In “Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder,” the protagonist is a 37 year old primary school teacher in Australia who has issues understanding social cues and forming interpersonal relationships. It’s clear early on that some childhood trauma has deeply affected her, since there are hints that she was found locked in a storage shed at the age of 11, covered in blood, with a wound to her thigh. At that time, she went to live with her grandmother, then 2 years later, something happened and she was sent briefly to a group home and then to foster care with Fay and Robert Marks, who provided her with a loving home. Although Robert later died, Fay keeps in touch with Lenny and still provides emotional support. The novel deals with Lenny’s day to day life as a school teacher and her awkward encounters with coworkers, interspersed with snippets from her early childhood with her abusive stepfather and submissive mother.

Although the subject matter seemed interesting with an emotionally challenged main character, a “mystery” surrounding her past, and the book’s setting in Australia, I never really liked this novel. My primary issues were the simplistic language used and the plodding nature of the narrative. I suppose the simplistic language was used to convey Lenny’s “differences” but if that is the case, it didn’t make much sense because although Lenny was socially awkward she was very bright, well-read and with a depth of knowledge that caused her to excel at trivia night at her local pub. Taking this into account, the prose should have been more eloquent. Not much happened in the book until the last quarter, when the full scope of Lenny’s history is revealed to both the reader and Lenny herself, who had suppressed her traumatic experience. As alluded to earlier, the book primarily consisted of details of her awkward interactions with coworkers in the school break room, her encounters with Ned, who worked at his father’s grocery store where she shopped, and her brief interactions with her Thai Food deliveryman. However, I think I could have overlooked the slow pace if the writing style had been more to my liking.

Judging from the other reviews, I appear to be in the minority, so it may just be my fixation with well-written prose that prevented me from liking this book and other readers that are more focused on the story might find this book appealing.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

"Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder" is a great debut novel about a neurodiverse woman struggling to live her life while holding in a terrible secret.. Her life begins to change when she steals/rescues a dog from its abusive owner, and over the course of the novel, finds community, friendship, and possibly even love. It reminds me of Sally Hepworth's "The Good Sister." *Trigger warning for childhood domestic violence and abuse. By the end, I felt as if I had gone through a cathartic experience along with Lenny but it was worth it. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.
Publication Date: July 9, 2024

I really wanted to love this book, but I had a difficult time enjoying it. The pacing was slow and quite boring at times. I ended up skimming through many parts of the story. While I found Lenny to be an endearing and likeable MC with all of her quirkiness, I had trouble focusing on her long-winded thoughts and obsessions. It was a bit too over the top. I understand that she has autism and deep traumas from her past, and this is probably how the author wanted to portray her character, but I couldn't keep up and found my mind wandering away from the story. Even though this book didn't strike my fancy, I would still recommend it to others.

Thank you to the author, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for granting me digital access in exchange for my honest review!

Humor and mystery combined! This was a great debut that reminds me of Finlay Donovan. Loved this main character and couldn't help rooting for her.

An enjoyable page-turner with an endearing lead. There is a central mystery and satisfying side plots that involve romance and friendship. Lenny is so easy to love and it was a pleasure to get to know her and root for her happiness. She has experienced a lot of trauma and the author manages to keep the story from becoming too heavy (mostly because Lenny is a delightful character).

Thank you very much to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a copy.

This story was initially strange—the main character was not overly likable but as her story unfolded, it was clear that she had a tragic story buried in her past. It’s sad that Lenny tries so hard to be friends with the wrong characters. This book may help others to understand that they don’t need the popular people…just the right ones.

Book: Lenny Marks Gets Away With Murder
Author: Kerryn Mayne
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Pub Date: July 9, 2024

I should have loved this book. Lenny is weird. Weirder than weird. But it was so slow and I was bored. Yawn. Lenny is my kind of character. She follows strict routines (as I do), she’s socially awkward, obsessed with Friends, doesn’t like to be touched and unscrambles words in her head to calm herself. Beyond that there isn’t much else. The story could best be described as cute. I can’t really do cute. I feel like it falls more along with the lines of Finlay Donovan or Eleanor Oliphant. Which I’ve read and my preferences are falling much darker these days. Thank you St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for this sneak peak! Publication date is July 9, 2024

Thank you St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for this sneak peak! Publication date is July 9, 2024.

