Published by Macmillan audio, St. Martin's Press Genres: Contempory, Crime, Fiction, Mystery
Format: ARC, Audiobook, eBook
What a wonderful debut novel! I found this book to be well written and thought provoking. Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder also evokes emotion. I could not help but root for Lenny the entire book. This book was equal parts entertaining, captivating, and hard to put down. I love having a character to root for and Lenny fits the bill!
Lenny Marks is such an interesting character. She is a teacher who enjoys solitude, order, and routine. She has things she enjoys doing such as watching Friends, playing Scrabble, and utilizing self-soothing word games/anagrams in times of stress. When a letter arrives from the parole board addressed to Helena Winters, Lenny’s life of order begins to get messy.
“You did this.”
As the plot unfolds, more and more of Lenny’s past comes to light. Lenny was raised by foster parents after she suffered loss and trauma in her childhood. As Lenny tries to make changes in her life, I cheered her on with a smile on my face. This book had me thinking of the quote from Winnie the Pooh “You’re braver than you believe and stronger and smarter than you think.” It is hard to make changes, begin relationships/friendships, and Lenny made a tremendous effort in her own unique way while memories of her past began to surface.
As I mentioned, I did a lot of feeling and cheering for Lenny throughout the book. I enjoyed her journey and growth throughout the book. There were some twists and turns along the way which made for an enjoyable read. If you enjoy books where characters grow, overcome, and are resilient, then this book might be for you!
I’ll say it again, this was a wonderful debut novel which had me feeling all kinds of emotions. I look forward to more books by Kerryn Mayne in the future. I also appreciate how the author tackled difficult subjects in this book.
*I had both the book and audiobook version of this book and thought the narrator of the audiobook did a great job bringing this book to life.
Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.
