Book Review: Win Lose Kill Die by Cynthia Murphy

Being accepted to Morton Academy was a dream come true for Liz Williams. Morton has a reputation of accepting only the best of the best, scouting all the schools in England every year for fifty smart, talented students and enrolling them on scholarship regardless of means or background. For Liz, being at Morton is a chance to escape her less than ideal home situation, even if she’s reluctant to tell her fellow students the full truth of her life outside Morton.

Most of the other kids are just as excited as she is to be there, even if their parents are much prouder of them than hers are. As new student Cole asks:

“Were your parents the same? I mean, you got in here last year; you must be super clever. Not like us wait-list dweebs. I bet they were proud.”

 

“Yeah.” I think of the day I sat in my head teacher’s office with Dr Patel. Dad had stayed in bed and Mom was pacing back and forth outside, one of her so-called friend’s dramas playing out on the phone she held in one hand as she took long puffs off a cigarette with the other. We watched her from the window and I realized she wasn’t even slightly aware that she was late for our meeting.

 

“Yeah,” I repeat. “They were thrilled too. Anyway!” I force brightness into my voice. “How’s your first week been?[”]

Another reason for Liz’s determination to put up a good front is a recent school tragedy. Cole has only been able to enroll at Morton following the accidental death of former head girl Morgan, in a boating accident that traumatized Liz and a good number of their fellow students. Never mind that Morgan had been something of a bully. Hopefully, the appointment of her friend Jameela to the position of head girl will make things better. But when Jameela receives a threatening note and is subsequently poisoned, the student body can’t help but wonder if someone is deliberately targeting the most powerful girls in school.

One of Liz’s best friends, Taylor, is next in line for the prestigious position. Being head girl at Morton isn’t just about resume-building: students granted that title are virtually guaranteed entry, tuition and board to any university of their choice, worldwide, due to the influence and finances of the academy’s vast web of alumni. It’s a coveted spot, but no one would really kill in order to gain that kind of advantage, would they?

Liz has no interest in testing that theory by putting Taylor’s life on the line. As she and her friends—including her new love interest, Cole—investigate, they discover disturbing truths about Morton and its people. Sure, Liz and her inner circle all know about Morton’s secret society. As the best of the best, they’ve all been initiated into the club’s gothic pageantry, with Jameela herself presiding over the ritual that elevated Taylor to the position of her own deputy back when she was still alive:

Taylor keeps her head held high as Jameela takes the knife. It’s an old blade, as old as the body they are flanking, I’d guess, and just as encrusted in jewels. The blade is kept sharp, though, something that is evident as Jameela slices into her own palm, and then Taylor’s upturned one. They both step toward the skeleton, and, as the glass case is opened for them, they each lightly grasp an arm bone, smearing their blood upon the blood of hundreds of previous pledges.

But what truly is the point of all these elaborate rituals and secrecy? As Liz and her friends dig further into the history of Morton, they discover secrets with stunning repercussions for the present day. Will the students be able to survive their tenure at the academy, even as a serial killer lurks in the shadows, waiting to murder them one by one?

I was completely lulled by Cynthia Murphy’s propulsive writing into guessing that all the wrong people were responsible for the murders in this smart Young Adult thriller set in the seemingly perfect boarding school. Like Liz, I wanted so much to believe in Morton as an escape route, even as the academy’s picture-perfect façade was crumbling right before our eyes. I loved the final reveal of the killer, even as I was impressed by Ms. Murphy’s skill at both misdirection and sheer human empathy.