3.75 stars rounded up

I love a quirky read, so I went into this review hoping for something fun and quirky. It definitely delivered. The writing itself was middle of the road for be, but the plot was great and kept me hooked. It was a quick, easy read, and I really enjoyed the audiobook. I read this one in December, but I think it would make a perfect poolside summer read.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you so much to @macmillan.audio @stmartinspress for the ALC! #MacAudio2025

𝗧𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗲: Lenny Marks Gets Away With Murder
𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿: Kerryn Mayne
𝗡𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿: Annie Maynard
𝗣𝘂𝗯 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗲: July 9, 2024

🚲 𝙈𝙮 𝙏𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨 🚲
Lenny Marks is a school teacher who lives her life by routines. She bikes home at the same time each day and loves Friends reruns. Her ordinary existence starts to unravel one day when she receives a letter from a parole board, that forces Lenny to face her long suppressed past.

Lenny’s past stems from the day her mother and stepdad disappeared. She is forced to interact more with her community of friends as she starts to face her past.

The reason behind Lenny’s peculiar personality is revealed slowly as the story goes on. This story shows how someone who has had a difficult past, deals with it and learns to overcome obstacles by leaning on others around her.

This story seems to be described as more of a mystery than it really is. It is more about Lenny and confronting her past. It has heartwarming moments and found family. Lenny has a quirky and endearing personality!

🎧 𝙉𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 🎧
Annie Maynard did a great job voicing Lenny. She was able to portray her aloofness very well. She was easy to understand and displayed Lenny’s emotions as I envisioned her character to display them! I had to pay attention more carefully when some chapters jumped back and forth in time.

🎧 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚:
♦️ Quirky, Endearing Characters
♦️ Friends TV Show References
♦️ Found Family
♦️ PTSD/Confronting the Past

Hello!

This past week I really amped up my reading again! I finished three or four books very quickly and honestly ended up enjoying most of them (if not all). Today’s book for review, Lenny Marks Gets Away With Murder, is one I have had on my radar since before it ever came out. I happened upon the audiobook copy on Libby and it was not available to borrow right away, but I put it on hold and once it came in (a few weeks later), I went ahead and picked it up! Which was perfect timing because I needed to read another mystery/thriller.

SPOILERS AHEAD

Lenny is a school teacher who lives alone in a home she calls the tree house. She bikes to work every day where she is a teacher. She does not really have any friends, but she really loves the show Friends. Lenny spent a lot of her life growing up in foster care and she still visits her foster mother. This school year, Lenny really wants to make some friends. She decides to join a teacher’s evening outing to a local pub. She has an okay time and spends more time with other people outside of work for a bit. Lenny also gets a dog and really begins to take on her life until someone from her past returns and Lenny starts to revert into herself again.

I really enjoyed this book. It was kind of a contemporary thriller. We get to spend a lot of time learning about Lenny as a person and her rough childhood that led her to where she is today. I love Lenny, the treehouse, and the family she has made for herself (especially the dog)! I would read more books featuring Lenny and the whole group, but I believe (and if I am wrong, please tell me) that this is the only Lenny Marks story. I definitely recommend giving this one a try if you are looking for a new read.

Goodreads Rating: 4 Stars

This was an enjoyable thriller that kept me interested from the start to the finish. Lenny is a unique, fascinating character, and the mystery unraveled in a satisfying way. Overall, a great read with heart and suspense!

I rarely read synopses or blurbs, so I had no idea what was waiting for me within the pages of Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder, but it surprised me. Lenny made me fall in love with her right away, and as the story unfolded, my love for her continued to grow. The side characters were fantastically frustrating, and the plot was engaging.

She is quirky, odd, and has imaginary friends. She arranges her 36 Hobbit books by height (the only proper way to shelve them, if you ask me). She keeps to herself and avoids speaking with almost everyone. Lenny's "oddness" stems from the trauma of being left behind as a child when her mother and stepfather disappeared. As the story continues, memories begin to surface, and Lenny starts to understand who she is and who she wants to be. Lenny is much more than a neurodivergent character with a backstory. There is real trauma she is dealing with. If you have any triggers, I recommend checking content warnings.

The audiobook was fantastic. The narrator did a great job, and the occasional sound effects (e.g., during phone calls) added to the quality of the production.

I think fans of character-driven stories that are a little dark but hopeful will enjoy this. Think Eleanor Oliphant and, on some level, Strange Sally Diamond.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Macmillan Audio for gifted copies in exchange for honest reviews.

This book was not what I expected, but it was better than I could have imagined. Lenny Marks is an endearing protagonist who processes her childhood trauma throughout the story. Overall, this is a heartwarming and thoughtful book with real characters. I would highly recommend this book.

Lenny is a relatable anxious autistic woman. She has her routine and most things don’t break it.

As the story progresses, she finds herself in some very unique circumstances as she faces her past and works toward a less lonely and happier future.

I really liked the narration. It was funny and brought such a great voice to Lenny. I enjoyed this story a lot.

*thank you so much Macmillan audio for an ALC in exchange for an honest review.

Oh my sweet Lenny. This book emotionally destroyed me. I audibly gasped repeatedly over the trauma she endured but cheered her on every second! The narration by Annie Maynard was first class and so nuanced. Kerryn Mayne- you have a forever reader in me!

This was just ok, I think I've read a lot of similar characters recently and I don't love an amnesia trope.

