"Lenny Marks Gets Away With Murder" is a captivating and emotionally rich novel that masterfully blends mystery, psychological depth, and a touch of dark humor. As a fan of "The Maid," I found this book to be equally delightful, offering a similarly engaging protagonist and an intricate storyline that kept me hooked from the very beginning.

Lenny Marks, the titular character, is a wonderfully complex individual. Her penchant for not remembering her traumatic past, her love for Scrabble, and her peculiar habit of arranging her thirty-six copies of "The Hobbit" create a vivid and endearing portrait of a woman trying to maintain control in her life. Her journey from contentment to unraveling is both heart-wrenching and compelling, driven by the unexpected letter from the Adult Parole Board that forces her to confront long-buried memories and emotions.

The author's ability to weave Lenny's present-day struggles with her haunting past is truly impressive. The tension builds steadily, and as Lenny starts to remember, the layers of her character are peeled back to reveal a deeply human story of resilience and redemption. The supporting characters, especially Lenny's beloved foster-mum, add depth and warmth to the narrative, creating a rich tapestry of relationships that feel authentic and heartfelt.

Despite the occasional use of foul language, which I didn't particularly appreciate, the overall storytelling was gripping and immersive. The novel's charm lies in its ability to balance the darker elements of Lenny's story with moments of levity and hope. Watching Lenny navigate her way towards "getting a life" is both inspiring and poignant, making her a character you'll root for long after you've turned the last page.
Highly recommended!

Reading challenge category - 2023 Booklist Queen: Red cover

Thanks to #NetGalley for the ARC audiobook.

"Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder" is a solid debut that shows Kerryn Mayne’s potential as a storyteller. It offers a compelling protagonist and tackles important themes such as mental health, trauma, and resilience. However, issues with pacing and predictability prevent it from being a standout in the mystery genre. Readers looking for a character-driven story with a focus on personal growth might appreciate this novel more than those seeking a tightly woven, unpredictable mystery. I personally appreciated all of the references to "Friends," Scrabble/words, and other pop culture (Buffy, literature, etc).

Lenny Marks is a socially awkward schoolteacher in Australia. She is perfectly fine with her quiet, routine existence, but her foster mother has encouraged her to branch out and make new friends. At the same time, Lenny receives a letter regarding the upcoming parole of her stepfather. Traumatic memories start to cloud Lenny’s mind and she questions if her childhood memories are accurate. Slowly Lenny is forced to come to terms with her past and decide what type of life she wants going forward.

I loved Lenny! Her personality was endearing and I enjoyed witnessing her confidence grow. The narrator was great as well and I was instantly drawn into the audiobook. Looking forward to more by this author!

Read this one is you like:
🚲 Elinor Oliphant
🚲 Subtle humor
🚲 Characters working through past trauma
🚲 Friends to lovers trope
🚲 Emotional reads

Thank you to @netgalley @stmartinspress @macmillan.audio @kerrynmayneauthor for the free ALC of this title!

Lenny Marks is a woman in her late 30s who seems to be on the autism spectrum. She has experienced severe trauma in the form of childhood abuse at the hands of her stepfather and perceived neglect from her mother. She thrives in the routine she has built for herself as a teacher and she lives her daily life in a comfortable way until she receives notice that her stepfather is up for parole. There is a sweet love interest and attempts at friendship with women who Lenny sees as the cool girls. This book reads very much like Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine. Lenny is a likable character in her way but I just found her story to be predictable and uninteresting. It was like rereading Elinor Oliphant which was a book I found to be fairly mediocre at best. I really wanted to like this book and maybe I would have liked it better had I not already read Elinor Oliphant. I recommend this book to people who loved Elinor Oliphant is Completely Fine or to people who enjoy jokes that are made at a person's expense.

I was thoroughly charmed by Lenny Marks Gets Away With Murder. Lenny was irresistible, as were the quirky characters she met along the way. The story is told with heart and a slice of humor and is definitely worth the read. The narration was well done.

The title is misleading, so this book was something I wasn't expecting. I was pleasantly surprised by the story.

The narrator chosen to tell this story was an excellent choice. They brought the character and the story to life.

I don't know how to explain this book. The author seemed to handle the subject matter in a delicate way, but also conveying Lenny's upbringing. We slowly start to see the story unfold and piece everything together. The characters throughout the story were well written. Lenny comes to have several characters who love and protect her.

Check TW. Death of a child, abusive step parent/husband, and child abuse.

Thank you MacMillan for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook.

