So for the first few chapters of this, I wasn't sure if I could get into it. I liked Lenny Marks and I was intrigued by the mysterious circumstances that get set up very early on, but I was struggling with so much secondhand embarrassment/discomfort when Lenny was treated poorly without realizing it. Her "friends" at the primary school at which she teaches are terrible to her and I found it hard to read, but then I just got totally sucked in. Lenny is a fantastic character - I would have initially assumed she was neurodiverse, perhaps specifically on the autism spectrum, based on how she is portrayed as being very committed to her routine and her challenges with social cues. As more is revealed about Lenny and her past, the way her brain works becomes even more nuanced and fascinating, and I really came to find her to be a completely compelling character. We know from early on that she left her childhood home to first live with her grandmother and then left that home to move in with the Marks, her foster parents, but only as the story goes on do we understand why. Once I got into it, I couldn't put this down and I was kind of dreading the end of my time with Lenny. The character development, slow release of information, and narrative structure really worked for me, and while I was a bit underwhelmed by the "resolution" to the conflict that really underpins the whole story, I still felt satisfied overall at the end. Could Lenny come back for another book? I'd love to spend more time with her.

“Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder” is by Kerryn Mayne. Let me start by saying that in many ways I was cheering on Lenny. She’s on the spectrum, she has her routines, she doesn’t pick up social cues, she is blunt and sees things very black/white - she’d make a great programmer, but instead chose to be a teacher (that was different!). I wasn’t too pleased by the pacing of this book … there’s a bit of set-up but it’s slow going for a large chunk of the book … and in the last third the pacing picks up and everything happens incredibly quickly. I think if one liked “The Maid,” this may be another book you enjoy. For me, this book didn’t quite live up to the expectations I was hoping. However, it was interesting spending time with Lenny and her friends.

Thank you to NetGally and the Publishers for an e copy of this book. I love books with eccentric characters and this one fit the bill. It was both heart-rending and hopeful. Great Debut.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book.

3.5 stars
If only the middle third of the story were faster paced, this would easily have been 4 or 5 stars. When I thought I was at 70% at least and I was only halfway through, I struggled to get to the last third, where it really picked up. I laughed out loud a lot in the beginning and loved the writing. Then I started skimming. I wish it had been cut by about 50 pages. Overall, I do recommend this. Lenny is a fantastic character who perseveres through unimaginably tragic events that happened to her when she was very young. It does have a happy ending. I wouldn't categorize it as a thriller at all. There was only one thing that surprised me and that reveal happens very late in the story. I would read more by this author.

I love a quirky awkward female lead character! Lenny loves her own space (it was giving introvert vibes), The Hobbits, and the tv show Friends (I'm not into Friends...Seinfeld fan here). We got to see her navigate her life as a teacher and her need to want to fit in with girls who really weren't friends. But then there is a twist...she has a metaphorical suitcase of childhood trauma. We get to see a balance of humor and tough stuff, which I think the author navigated wonderfully. In her detailing her childhood trauma and seeing the connections from those events to her current life, there was one relationship that I didn't really understand but otherwise, the book was light and delightful to read!

This is the story of Lenny Marks, a school teacher who had created a very small world for herself with her routines. Why she is this way is told throughout the novel. Don't let the name and the cover fool you; this is a serious book with a character to root for. If you liked Elinor Oliphant, you my love this one.

⭐️⭐️ ⭐️💫
"Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder" is a book whose cover is deceptive. Don’t be fooled! Lenny Marks, the protagonist of the story, is a 38-year-old grade school teacher living in Australia. Although it is implied that Lenny is neurodivergent, it is never explicitly stated.

Lenny has always had difficulty fitting in, reading social cues, and making friends. Even at almost forty, she is still struggling with these issues. However, Lenny seems to have accepted herself despite these challenges. We learn that Lenny's mother and stepfather abandoned her as a child, and she lived with her grandmother and then with a foster family until she came of age. Now, she lives alone in the Tree House, shops at McKnight's Grocery, and tells people that she has a roommate named Monica, who is suspiciously similar to Monica from "Friends!" Throughout the book, Lenny's dark past is alluded to but never explained until the last half of the story.

There is so much to love about Lenny and this book. Lenny embarks on a forced journey of self-discovery and finds answers to questions she didn't know she needed to ask. The story is poignant, troublesome, and dark in some places, but in the end, Lenny comes out on top and might even get away with murder.

I loved this book! The story synopsis and book cover give the impression that this might be a quirky, light mystery with a character like Eleanor Oliphant, Molly Gray (Maid) or Susan Green (The Cactus). I will agree that the character of Lenny is quirky, but there’s a reason for that. Something happened in her childhood that forever scarred her (literally and figuratively) and determining what that something was propels the book forward. I seriously could not put this down until I found out. I was not prepared for the level of trauma here, but it gave the book a depth and a seriousness that I appreciated. It did get a little silly at the end, but I was so happy with the conclusion, that it didn’t bother me.

Lenny Marks is a character that I’d like to see again, and I will absolutely be checking out more of Kerryn Mayne’s stories in the future. I can’t believe this is a debut!

