Home › Best of 2026 › The Mortons

The Mortons

by Justine Larbalestier

A family legacy built on murder

Regular price $25.14 USD
Regular price $41.91 USD Sale price $25.14 USD
Save 40%

Hardcover New

Delivery to your door
Currently unavailable
Secure checkout
American Express Apple Pay DiscoverGoogle Pay Mastercard PayPalVisa
30-day eligible returns Returns & refunds policy

Awards & Recognition

  • Critical praise

    Praise from People

    People describes the book as “a fresh, fun, and sneakily hilarious dark academia romp.”

AlbakiReads Editorial

A family legacy built on murder

The Mortons combines crime-family inheritance with an elite college where the children of wealthy dynasties are trained to exert control. Jessica Morton has long stood out at Helshire College, but her first kill brings a shift in status—and revelations that reach from the family’s country estate to New York’s art world and the college itself. The premise turns questions of loyalty, kinship, and ambition into part of a world where homicide is treated as family business. The crime-fiction setup is threaded through an institutional setting, linking private family power with the networks that shape the students’ lives.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Readers interested in crime fiction centered on powerful families and inherited criminal legacies.
  • Those drawn to stories set in elite colleges and the social hierarchies within them.
  • Readers who enjoy plots involving alliances, loyalty, and ambition.

Themes

Family legacyPower and controlLoyalty and kinshipAmbitionCrime and privilege

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

"A fresh, fun, and sneakily hilarious dark academia romp." --People

"Slippery, sinister, and so much fun." --Charlotte McConaghy, New York Times bestselling author of Wild Dark Shore

Meet the Mortons: In this family, murder is currency--and business is booming.


The Mortons are a modern-day, old-money dynasty with impeccable taste, from their exquisitely crafted cocktails to their expertly tailored vintage garments. They are also stone-cold killers. For the Mortons, homicide is heritage.

They, along with the other crime families, send their progeny to Helshire College, where legacy students learn to exercise control over their wealthy peers. Jessica Morton has always excelled at Helshire, secure in the knowledge that she is the prodigy of her generation. Now, having committed her first kill, it should be Jessica's moment, her honor. But that kill will cut more ways than one, unknotting a series of revelations spanning the Mortons' country estate, the New York City art world, and Helshire itself.

Sharp and hypnotic, The Mortons is an epic novel of alliances and power, loyalty and kinship, and the consequences of ruthless ambition.
Shipping & returnsShipping options, delivery timing, and our return policy.

In-stock items normally dispatch within 1–2 business days. The ZIP-code estimator on this page is informational only; the final shipping method, price, and availability are confirmed at checkout for your full order.

For the initial delivery estimate we use these transit windows after dispatch: Standard 5–8 business days, Expedited 2–4 business days, and Priority 1–2 business days. Holiday delays are not included.

Eligible items can be returned within 30 days in accordance with our return policy.

Customer reviews