The Mortons (Scott Westerfeld & Justine Larbalestier, Penguin)

Justine Larbalestier (My Sister Rosa) and Scott Westerfeld (the Leviathan series) join forces for the crime-family thriller The Mortons, which delivers plenty of grit and dark academia charm.

Jessica Morton is the ruthless prodigy of a dynasty of wealthy murderers. Since birth, she has trained to manipulate and eliminate “ordinaries” to serve her family’s ambitions of controlling the elite. But life at Helshire College is worlds apart from the family farm where she learned to throw knives and mix poisons. Blending in with ordinary students proves difficult, and as the family brings her deeper into their business dealings, Jessica realises that nothing about the Mortons is ever quite as it seems. She must reckon with the weight of legacy and the price of placing loyalty to her family above all else.

There is much to enjoy in this book, from its sinister family of homicidal elites living cult-like in a vast, old-money estate to the carefully planned missions that go dangerously awry. While the story beats and world-building are interesting, the characterisation is more restrained. Jessica remains largely guarded and, as a result, some of the emotional moments feel less fully realised. Her fellow Mortons tend towards the archetypal, lending the narrative a certain distance.

The Mortons will appeal to readers seeking a plot-driven story with echoes of Donna Tartt’s The Secret History and a dash of dark humour and sharp wit.

Books+Publishing reviewer: Lisandra Linde is an author and reviewer based on Kaurna country. Books+Publishing is Australia’s number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.

Books+Publishing pre-publication reviews are supported by the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund.

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