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Mariana Andros finds herself back at Cambridge University, her alma mater and the place where she met her late husband, when her niece calls to tell her a good friend has been murdered. It’s still difficult to be there and be reminded of all she shared with Sebastian, who has only been dead a year, but she wants to be available to support Zoe.
After only a day or two there, she becomes convinced that a professor at the university is guilty of the murder. Edward Fosca is a handsome and charismatic professor of Greek tragedy whose compelling lectures are always packed. Mariana, a therapist who specializes in conducting group therapy sessions in her home in London, is sure Fosca is hiding something behind a well-constructed façade. Strangest and most disturbing to her is the small group of female students, known as the Maidens, whom Fosca teaches privately.
When another student is murdered, Mariana becomes obsessed with Fosca, sure of his guilt (despite his alibis) and doing everything she can to prove his involvement in the murders. Colleagues and friends begin to worry about her, and she puts herself in dangerous situations.
Of course, it all comes to a head, and when the mystery is solved, it’s a doozy. I didn’t see it coming, though I rather kicked myself for not seeing the possibilities.
The Maidens is an entertaining follow-up to Michaelides’ popular debut thriller book, The Silent Patient. I read it all in one sitting.
Rated: High. Profanity includes about a dozen uses of strong language, fewer than 10 instances of moderate profanity, 15 uses of mild language, and about 30 instances of the name of Deity in vain. Sexual content includes a character stumbling upon a couple having sex but with no details, references to a few instances of sex but few or no details, and some characters being nude and being fondled. There is some drug use. Violence includes several gory murders with brutal stabbings, references to severe child and spouse abuse, and a foiled stabbing attempt.
