“Lenny Marks Gets Away With Murder” is a spirited Australian take on novels like Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine, that is, a tale of a female teacher in a outer suburban Melbourne school who is “on the spectrum” and suppressing horrific childhood traumas. Lenny Marks was taken away from her parents as a child and lives a regimented, orderly life, until a government letter lifts the veil from her past. I enjoyed the central character. the well-staged plot, and the cast of characters orbiting Lenny Marks. The author’s style is fresh and vivid. All that said, two shadows were cast onto my reading: I was not fully convinced of Lenny’s character and its inconsistencies (I am aware this is a personal reaction, others may well find the depiction true); and the energetic style lacked some nuance. Overall, Lenny Marks Gets Away With Murder should receive a decent readership and is a welcome look at this fraught subject matter.
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