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Lenny Marks has her life neatly filed away, filling her days with calculated tasks. Each day is expected and she knows exactly what she needs to do. When a letter from the parole board announces the upcoming release of an inmate, Lenny's life will start to spiral. She will have to change her ways in order to survive her long buried past.

I think I'm going to be in the minority here. Lenny is a structured character who has to learn to let loose and depend on others. However, the story is very driven by her change. The plot moved slow. I also think this fits more into general fiction, I was anticipating more thriller vibes. I wish we could have had more action along the way instead of just the last 20% of the book. Thank you Netgalley for the advanced copy of this book.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4 because this book surprised me in a positive way.

Lenny Marks likes to keep to a good routine. She likes order, she likes rules, she likes to know what to expect and of course she likes the TV show friends. What Lenny doesn’t like, or rather doesn’t acknowledge are those funny things called memories. You know the ones from childhood that like to sneak up on you and remind you of all the horrible, terrifying things that happened… Lenny’s perfectly contained life comes bursting apart when a letter from the parole board winds up in her hands and the past will no longer be ignored.

I was positively surprised by this book. For some reason I expected it to be something silly (perhaps from the title) but it had so much depth. The author does a great job of putting you inside Lenny’s head helping to understand how she is viewing the world. It’s heartbreaking, especially as someone who has worked with many survivors of childhood trauma, to read a story like this and see how it could affect someone as an adult, even in a fictional story. The title is a little misleading because the murder is a minor part of the overall story but I can forgive that because the rest of
It was enjoyable.

This book definitely took a little while for me to get into. I started and stopped a few times. Once it hits its stride though, I sped through to the end. Lenny was likable and I have a soft spot for neurodiverse characters. It was a solid read, but I'm not sure I would run out a recommend it to everyone. For me, it was right book, right time.

Lenny Marks is a 37-year-old woman, set in her routines. She survived being abandoned by her mother and stepfather, living first with her grandmother and then a foster family. But all is not as she recalls about her past, in order to cope with the trauma involved. As the book moves forward, Lenny remembers more and more from her past, and works her way through the memories and trauma.
This book is more a late bloomer coming of age story than a true mystery, but the payoff was worthwhile as there is a 3rd act conflict that Lenny resolved beautifully.
At first glance, this might seem like a light read, but the trauma and issues that Lenny is dealing with lent real substance to this book. In the end, it was a heartwarming and engaging book that I devoured fairly quickly. Despite is being a debut, it felt well written and developed.
Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the electronic ARC of this novel for review.

This is one of those books where the cover didn't do the story justice. This story dealt with real issues, had major depth and incredible character development!

This protagonist has soooo much to unpack about her childhood and her current situation. She has everything planned out, she has a routine.
Disruption comes in the form of a letter and Lenny's life completely changes.

I loved this story and Lenny even more! She's an odd one for sure. A single elementary school teacher who is socially awkward and who's best friend is Monica from the tv show Friends. She's had some tragedy in her childhood that has made it harder for her to make friends and be emotionally available to almost everyone. This story is both heartwarming and heartbreaking. Kerry Mayne does a fantastic job of making Lenny's character come alive in this book, and I couldn't help but cheer for her and want to hug her at the same time! And being a mystery/thriller reader, there was just enough of both to keep me glued to the pages. Bravo!!

Loved this! Lenny Marks is an odd duck, a middle aged, single school teacher, she's well aware of her own awkward social skills. Slowly, as the reader gets to know Lenny's personality, her life story reveals more and more reasons for her odd behavior.. Heartbreaking details are revealed slowly with each page and chapter, and lead to a great resolution and final development for her.

Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder by Kerryn Mayne is a wonderful story, getting into the life of Lenny Marks, who has shut out so many things from her childhood for very good reasons. A loner, she is drawn into the outside world, makes friends and is forced to look at a life she hid away in her mind, but will she survive it? I loved this book! Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

DNF

This one draggeddddd. I wanted to like Lenny, but she felt mostly robotic. Kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, but this one took too long to get there.

Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder tells the story of Lenny, who likes things in her own particular order with no disruptions in life. She loves her home she affectionally refers to as the tree house, her primary school teaching position, her isolation with the exception of her Friends marathon she plays every day on her television, her imaginary friendship with Monica from Friends, and her Saturday night delivery of Thai from the same driver. With things being predictable, she does not have to think of her childhood trauma and what she has blocked out regarding stepfather until she receives a letter of his upcoming parole. This knocks her off of her routine and things begin to unravel.
What did Lenny block from her memory? Will she let those in her life help her navigate what is happening and let them in?
This story gave me all of the emotions and I could not wait to get back to reading it. Readers will instantly fall in love with Lenny and will root for her while yelling at some of her decisions throughout the story. The biggest lesson is learning to let others love you, especially when you have trouble loving yourself. This was a 5*read. Thank you St. Martin’s Press for the E-Arc and the chance to review it!

I enjoyed this story. It was surprisingly emotional, a little suspenseful, and heartwarming. I liked that it is set in Australia and that Lenny's backstory is told in succinct snippets. I would read more from this author.