Lenny Marks Gets Away With Murder is a debut novel by Kerryn Mayne. The story follows Lenny, a 37-year-old school teacher, who seems to be neurodivergent. One day, a letter arrives at her place of employment from the Adult Parole Board that slowly throws her carefully structured life off balance. You see, Lenny has created a peaceful and controlled environment because of a past trauma she chose to forget. Now glimpses of that past keeps resurfacing, forcing her to remember what she refuses to…

Despite Lenny being rude sometimes, I think she’s a likable character. My eldest is on the spectrum and I could see some of him in Lenny. The author, to me, did a good job conveying what it’s like mentally for people like that.

The story is very slow paced and nothing much happens. It focuses mostly on Lenny’s character and her strict routines. That she’s unable to get social cues, doesn’t like to be in close proximity to others or doesn’t like to be touched. How she unscrambles words in her head to calm herself down. And just overall a quiet and socially awkward person. Even her past that she didn’t want to remember isn’t a big revelation. I actually thought it was going to be more gruesome but I guess this isn’t that type of book.

I’m not sure if this is considered a spoiler or not—but Lenny Marks does not get away with murder, because she never actually murdered anyone. The title should be Lenny Marks Helped Conceal a Murder. But I guess that doesn’t sound as cool as the original.

Lenny Marks was a character that I wanted to fall in love with, but I kept going back and forth between enjoying the progression of her personality to finding things that happened along the way not plausible given what I knew so far. The pieces just didn't fit together for me. Overall I would say I enjoyed, and didn't enjoy this book all at the same time. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC, it was a book that I was looking forward to reading.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this debut novel about a neurodiverse woman struggling to maintain her orderly life in the face of a major disruption. There were many unexpected layers to the story and it reached a satisfying ending.

Lenny lives by a routine. A strict routine. She has an imaginary friend, and they play Scrabble and watch Friends reruns.

One thing Lenny excels at is forgetting what happened the day her mother and her stepfather disappeared.

When a letter from the parole board arrives, Lenny is forced to deal with her past. As the memories surface, Lenny’s routines begin to fall apart. However, for the first time, she finds herself beginning to connect to the community around her and new relationships begin to surface.

This book made me think of Strange Sally Diamond. I enjoyed it, it just had similar vibes, not in a bad way. Lenny really came into herself over the course of this book. Yes she’s a little neurodivergent, yes she is a little orderly, but routine is okay. I’m with Lenny, I like routine. I like to wake up at the same time, and then from there things go on a schedule, I get angsty when things diverge from it. So, for me, Lenny was utterly relatable. I do struggle at times with cozy mysteries because they seem to be a little neat for me and this one ended up in that boat, but that’s okay, the journey was fun. I enjoyed how the side characters helped shape Lenny’s character and really bring her to life. I do think that the ending wrapped up a little too neatly for my liking and it didn’t really fit the rest of the book.

This book was a lot of fun. I particularly enjoyed that it was a debut!

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, @StMartinsPress and Netgalley @Netgalley for this e-arc. All thoughts are my own.

Publication Date: July 9, 2024

This is the story of Lenny Mark’s journey from the comfort of routine to the complexities of confronting a haunting past when a letter from the parole board becomes the catalyst for her unraveling. A blend of suspense, family drama, and personal growth makes this an interesting read.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and author Kerryn Mayne for the opportunity to review this ARC (Advance Read Copy).

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this new book. I really enjoyed getting to know Lenny and how she overcame her traumatic childhood. Filled with interesting characters and some laughable dialogue I would definitely recommend.

𝑵𝒐 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝑳𝒆𝒏𝒏𝒚 𝑴𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒔'𝒔 𝒂𝒃𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆...𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒂𝒍𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒂 𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒎, 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒐𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒏 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒕.

I adored this book so much and would love to have another installment featuring Lenny! I saw a lot of myself in Lenny, an introvert who likes order, who has multiple copies of 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑶𝒅𝒚𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒚, arranged by height just like her collection of 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑯𝒐𝒃𝒃𝒊𝒕. But most of all, I connected to her violent childhood.

The day the letter arrives from the parole board, Lenny can't bring herself to open it. I was so anxious to know the contents of the letter because its arrival caused Lenny's carefully ordered, structured life to topple like a house of cards. What really happened the day her step-father and mother disappeared? As long repressed memories begin to surface, Lenny has to step out of her comfort zone and convince herself that she can rely on people and that they won't always let you down. Can Lenny finally face her past she can get a life?