For some reason (maybe the title or the cover?), I was thinking this was a cozy mystery. The first half of the book was slow, but it definitely picked up after the halfway mark. Overall, I enjoyed the characters and story.

I was able to preview The audio version of this novel. This story reminds me of Eleanor elephant and will appeal to her fans for certain. It is equally heartwarming and heartbreaking, but well worth the time. The neurodivergent main character is portrayed this who is portrayed by the narrator so well. The narration added to the story in my opinion.

I would recommend the story and thank NetGalley McMillan audio And Carie, Maine for the opportunity to preview this title. The opinions expressed are my own.
This book is expected to be released July 9, 2024, just in time for summer!

This review was posted to Goodreads but due to an internet issue I was unable to share the link.

Lenny Marks is your new favorite neurospicy FMC. the first half was a bit slow, but definitely redeemed itself in the 2nd half.

Lenny reminded me of Gail Honeywell's Eleanor Oliphant. This novel is equal parts heartbreaking and heartwarming. Lenny Marks is a teacher and she's quite good at not really living her life. She has a strict routine and doesn't deviate from it; until the day a letter arrives from the Parole Board. This throws Lenny off her game and forces her to comet o terms with things that happened to her as a child. It forces her to remember how she was left behind by her mother and stepfather. She even winds up "rescuing" (liberating) a rottweiler from his terrible home and naming him after her imaginary friend. It looks like Lenny is about to get a life if her past doesn't catch up with her first.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this audio e-arc.*

Rating: 4/5 Stars
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This was not what I was expecting at all and definitely in a good way. Don’t go into this one thinking that it’s going to be some kind of a cute cozy mystery because this book is filled with some deep issues. I really enjoyed this one!
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This is told in the first person, through the eyes of Lenny, who is neurodivergent. I love Lenny; she is so charming and so innocent. I love how much she as a character grew throughout the entire book. I love love love the deep dive into Lenny’s past and really uncovering all of the trauma of her past and her facing her deeply buried issues.
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I would say that this is more of a slow burn. There is still some little bit of a mystery element to this one as well and as everything begins to unravel the pacing does pick up a bit.
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I listened while reading along with my eARC and Annie Maynard was phenomenal. She really brought Lenny to life and the audiobook was absolutely superb!
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Overall, this book was cute and cozy while also having some suspenseful moments; it was intriguing and heartbreaking but also so encouraging and empowering. I was totally caught of guard with what I thought this book was going to be vs what it was, but I loved this.
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Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder releases on 7/9, be sure to check it out! Huge thank you to NetGalley, St. Martins Press, MacMillan Audio and Kerryn Mayne for the eARC and ALC in exchange for my honest review.

What a sweet book this is.
Before we get started please note you may be confused by the taglines or by the cover: this is not a thriller or a mystery! What it is, is a warm-hearted tale of a neurodivergent woman healing and finding her way in the world.
It definitely was a slow start and I wasn’t sure for the first 10-15%, but the characters really began to grow on me. DEFINITELY consider this on audio: the narrator has an accent that’s lovely.

❤️ Romance Subplot
🧠 Neurodivergent Female Main Character
🧑‍🧑‍🧒 Healing Story
I really enjoyed this one, and if you liked Eleanor Oliphant I think this is a good choice for you!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the EARC! This one comes out July 9!!

This was a decent story about an adult woman who is a neurodivergent school teacher that is slowly realizing that she has untreated issues from childhood trauma. The premise is interesting and different, but there are some plot holes that left me confused, and some characters that were just okay. I was expecting a bit more mystery and a bit less chick lit. Still, 3 stars and not badly written if this genre interests you. As an audiobook I did really enjoy the narrator, and bump it to 3.5 for her narration skills, accent, and inflection. Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ALC in exchange for my honest review.

Lenny is a character I won't soon forget. She was written as a neurodivergent teacher who is very specific about her likes and dislikes. It was easy to get a feel for her right away. I think the narrator did a great job of capturing her uniqueness with her performance of this book. My biggest complaint with this book was that I thought I was getting a cozy mystery and that was not what this was. This was so heavy, and there were triggers I don't prefer to read about and wish there had been an author's note with this book - or even a link in the synopsis. I think this book will work with the right audience. I will recommend it to those that I know like these kinds of stories, I will just make sure they are aware of how heavy this story is.

