Win Lose Kill Die

September 11, 2023
Liz Williams is excited for her senior year at Morton Academy, an ultra-exclusive English boarding school, especially because it’s her last chance to be sponsored for a full ride—every year, 100 juniors and seniors are assessed for their intellectual abilities and subsequently chosen by a donor, who will pay the student’s way through college. Even more selective, however, is an invitation to join the Society of Jewel and Bone, an elite secret organization whose meetings take place in a watery crypt and whose leader, known as the school’s Head Girl, is the most powerful student at Morton. Though Liz’s classmates are abuzz with new-year jitters, things at the academy turn deadly when the current Head Girl dies from suspicious causes only six weeks after the equally questionable death of her predecessor. As the bodies pile up, Liz—joined by four classmates—determines to uncover the truth behind the deaths. Vivid prose by Murphy spins a suspenseful plot to craft a dark-academia flavored high school slasher littered with convincing twists and foreshadowing. A potential cult, jealous classmates, sinister teachers, and something even more treacherous, paired with the organically rendered intersectional cast and a charming budding romance, make for a varied mystery thriller. Ages 12–up.

October 1, 2023
Somebody has it in for the pupils of elite British boarding school Morton Academy. After last year's tragic boating accident left head girl Morgan dead and narrator Liz hospitalized with a head injury, Liz is looking forward to her final year before graduation. The first order of business: the secret Society of Jewel and Bone, replete with robes, candles, and a skeleton in a glass coffin. The group convenes to appoint Jameela as Morgan's successor, and Liz's roommate Taylor as her deputy. Jameela's time as head girl is short-lived, however: At that night's traditional senior pajama party, a serious asthma attack ends her life. Deputy head boy Frank raises the alarm, making a public scene in which he declares that Jameela was murdered--and soon, he's dead, too. As headmistress Dr. Patel tries to keep her students focused on academics, the deaths continue to stack up, and red herrings abound. Morton Academy is isolated--an hour from the nearest major town, with anachronistic policies for students banning cell phones and social media and seriously restricting internet usage--which upholds the lack of outside scrutiny. Fans of dark academia whodunits will be on familiar ground but may find the final reveal anticlimactic, and pacing issues make unfolding events feel more disjointed than suspenseful. Most characters are cued white; contextual clues point to some ethnic diversity. A plot-driven mystery that doesn't quite coalesce. (Thriller. 13-18)

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December 1, 2023

Gr 6 Up-"Rich, poor, it doesn't matter at Morton. We're all here because we are damn clever." Though the secluded walls of the elite Morton Academy once served to shield students from the outside world, they now feel more like a trap, putting a target on the overachieving teens as they begin dying in a string of unsettling incidents. Liz, along with fellow members of a secret society Taylor, Kat, Marcus, and Cole, attempt to salvage their senior year by stopping the killer before it's too late. Murphy presents a young adult thriller full of rich description and detail, but the dialogue and character interaction falls flat, spoiling the otherwise immersive experience. Told primarily from Liz's first-person perspective, ominous asides from the killer help to build tension, though the character arc required to reach the final twist feels forced and improbable. The cast of characters is racially diverse. VERDICT This book will appeal to readers seeking a suspenseful teen slasher about secret societies and social climbing. Recommended for fans of Gretchen McNeil, Gemma Halliday, and Holly Jackson.-Lauren Hackert

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