If you like dark, suspenseful novels and English settings with Greek mythology woven into the plot, then you will love The Maidens by Alex Michaelides. I read this one in two days because once I got halfway, I could not put it down!
Mariana Andros is a grieving widow and group therapist living in London. She misses her husband terribly and has few social contacts, other than her patients. Mariana drops everything and rushes to Cambridge to support her niece, Zoe after learning that Zoe’s roommate/best friend has been murdered. Once at the college, Mariana discovers many secrets among students, staff and teachers. And then another student is murdered! There are many suspicious characters in The Maidens, and each one seems capable of committing the murders . . . Henry, Fred, Professor Edward Fosca, Morris, and more.
I loved the suspense in this novel – it was definitely a page-turner, especially in the second half of the story. I really enjoyed the Greek mythology that is a central part of the plot – but if Greek tragedies aren’t ‘your thing’, then you might not love this novel. I highly recommend it if you love mysteries though. There were many times while reading that I trusted no one – including Mariana!
(If you haven’t read Michaelides first novel – The Silent Patient, it is a great suspense story also, with over a year on the N.Y. Times bestseller list!)
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