Lenny Marks was a delightful character. She's a very organized teacher who loves to keep to herself and watch Friends reruns. She has a fun habit of playing with words and making anagrams in her head. Think of this book as a cross between The Maid (neurodivergent mc) and Finlay Donovan (though this one is definitely not as much of a murder mystery)
Lenny had a traumatic childhood and you just can't help but love her and root for her. This book had great character development with a couple twists and a touch of revenge murder.
Thank you MacMillan Audio for the ALC!

I did not know what I was getting myself into with this book - but I so enjoyed the ride! Lenny Marks is a bit of an oddball - I character I feel like we have seen a lot in literature lately. However, rather than just getting an oddball character in her day to day life, we get a much more robust story and a bit of a suspense novel.

Lenny Marks is an oddball and loves her routine - but we ultimately discover that is a coping mechanism to hide from her traumatic past - that she currently doesn't remember. I think was an incredibly well-paced novel; Lenny slowly starts to break out of her shell and, just when you think the plot is starting to bottom out, we get hit with the more suspenseful aspects of the novel - including a climax that is straight out of a murder mystery. It truly felt like such a beautiful blend of multiple genres, in the most surprising and unexpected ways.

The narrator did a fantastic job at bringing the story to life - both the serious topics and the more oddball interactions that Lenny has.

I highly recommend folks read the content warnings and a few reviews - but it feels like it should be a cozy mystery, when it, in fact, deals with some very serious and triggering topics.

However, this was a fantastic debut and I can't wait to see where else this author goes!

Oh my goodness, I really enjoyed this book. It was so delightful and unexpected, and I would happily listen to it again.

Lenny is a character that I absolutely fell in love with. She has a huge heart and wants to care for those around her, unknowing that others may not care as much as she does. She is precious and is a friend I would want to have in my own life.

This book was so well written and along with the mystery of the story, I enjoyed getting to know Lenny, who she is, and her journey throughout this book. A beautiful coming of age story in an unexpected way, with murder in the middle? Is that a thing?

I would recommend this book to anyone who loves quirky characters that you can fall in love with, a well written story, and more of a light-hearted feeling after reading a mystery with a good plot than a deep sense of dread- this is the book for you.

I will recommend this to pretty much anyone I meet and will be listening to it again.

i don’t often listen to audiobooks, because i tend to tune out and lose the plot, but lenny marks gets away with murder is genuinely delightful, if it is even appropriate to say that after all the trauma that occurs in the book. as an audiobook it is easy to pick up and put down at leisure, as the writing always positions itself within the context of the story.

lenny is so charming and annie maynard narrates the book wonderfully, in a way that gives lenny good characterization. when she panics she rearranges words in her head—Reality: tearily, layer, teary, liar—and i will never forget the way maynard says them. while it is never explicitly stated, it is clear that lenny is neurodivergent, and mayne makes her thought process incredibly transparent and relatable.

a light read/listen (not in subject matter!) that i would recommend wholeheartedly. thank you to net galley for the arc!

Many thanks to NetGalley, St Martin's Press and Macmillan Audio for gifting me both a digital and audio ARC of the debut book by Kerryn Mayne, with the audio perfectly narrated by Annie Maynard. All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 4.5 stars rounded up!

Lenny Marks leads a very orderly life, working as a primary teacher, doing the same things every day. She doesn't have any real friends, but is content watching Friends on tv. She calms herself rearranging letters into anagrams in her mind. She's also good at not remembering her past, until la letter from the parole board arrives in the mail and long-buried secrets come back. Her routines fall apart, she's connecting with others for the first time, but will it all fall apart for good?

Lenny Marks is a character you will fall in love with from the first page. Mayne has written a debut with a quirky character, but it's not all light-hearted. It has some dark humor, which I love, but is also heartbreaking and heartwarming. I loved following along Lenny's journey as she tries to come to grips with her past and live her best life. There are wonderful supporting characters in this story as well. I had the pleasure of a total immersion experience, with both the audio and digital, and loved the narrator's accent. Fabulous debut - can't wait to read more from this author!

This debut novel follow Lenny Marks, a neurodivergent schoolteacher who lives her life with a strict regiment. Her stepfather's release from prison has shaken her world, bringing up a traumatic past and forcing her out of the comfort of her routines.

This is not a cozy mystery! While it is a bit of a mystery, to me it is more a late in life coming of age story. The case of characters is great, and it's a enjoyable time to read about Lenny's character development throughout.

The narration was good.

Thank you to #NetGalley and #MacmillanAudio for a free copy of #LennyMarksGetsAwayWithMurder by Kerryn Mayne. All opinions are my own.