Every school has them. Those obscenely popular, remotely talented rulers of the school. It doesn’t matter if they’re total jerks; the girls love them. It doesn’t matter if they don’t pass the class; their teachers will give them an A. It doesn’t matter who they hurt, because they’re invincible. And often, they’re football players. 

At least, in California, football is the choice sport of the Popular Dude. In Boston, however, that sport is Lacrosse. And at Hancock High, the Lax Bros are high school royalty. Andrew would know—he used to be one of them. Now, though, an unspoken scandal has stripped him of everything that matters to him, all because of his so-called best friend Troy. 

As far as Lax Bros go, Troy’s the leader, and he’s pissed off a lot of people in the last four years. Now that Andrew is one of them, he decides that it might be time to get revenge, and who better to team up with than the four girls Troy hurt the most: the Geek, the Rebel, the Overachiever, and the Dream Girl. However, Andrew and the girls start to think that their campaign went too far when they find Troy dead at their school’s lock-in. One of them must have done it, but if they all equally hated him, which one could it be?

To categorize this unique novel as a murder mystery might be a tad inaccurate. The central story is a lesson in misdirection: instead of solving Troy’s murder, Balogh backs up the timeline instead to describe how the characters arrived at that fateful moment, interwoven with tantalizing clips of the present, where Troy is dead and everyone is a suspect. Although the book jumps between both times and characters, it is surprisingly straightforward in the advancing plot. 

The main focus, of course, is the four girls and their relationship. As their schemes get more and more dangerous, their personal motivations and well-hidden secrets come to light, bonding them in unusual ways. The connections between the characters are sincere and add elements of humor as the striking contrasts in their personalities clash while attempting to pull off pranks and reconnaissance. The dynamic between the girls and Andrew highlights Balogh’s skill as a writer, somehow meshing all kinds of characters while simultaneously preserving their distinct three-dimensionality. 

Humor is a major component of this mystery as well, especially as the focus shifts away from the solving of the murder to leave room for the funny or heartfelt moments that each character experiences. Often, the murder in a typical mystery novel draws the stranger aspects of a character out, instead of fully revealing who they are in normal circumstances, but Balogh solves this by narrating a casual dive into each of their personalities and lifestyles, all written in distinct voices unique to each chapter, while slowly untwisting Troy’s murder by gradually feeding background information to the reader. Ultimately, the solution is not in some great breaks or clear clues, but in the dawning realization that every detail added up to Troy’s death.

That being said, this mystery is not for the junior detective reader. Balogh’s twisted plot and complex solution, along with the five-character narration style, do not attempt to lead readers towards guessing the twists and turns. Instead, this book is a rollercoaster of a story forcing readers to hold on through every curve—until the sudden drop. While some mystery readers may not be accustomed to this unusual form of narration, Balogh’s dark humor, engaging time period, and connection to the ultimate high school experience (minus the murder) draw in every skeptic and convert them to her devious ways.

For a delightfully twisted, quintessential high school murder set deep into the 90s backdrop with humor, friendship, and a ticking clock, Balogh’s Kill the Lax Bro can satisfy any reader. Her unconventional methods and engaging writing voices all converge into a truly arresting book for anyone who ever got through high school by contemplating murder. Kill the Lax Bro is available for pre-order, or readers can attend the book launch on June 24th, 2025, at Annabelle’s Bookstore in Studio City.

4 paws