This was an amazing debut with a beautifully crafted main character who will touch your heart. If you've ever felt out of place, have too much self-awareness, or felt alone in a room full of people, this is the book for you. Thank you so much to St. Martins Press for the early copy. This title will publish July 9, 2024.

This book is charmingly funny and a heartbreakingly honest story of someone who has just never quite fit in.
Lenny Marks just seems to never quite fit right and that’s ok with her. Her friends include a grocery store manager and her imaginary room mate “Monica”. I love that a series of seemingly normal everyday (to most people) events derails this perfectly controlled and quiet life.
As the book develops we move from feeling Lenny might be a bit of an odd ball to understanding Lenny has big baggage. Like so many people she has hidden it behind controlling the aspects of her life that are in her control. I found myself relating to why Lenny has disengaged from the world and rooting for her to really challenge herself and hopefully find that happiness and friendship she truly craves.
For fans of “Elinor Oliphant is Completely Fine”, you will adore this book!
I have received and ARC in exchange for my unbiased review.

I requested and received this book from NetGalley. I am VERY pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed the story. Lenny was an unremarkable but extraordinary character. I loved the story and Lenny's development.

Potential spoiler ahead....

When I first started reading it I was thinking it was going to be a Shutter Island vibe. I loved that it wasn't.

What a thrill this book was! As someone who is somewhat neurodivergent (but honestly, aren’t we all a little) this book had me hooked from the start! We all have a certain way we handle and live through trauma, and I think, especially when we struggle with mental health it takes on a whole different meaning. Lenny is witty and sometimes outrageous in her thoughts, but you begin to understand that her past self is trying to get through so she can finally heal properly.

I encourage people to read this book, especially if they are into mystery and suspenseful reads. You honestly don’t know what is coming next! Trigger warnings for abusive relationships and a small chapter including animal abuse.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me access to this novel early!

Lenny Marks lives a safe and orderly life. She believes going unnoticed is the best way to survive. Twenty five years ago, her mom and stepmom abandoned her, and she lived with her foster parents Fay and Robert Marks. She grew up to teach elementary school. While she desires friends, she spends her evenings watching Friends and playing Scrabble against an imaginary roommate. A letter from the Parole Board declaring that her stepfather will be released from prison throws Lenny's safe life into chaos. It causes her to rethink her childhood, and she is forced to remember everything that really happened.

Lenny Marks is one of my new favorite characters. I enjoyed watching her come into herself. Her interactions with her co-workers, her desire to become friends with "mean girls" Ashleigh and Amy, and her awkwardness were so believable. Also, Ned was a wonderful love interest, supportive of Lenny without wanting to change her into someone she's not.

The ending wrapped up a little too neatly. I find it hard to believe that the characters in Lenny's life were so intertwined. I understand small town life, but it seemed too convenient.

I plan to recommend this book as a browsing title for the GSU Library. I believe fans of Liz Nugent's Strange Sally Diamond will love this book.

Lenny Marks lives a quiet life - she’s a teacher and sticks to her well-planned routines such as visiting the grocery store on certain days and meals for each day of the week.

Lenny has tried to make friends with the new young teachers at school, so when she is invited for a night out at trivia, she immediately agrees and then immediately regrets it. She decides to go anyway, which is the start of some changes in her life - starting with the fact that her crush from the grocery store, Ned, is dating her young coworker.

As Lenny starts to break her routines, she starts to realize that things aren’t at all what they seemed. Eventually she starts to remember pieces of her childhood, and what really happened on her birthday so many years before.

Thank you to @netgalley for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.

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Lenny Marks, a sweet, yet troubled neurodivergent character is truly one I will not soon forget. Lenny is a 5th grade schoolteacher who strictly adheres to her routines and lives a mostly solitary life. When she receives a letter from the parole board announcing the upcoming parole hearing of her step-father, who she hasn't seen in 25 years, Lenny is forced to deal with her past, a past that she has successfully repressed up to this point. With a dual timeline, we slowly discover what crime her step-father committed when Lenny was 13 and what impact he will have on her life once he is out of prison. With an amazing set of side characters, as well as, a lovable dog named Malcolm, Lenny Marks Gets away with Murder is a terrific debut novel by an Australian novelist that I highly recommend. I look forward to seeing what she writes next.