more. It was story about a middle aged woman who had lived through terrible trauma as a child and "hid" herself in isolation and almost obsessive-compulsive routine. Until the day her past rears up and tries to smack her in the face. She tries to ignore it but finds she can't. So she faces it and comes out the other side in a better place and knows that now she might be able to have a real life. I definitely recommend this book.

I think my students will identify with Lenny, who is different and tries to make a life for herself. There is a lot to discuss in this book, how different people are treated, childhood abuse and abandonment and staying true to yourself. This book will have my students thinking.

well written book about a woman coming to terms with herself and her past. She is a unique person who values solitude and order.
What happens when she decides to step out of her small life, while this is less about action and more about healing and heart. Worth reading

Lenny Marks is an unusual heroine. At thirty-seven years old, Lenny hates to be touched, abhors noise and disorder, is socially inept, and is something of a genius when it comes to anagrams (which, along with watching old episodes of Friends, is her go-to self-soothing behavior). One could imagine Lenny perhaps on the spectrum, but as gradually becomes clear, Lenny is actually a trauma survivor, doing her best to manage a world horribly fractured since the terrible events which took place in her life around the age of eleven.

A girl who was “good at forgetting”, Lenny faced her childhood armed with Errol, her teddy, who has “seen a lot and is good at keeping secrets”, as well as Malcolm, her imaginary friend, along with a chilling propensity for hiding in the “safety” of wardrobes.

As we come to understand Lenny, now a fifth-grade teacher based in a town outside Melbourne, Australia, the reader must (as is the case with Lenny herself) come to understand, and reconcile her childhood and what came to pass. Lenny tells her story alternating between these two timeframes, revealing secrets as she raises new questions, confronting memories too terrible to be faced head-on. Throughout it all, it would be impossible not to be drawn into Lenny’s world - her grief, social awkwardness, and longing for normality, all recognized by the reader as aching vulnerabilities. But most of all, Lenny is defined by her forthrightness and her clarity, guided by an innocence of heart, which in many ways is still that of the child she was.

An engaging story, with a wonderful heroine, Lenny’s journey to reconciliation is both heartwarming and sad - laden with mystery, murder (no spoilers here), twists, humor and even romance (not to mention a gorgeously bulky Rottweiler, also named Malcom).

A great big thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for an ARC of this book, all thoughts provided are my own.

*** four and a half stars

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Lenny will break your heart and rebuild it. I love her. I love the people who love her and are patient with the time and space in which she needs to heal.

As far as the murder is concerned, I didn't see it as committing murder so much as committing a public service.

Lenny isn’t great with social cues, so it’s safer sticking to her routines and, instead of having friends in real life, she plays Scrabble with Monica Geller while watching episodes of Friends for company. When she receives a letter, she tries very hard to ignore it, just as she has been pushing the truth of what happened one awful day when she was 11 out of her mind for the last sixteen years. She ultimately found a great foster mom who she still keeps in contact with, so things are mostly just fine. Until they aren’t.

Portions of this novel are a little heartbreaking, but I really enjoyed it.

NetGalley provided an advance copy of this book, which RELEASES JULY 9, 2024.

It ended up being a great book! I was concerned about it at first and thought it might be a DNF but I stuck with it and I’m glad I did. Although a bit slow in some places this excellent debut novel follows an adult woman who is a teacher and suffered much abuse as a child at the hands of her stepfather. He’s now in prison but she has limited her life to school and home and does not have anyone she can call a friend. This was heartbreaking at times and at other times I wanted to reach through the pages and insist she stop being so secluded. This is a book you should not miss. I received an arc of this book from NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions expressed are my own.

This book follows Lenny Marks during her adult years, with a few flashbacks to her childhood. Lenny had a rough childhood and naturally, it has affected her adult life. She is very guarded, she likes routine and she likes to be alone. Yet, she is a loved grade school teacher and is passionate about her job. Aside from her co-workers, Lenny pretty much only interacts with Ned, the handsome grocery store worker; and her foster mom. Lenny grows throughout the book and starts coming out of her shell. Once that happens, she starts to accumulate some secrets.
Although this had a little bit of a slow start for me, I really enjoyed this book! Lenny definitely grew on me and I was rooting for her through all the ups and downs in the book. I related on so many levels with Lenny regarding her introverted-ness. I loved watching her character grow throughout the book and seeing her adapt to different situations was really fun. I enjoyed the little twists in the story, they definitely kept it interesting and kept me wanting to know more. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and hope to see Lenny Marks in a sequel!

This book was phenomenal! I really wish I hadn’t left it on my NetGalley shelf for so long! I really loved how the author wrote this book—very intentional and layer after layer, learning more about Lenny and what happened when she was younger. This book completely encapsulated me! It’s a hard book to write about because I just want to hand it to someone and say, “read this.” Easily 5 stars!

What a wonderful and surprising book. Lenny Marks is a rigid, controlled women with a difficult past even she doesn’t fully remember. She now lives an extremely regimented life as a school teacher. The reason for her rigidity is slowly revealed to the reader.

I very much enjoyed the author’s approach to this book. Layers were peeled back slowly throughout the story, until the truth was revealed. Lenny Marks was a complicated woman, whilst remaining very relatable and compelling.

I very much enjoyed Lenny Marks Gets Away With Murder by Kerryn Mayne, and I highly recommend it.