“The Maidens” - Alex Michaelides

• This thriller lived up to all of the hype. I’ll admit, I was almost nervous to pick it up based on all the rave reviews flooding social media. But, I can confirm that it was legitimately a page turner to the end.

• Michaelides is deft with creating tension. Several times I found myself furiously willing our protagonist, Mariana Andros, to make safer choices.

• A spate of murders occurs on the idyllic campus of Cambridge University. Mariana rushes to the site to comfort her niece who is a student. Michaelides combines elements of Greek and Shakespearean tragedies, and makes excellent use of the gothic campus as a setting for this tale. 

• It’s not just that Michaelides has come up with a riveting plot line, this book was a pleasure because he writes poignantly about grief and the aftershocks of loss. I loved the psychological analysis that Mariana, herself provides. The novel proceeds from Mariana’s point of view, interspersed with journal entries written by the (presumably) unknown killer.