Thank you, NetGalley, for an audio-ARC of Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder by Kerryn Mayne, narrated by Annie Maynard.
Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder is a sweet story showing the importance of having people to support you when storms break. Lenny lives a live of isolation until events in her life force her to allow people around her into her world. Great book for fans of A Man Called Ove and Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine. A book that restores hope in humanity!

Be ready to sobb.  Be ready for your heart to squeeze with empathy and happy moments and terrible pasts.  Be ready to feel pain of loss and healing of future possibilities. Be ready to root for and want to befriend Lenny Marks. Be ready to want to fight people who mistreat Lenny and hug her found family.  This book ran me through the gamut of emotions and I enjoyed it so much.  I would love to be Lenny Marks, a smart misunderstood, caring teacher who is comfortable with her status quo until something opens up her mental box of what happened in her past. The writing was lovely and so easy to listen to and fall into the story.  A delightful doggy sidekick and some amazing side characters make this such a good book.

Note: Listening to the audiobook added so much depth to this sweet and gripping story that definitely heightened the experience.

I'm sorry this one just wasn't for me. I know there's are quite a few people who enjoyed this one, but I just didn't like it. It reminded me of Eleanor Oliphant, which I absolutely loved, but this one just didn't wow me. Unfortunately, not for me.

*Thank you partner @stmartinspress and @macmillan.audio for the #gifted e-galley and audiobook.*

"Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder" was not the Cozy-Mystery I thought it would be...

Still, I love Lenny Marks! I love how she is regimented, doing certain things a specific way, time after time. Making word anagrams calms her. Being surrounded by quiet soothes her. Order and routine are two of her favorite things.

Lenny loves teaching and her students, and is super good at her job. What she isn't good at is dealing with change.

When Lenny receives a letter in the mail and continuing to ignore it doesn't work, her peaceful, quiet existence begins to spin out of control...

"Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder" is a thoughtful and thought-provoking story with themes of grief and loss, abandonment and secrets, and friendship and acceptance. Horribly sad at times and incredibly heartwarming at others, it was a bittersweet read.

This was an immersion read; the audiobook is read by Annie Maynard, who recounts the story flawlessly in a lovely Australian accent and delivers the perfect voice for Lenny. Her gender voicing is distinguishable and brings life to each of the characters. The result is a pleasurable listening experience.

"Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder" is an enjoyable debut novel, and when I was finished reading and listening, I was sorry to see Lenny Marks go!

3.75⭐

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Macmillan Audio, and Kerryn Mayne for a DRC and an ALC through NetGalley. This is my honest and voluntary review.

Lenny Marks is unique and not. She presents the stereotype of an adult who cannot deal with adulthood. But this books shows a possibility why outside judgment can cause harm. Because it doesn't take under the account the persons story. And here Kerryn Mayne reminds us of that. The author pays attention to the minute personality traits that are result of trauma. At the same time, she doesn't excuse behavior but rather creates space of acceptance and healing. Simple story about a woman who went through so much as a child, having people in her life she takes for granted, and simply annoying personality reminds a reader how wholesome story like Lenny Marks' can be.

This book was wholesome. It gave us all elements the perfect heroine should have. And I loved it.
I highly recommend this book not as a cozy read but rather one to practice empathy muscle.
Big shout out for representation too. For that I felt being seen tho I am not Lenny Makrs. But I do I think we all have some parts of her inside.

Lenny Marks is a neurodiverse character who loves a routine, from daily bike rides to the school she works at as a 5th grade teacher, to rearranging her book collection.

Lenny is now faced with dealing with the trauma of her past, which really brings to emotion! I loved the themes of healing and self-acceptance. The audio narration was great!

*many thanks to Macmillan audio and Netgalley for the gifted copy for review

This felt like a book I should have loved- it had all the components. But the tone just fell a bit flat, and I struggled to finish it.

Thank you to NetGalley for the chance to read an early copy of this book. Book was fine, really good if you like the genre! I would read more from this author. Lenny was a pretty fun character.

Lenny Marks lives a perfectly ordinary life and it suits her just fine. She thrives on her routine, which involves going to work, shopping at the same store, watching Friends reruns and even playing scrabble against her “roommate” Monica (🥴). She’s also great at not remembering what happened the day her mother and stepfather disappeared all those years ago. When she receives a letter from a parole board, she knows things are going to change, and her carefully crafted life begins to unravel. She ends up forced into new situations and they’re not all bad. But when she’s forced to confront her past, will her new relationships all fall apart?

I was not expecting to love this book as much as I did! It was a teeny bit slow in the beginning and I went in blind, so it took me a minute to find my rhythm with Lenny, but once I did I fell in love with her. She’s a great character and has a great story to tell. I was shocked to learn that this was a debut. It definitely reminded me of Sally Hepworth or Liane Moriarty with the quirky and somewhat unreliable narrator. If you like those authors I think you’ll enjoy this one!

I loved Lenny Marks. Her way of looking at the world was funny and touching. However, something terrible happened to Lenny when she was a child. The mystery is finding out what because Lenny’s mind is protecting her from the pain by lying about the events of her childhood.

If you can, get the audiobook. The book takes place in Australia, and having that accent in your head deepens your understanding of the characters.

I don’t know why I waited so long to read this one! I thought it would be a cozy mystery but it turned out to be much more than that.

This book navigated grief, loss, abuse, and having to live and carry on after a traumatic childhood.

I loved Lenny, she kind of reminded me of Nita Prose’s Molly the Maid. She was funny, strong, and I rooted for her the whole time.