Dark secrets resurface in a poignant, charming and humorous novel

Lenny Mark gets away with murder by Kerryn Mayne

One of this reviewer’s favorite books of the season.

Kerryn Mayne has written a debut novel that makes the reader want to pick up the book and to pull the unforgettable protagonist Lenny Marks out of the pages and pull him into a comforting embrace to Their lives will continue to improve. Of course, it would probably frighten them and drive them back underground.

Lenny Marks gets away with murder is one of those rare Own works of fiction Perseverance that stays with you long after you’ve read the last page. It’s poignant, heart-warming, but still full of dark humor, plenty of charm, and extremely memorable characters. The book is set in a suburb of Melbourne, Australia, but the events could take place almost anywhere.

Suppressing your traumatic past

Lenny Marks suffers from a trauma-related dissociative disorder that was treated unsuccessfully years ago by a not particularly competent psychologist who recommended that she be placed in an institution. She had She effectively repressed the memories and blocked out the truth that her brutal and abusive stepfather, Fergus Sullivan, had murdered her beloved mother, Tammy.

Somehow she had She was convinced that they had left her in the garden shed and gone away. There she was found on the second day of the police investigation, covered in blood from a knife cut on her thigh. This tormented 12-year-old child knew who was to blame; it was all their fault.

Lenny was then entrusted to her grandmother Susannah, who called her “Zanny,” and her partner Missy. Zanny baked cookies with her and taught her Scrabble, but ultimately could not bear her own unbearable grief.

Fortunately at the age of 13 Lenny was placed in foster care with caring parents Fay and Robert Marks. It was four years before she could call Robert “Dad”; the same year he died. Her home was a haven and the bright girl excelled at school, despite having a real phobia of being touched or making friends. She finished secondary school, graduated and began teaching Year 4 at Selby South Primary 15 years ago.

An eccentric woman with routine

Lenny finds peace and copes with life by compulsively adopting strict routines and following the house rules she knows in the Marks’ care home and isolating herself. She limited her practical wardrobe to four colours: charcoal, black, grey and navy. Ten years ago, the perfect, affordable house with a large garden miraculously came on the market and she is content living in what she calls “the tree house”.

Lenny does her own cleaning, repairs around the house, and keeps the lawn and garden in order. She avoids getting to know the neighbors, but volunteers to mow the lawn of an elderly woman who lives next door. Lenny rides her classic mint-green Polygon Zenith bicycle to work and to her weekly shop at McKnight’s General Store, chatting with Ned, the owner’s son and store manager. Her meals are frozen meals that she eats in the same rigid weekly rotation.

FriendsScrabble and The Hobbit

Lenny had imaginary friends since she was a child, a habit she kept up into adulthood. When colleagues ask her in the staff room about her plans for the weekend or the holidays, she talks about activities with “Monica”, her roommate and friend. In fact, she owns the entire TV series of Friends and watches the episodes over and over again in order. After dinner, she organizes a game of Scrabble for two, taking turns playing competitively but fairly with Monica, who she thinks is the smartest of the cast members.

Lenny speaks bluntly when he is spoken to, without knowing and therefore ruthlessly towards the Feelings of others because she lacks the learned air of polite society. There are some obvious peculiarities in her behavior, for example, she owns 36 copies of The Hobbit in chronological order according to the date of acquisition, the first being from her mother; the habit of naming events and occurrences as if they were episodes of a television series such as Lenny gets away with murder.

There is a certain survival mechanism that automatically kicks in when she is nervous or needs a distraction, which may come from endless games of Scrabble. It involves mentally finding word fragments or embedded words within words; a form of anagrams such as: Routine: sluggish, ruin, rut etc. There is an underlying fear of abandonment, coupled with the certainty that she does not deserve love or friendship and will ultimately be rejected.

Dark secrets come to light

Lenny Marks began life as Helena Winters, changing her name when she was placed in foster care to avoid prying eyes after the heinous crime committed 25 years ago was first reported on all news outlets.

On Monday morning, May 16, 2022, the careful routines were interrupted when an unexpected official envelope bearing the inscription “Adult Parole Board Victoria” arrived at the school, sparking speculation and consternation among administrators. Lenny refuses to comment or open the envelope.

Wendy Dalton, social worker with the Special Victims Unit, is determined to obtain a statement from former Mrs. Winters regarding the upcoming release of murderous criminal Fergus Sullivan. After serving his 25-year prison sentence, Fergus will be released under certain conditions. Lenny ignores all attempts to contact her by email and phone calls until she is finally attacked by Wendy, who visits her school in person. This breaks the thin layer of fantasy with reality and forces Lenny to investigate and acknowledge the truth about the gruesome crime.

A literary gem to embrace

Author Kerryn Mayne has written sensitively about the mental fragility of a crime victim who assumed she was to blame, and her gradual healing as an adult. There are humorous episodes like when Lenny attends a quiz night at the pub with her work colleagues and amazes everyone with her secret knowledge. She saves a cruelly abused Rottweiler by stealing it from a nasty young drug dealer.

Slowly, carefully, hesitantly, Lenny finds There are people who genuinely care and learn to accept their friendships. The beautiful blossom is depicted, making this book one of the reviewer’s favorite books of the season.

Lenny Marks gets away with murder is a gem. Fans of Eleanor Oliphant is doing fine (Gail Honeyman), A man named Ove (Fredrik Backman) and How to read a book (Monica Wood) among others should hurry to read this book.

Photo by Kelly Dwyer Portraiture

Kerryn Mayne is a writer, former wedding photographer and now police officer. When she’s not trying to solve crimes, you can find her writing about them or preparing an endless stream of snacks for her four children. Kerryn lives in the bayside suburbs of Melbourne with her husband, children and a highly suspicious lovebird.