Thank you St. Martin's Press for accepting my request to read and review Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder, A Novel, by Kerryn Mayne on NetGalley.

Published: 07/09/24

Stars: 4

Years ago there was a television series, Ugly Betty; immediately and throughout the book Lenny reminded me of the show.

The cover is misleading. Lenny is whimsical and light-hearted but her life and story are not. She has deep-rooted scarring from childhood that at age 37 continues to influence every decision she makes.

She doesn't have the social skills or wherewithal to help herself heal, but does work as a teacher. She needs a friend. Her life is too complicated to be a cozy mystery. And Lenny is too special not to be respected.

This is a mature audience story.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the eARC.

I really enjoyed this novel and I really enjoyed getting to know Lenny. I appreciated her growth and her character development as well as her relationships. This book had some fun twists as well. Really a great read.

I quite liked Lenny Marks. Her kind heart and (likely) neurodivergent brain were so relatable. I loved her relationship with her adoptive mother and watching her grow throughout the novel. Some of the twists were a bit obvious, but to me this book was primarily about Lenny's journey forward, rather than what happened to her before. There was enough suspense to keep it interesting, and the romantic and social bits were handled well.

I listened to this one and loved the Australian narrator.

This was the perfect mix of heartwarming and challenging, and I will recommend it liberally.

Thank you NetGalley and LibroFM for the ARC.

I really enjoyed "Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder." I thought I knew where the plot was going, but several curve balls took me by surprise. Overall the tone feels light-hearted, but subject matters can be very dark, and triggering.

It kind of reminded me of "Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine" or "A Man Called Ove." So if you enjoyed either of those books I would also recommend this one!

Lenny Marks is a wonderful character! Mayne did a wonderful job of writing her. There were lots of twists in this that I absolutely did not see coming. The cover of this book does not match the contents for sure.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for access to an eARC in exchange for my honest review!!

what’s it about? ⬇️

Lenny Marks lives her life by a strict schedule, likening organization to happiness. She preps her lesson plans weeks in advance, rides her bike to work each day, visits her preferred grocery store on Mondays and Thursdays, and keeps all of her meals--the same daily meals each week--prepared in her freezer. She has always been content with her routine, with quiet nights spent at home watching Friends, playing Scrabble with her imagined version of Monica from Friends as her opponent, and reorganizing her thirty-six copies of The Hobbit. But when a letter arrives one day, addressed to a name she no longer answers to, Lenny is suddenly forced to face a host of memories of her past she'd kept buried for years.

Her step father is set to be released from prison, but that tells her nothing of where her mother is, and as the letter continues to haunt her, she is constantly taunted by the words "It's your fault" in her mind.

With the help of her foster mother, next door neighbor, (stolen?) dog, and the friends she finds herself tripping into relationships with along the way, Lenny will finally have to face a number of memories she's kept repressed and learn some new and unexpected truths about her past, her family, and herself.

my thoughts? ⬇️

The most important aspect of this book to me personally is our leading lady, Lenny Marks. She is such a beautiful representation of neurodivergence that has gone undiagnosed and untreated into adulthood, and I related to her so deeply. But she is also such a refreshing, honest, hilarious heroine, and her struggles with remembering and reliving her trauma while also being forced so abruptly out of the comfort zone of her years-long routine were devastatingly well written and beautifully handled. No matter how crazy things got, I felt like I was right there with Lenny the whole time.

The book was very slow to start, and while I still enjoyed the beginning and getting to know Lenny's life before everything flew out of control, I did have a hard time getting through and to the more exciting second and third acts because of the pacing. But if you take the time on this one, I'd recommend it for Lenny alone. She is an incredible character study and I don't think I'll forget her for a long time.

based on your other likes? ⬇️

If you like any of these listed below, I think you might enjoy this and vice versa!

🚲 Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson. (slice of life with a dark side)
🚲What Lies in the Woods by Kate Alice Marshall (a mystery hindered by the main character's unreliable memories)

trigger warnings ⬇️

domestic abuse, emotional abuse, physical abuse, child abuse, death, child death, murder, death of a parent, death of a sibling, death of a loved one, violence, grief, mental illness, animal cruelty, gaslighting, suicide attempt, suicidal ideation, childhood trauma, panic attacks, injury/injury detail, confinement, forced confinement, forced institutionalization, abandonment, self harm, blood, alcohol, vomit, misogyny, medical trauma, stalking, threatening behavior, abuse by a step parent, bullying, ableism, toxic relationship.

well, this was not the book i was expecting.

the title suggests a murder mystery but this was actually about trauma, neurodivergence and found families.

i felt the characters & writing style were simply but effectively drawn and the plot satisfying.

if you liked Nita Prose's The Maid, you'll most likely enjoy this as well.

This was *cute* but ultimately was too formulaic to other novels recently popular about a quirky female MC with undiagnosed autism and a dark secret. if you have read the others, unsure you need to read this one.

An unexpected, delightful surprise, I greatly enjoyed this book! It was charming, funny, engaging and unique- for fans of The Maid or other novels with quirky heroines, Mayne has done a stellar job with an unconventional character and plot- I highly recommend!

Book Details (Macmillan Publishers)
Lenny Marks is excellent at not having a life.

She bikes home from work at exactly 4pm each day, buys the same groceries for the same meals every week, and owns thirty-six copies of The Hobbit (currently arranged by height). The closest thing she has to a friendship is playing Scrabble against an imaginary Monica Gellar while watching Friends reruns.

