“The Maidens” by Alex Michaelides is an immersing mystery novel with puzzling twists and a gripping story, a mystery told over the span of just a few days. It was first published on June 10, 2021.
Mariana, the main character of the story, is a group therapist who is still reeling from the loss of her husband Sebastian the year before. He had died in a swimming accident while on vacation in Greece, where Mariana is originally from. She is having her Monday night therapy group when the suspense begins. One of her clients is deeply disturbed and obsessed with Mariana, begging her to let him stay afterward and have one-on-one sessions with him although she is only a group therapist. He pulls up his shirt to show her how he had carved crosses into his chest, crying while asking her to let him stay. But Mariana holds her ground and gets him out of her house when she then gets a call from her niece Zoe.
Zoe is calling because a girl at her university, Cambridge, was violently murdered and she’s worried that it’s her friend Tara. Zoe’s mother and father died when she was little and Mariana and her husband have since then taken care of her, so Mariana packs a bag and heads to Cambridge to be with Zoe the next day. Mariana and Zoe have a somewhat strained relationship after Sebastian’s death, and a few little moments between them help to give the full scope of it, like when Zoe says she is surprised that Mariana actually came. Mariana is the one who breaks the news to her that it was in fact Tara who was murdered. Zoe is evidently distraught and Mariana does what she can to comfort her, including joining her at the service held for Tara. At the service, Mariana notices a group of students, all girls, dressed in white dresses with one of their professors, Edward Fosca. Zoe explains that they are all in the professor’s special group called “The Maidens” and that Tara was also a part of that group. Mariana, a group therapist, is immediately suspicious of this, especially as it’s only girls in the group with their male professor.
Mariana is drawn into the mystery and decides to do some investigating herself, eventually becoming absolutely convinced that Edward Fosca is the murderer, and doing everything in her power to prove that.
One thing that may impair a reader’s judgement was the fact that the mystery didn’t stay a mystery for too long. With some basic thinking, the ‘who’ of this ‘whodunnit’ can be figured out much before the author intended, but the motivation was still a lovely surprise that can shock the reader.
Another factor that potentially hinders the enjoyment of the reader is the writing style. It’s a very modern style that uses phrases that can make a reader cringe, with lines like “Mariana opened her mouth–and choked back a scream, a howl of frustration.” It also holds the reader’s hand the whole way through, overexplaining what might otherwise be a very fun reveal. Reveals are never as fun when it’s stated in a way that makes it impossible to theorize on our own or make an inference. The author writes about three lines, all with their own paragraph, that reveal the exact same thing but with different levels of the reveal. The last sentence being the most evident, like a name, because apparently, the reader would never be able to figure out who or what they were talking about through context clues, only by stating exactly what it is.
Overall, the book was a suspenseful read that could have been made better by the omission of some of the more obvious lines and uncomfortable wording, earning it a 3/5.
