Has Alex Michaelides Come Back With a Bang?

Why ‘The Maidens’ is a thriller take on dark academia. And should you read it?

Image provided by the author

So I just read The Maidens by Alex Michaelides, whose debut The Silent Patient was an international bestseller. I received a copy of The Maidens from the publishers, but all my thoughts that I will be sharing today are entirely my own and in no way influenced by others.

For your consideration, here is what Goodreads describes it as:

Edward Fosca is a murderer. Of this Mariana is certain. But Fosca is untouchable. A handsome and charismatic Greek Tragedy professor at Cambridge University, Fosca is adored by staff and students alike — particularly by the members of a secret society of female students known as The Maidens.

Mariana Andros is a brilliant but troubled group therapist who becomes fixated on The Maidens when one member, a friend of Mariana’s niece Zoe, is found murdered in Cambridge.

Mariana, who was once herself a student at the university, quickly suspects that behind the idyllic beauty of the spires and turrets, and beneath the ancient traditions, lies something sinister. And she becomes convinced that, despite his alibi, Edward Fosca is guilty of the murder. But why would the professor target one of his students? And why does…