And Lenny Marks is very, very good at not remembering what happened the day her mother and stepfather disappeared when she was still a child. The day a voice in the back of her mind started whispering, You did this.

Until a letter from the parole board arrives in the mail--and when her desperate attempts to ignore it fail, Lenny starts to unravel. As long-buried memories come to the surface, Lenny’s careful routines fall apart. For the first time, she finds herself forced to connect with the community around her, and unexpected new relationships begin to bloom. Lenny Marks may finally get a life–but what if her past catches up to her first?

Equal parts heartbreaking and heartwarming, Kerryn Mayne’s stunning debut is an irresistible novel about truth, secrets, vengeance, and family lost and found, with a heroine who's simply unforgettable.

Review
Helena Winters, aka Lenny Marks, is a 37 year old 5th grade teacher whose greatest talent is being unremarkable. She has no friends, is socially awkward, and takes obsessive compulsive to a new level. Despite this, Lenny manages to navigate her life fairly successfully, although feeling a bit lonely. When a letter comes from the parole board, Lenny's carefully curated world starts to fall apart. Walking through her life, the reader gets glimpses into the childhood trauma that has shaped Lenny into the woman that she is. With strength and courage Lenny faces her past so that she can forge a new future.

As a debut book, Lenny Marks Gets Away With Murder, is an excellent start to what is a promising writing career. Although the pacing is uneven, actually very slow for the first half of the book, the last half of the book draws the reader into the heartache of Lenny's life, The ending more than makes up for the beginning.

This book was well written but just too slow for my taste. Additionally it is not a cozy mystery as you would think from the description but more of a story of personal growth.

This was a compelling character study that dives deep into the complexities of human nature. Lenny Marks is a single school teacher, likes to be alone, and she loves her routines. We learn about her childhood and past traumas and realize why she is the way she is.

This is not a cozy mystery or a thriller. It’s an emotional read and at times heartbreaking. It’s a story of a neurodivergent individual with a traumatic past and her journey of healing. The pacing was uneven at times but the plot was engaging and the ending was satisfying. It was a phenomenal debut!

This was a fun novel, with lovely prose. The voice of the narrator was reminiscent of omniscient narrators in films like Stranger Than Fiction, and ultimately felt like it could have benefitted from being shorter.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I think this novel will be compared to Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine very often. I have to say that I liked this book more. I found it easy to connect with the main character. As Lenny developed more and more friendships, I found myself cheering for her. As the truths of her traumatic childhood, and her family were slowly revealed, I felt al of her emotions. The twists and turns weren’t so much shocking, but were emotional, and added to the story.. I liked the fact that there wasn’t a major reveal at the end that changed the entire story. Everything was revealed over time, and the ending was perfect for Lenny’s character. I actually think it’s written so there can be a follow-up.

I absolutely loved Lenny and the story about Lenny! I truly cannot wait to read more by this Author. This story will stay with me and I do see myself reading it again.

When I finished this book, I thought of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time and thought of how long it had taken me to get to read about a main character with autism again. I was able to empathize with Lenny and it was really nice to get to go inside her head when I can only imagine seeing her in person, we wouldn’t know what she’s thinking at all. I was so heartbroken for Helena and her family, in the wake of so much tragedy, she was able to reinvent herself and forget many traumatic things in order to survive.

Having to relive the nightmarish reality and hearing about Fergus’s release must also have made her fall into a depression even though it’s not expressed overtly. The community around handles her so beautifully, it’s amazing to see the support she has even though she doesn’t see it at first. Lenny really comes out of her shell and this is something to be proud of: in spite of tragedy, knowing when to move on with help is essential to surviving.

Lenny Marks was an amazing read that I will be diving into for years to come when I want to be convinced to read The Hobbit or when I want to see the romance brewing between Ned and Lenny. Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Kerryn Mayne for the ARC.

I am a sucker for a neurodivergent character and Lenny may be my new fav! She is 37, single and addicted to Friends and very much likes her life to stay in her routine. She shops on her certain days at certain stores and eats the same meals every week in order to maintain simplicity in her her life. But don’t let that fool you. Lenny is quirky but she is also funny and dealing with a lot of past trauma that makes you just want to reach through the pages and give her a hug and be her friend.
But this book is so much more than just Lenny, because her childhood comes back to the present, and it becomes a detective, rom com mixed bag cozy mystery that takes you on an emotional and heartbreaking ride.
This was the debut work of this author and I can’t wait to see what she writes next! Thanks to St. Martins press and NetGalley for this eArc in exchange for my review.

The bones of this book were good but there was a lot of filler that if trimmed out would have made this a better read. I didn't like the Amy storyline nor the little word game Lenny played with herself throughout the book. I did a lot of skimming through the middle. Had the book focused more on Lenny's past and the situation with her stepfather I would have been more invested in the character.

This book looks like it would be a rom-com and a fluff read but it is anything but that. I wouldn't necessarily call this a thriller either or a mystery more of a quirky fiction.

I did enjoy the main character of Helena (Lenny) and how she pulls apart the pieces of her past to recall what happened.

I didn't quite see the ending coming in terms of Fergus and Maureen but the lake scene did make sense in the grand scheme of the story.

This book reminded me a lot of The Maid series. I liked Lenny Marks and thought the story overall was really interesting but it felt like too much was crammed into it. It couldn't fully decide whether it was a murder mystery or a story about a woman coming into her own. Overall, a cute read but not sure it will stick with me for the long term.