Frequently anxious and exhibiting signs of paranoia, she is inclined to leave the investigation to the professionals, but Zoe pressures her into getting involved.

After learning that the murder was extremely brutal and violent, Mariana assumes the killer is male. A PhD student, Fred, flirts with Mariana, which she finds alarming and sinister.Īt Cambridge, Mariana meets with Zoe and Julian Ashcroft, an old classmate of Mariana’s. During her journey, she reminisces about her husband Sebastian and the tragic vacation on which he died. After receiving a call from her niece Zoe about her friend and classmate Tara’s murder, Mariana sets off for Cambridge.

Part 1 opens in London with Mariana, a 36-year-old widow and group therapist, struggling to manage a troubled patient named Henry and to overcome the trauma of losing her husband. Interspersed are first-person narratives from the point of view of a killer, who is revealed at the end to be Sebastian, Mariana’s husband, who murdered her father and plotted with Zoe to kill her. A Prologue introduces Edward Fosca, a professor who Mariana believes is guilty, and an Epilogue provides a glimpse into the aftermath of the reveal that the murderer was Zoe. The novel is divided into six parts that cover the initial investigation and two subsequent murders. The Maidens is narrated in third person from the perspective of Mariana Andros, a 36-year-old widow, lifelong book lover, and group therapist who travels to Cambridge to investigate the murder of her niece Zoe’s friend.

The maidens alex michaelides