annieb123's Review of Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder

by Kerryn Mayne

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.

Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder is an intriguingly appealing debut crime novel by Kerryn Mayne. Released 9th July 2024 by Macmillan on their St. Martin's Press imprint, it's 352 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats (paperback due out from the same publisher in late 2nd quarter 2025). It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links throughout.

This is very very much a character driven story featuring a neurodivergent main character, strongly suppresed trauma memories, and a quite surprisingly deeply moving story in places. There are trigger warnings aplenty, domestic violence, child abuse, PTSD, trauma, suppressed memories, and more; it's a comprehensive shopping list.

The author writes with unvarnished, sometimes clinical detachment on otherwise horrific actions and it is impressively effective, given the slightly wonky personality of main character Lenny.

The denouement and resolution are satisfying, if also slightly off kilter and unsettling.

Four stars. All in all an effective and very well written debut. It would be a good choice for public or home library acquisition, buddy read or mystery book club selection.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes

Reading updates

1 November, 2024: Started reading

1 November, 2024: Finished reading

1 November, 2024: Reviewed