The Maidens: A Novel

The Silent Patient held my attention...The Maidens lost me at 'hello' reading a poorly written sentence in the first paragraph, but I gave that a pass and continued. Felt like a group of very young writers sat around and ALL suggestions were thrown into a mishmash. Painful to read.

Alex Michaelides has done it again—written a pedestrian novel that is buried in hype and, presumably, flying off of the shelves. This is not a case of the sophomore jinx kicking in; if anything this is a less successful novel than its predecessor, The Silent Patient.Mariana Andros is a London psychotherapist who specializes in group therapy. She has recently lost her husband, Sebastian, who has drowned off of the coast of the Greek island where Mariana’s family have a summer villa. Now her niece Zoe is in deep kimchi. Zoe is a student at a fictitious college at Cambridge and her best friend has just been brutally stabbed to death. The victim was a member of the ‘Maidens’, a putative study group surrounding the charismatic but oily Professor Edward Fosca. Fosca teaches Greek tragedy and as the body count increases the victims are found to be in possession of post cards with lines on them from Greek tragedies. However (and this is important) Professor Fosca has alibis for the times at which the murders occur. Mariana sets out to restore her niece’s spirit and psychological well-being by investigating the murders. Her focus falls on Professor Fosca, who seems to be making goo-goo eyes at her (along with all of his female students). She also encounters a mathematics/physics graduate student who is too young for her but immediately wishes to propose marriage, even though they don’t really know one another. She is also being followed by one of her London patients, a needy, troubled, violent soul named Henry. Fortunately she can appeal to an elderly, female, pipe-smoking professor to help her with the translations of the passages on the post cards.So what do we have here? A ‘university murder story’? Sort of. A psychological thriller? Sort of. A set of love stories? Sort of. A book that holds your attention, has interesting characters, significant themes, a vibrant setting and solid plotting? Unfortunately, no.I do not want to spoil the plot but I will warn potential readers that they are likely to utter some epithet or cri de coeur aloud if they make it to the book’s end. The revelation does not just come from left field. It comes from a distant left field in a remote county in an adjoining state. And, crucially, the revelation turns on an error in judgment on the part of the protagonist that is so severe that it calls into question any investigatory credentials she might be expected to possess. Since she is the only marginally likeable character in the story, with the exception of the math/physics student (who may be the murderer) and the pipe-smoking woman (who probably isn’t the murderer), this is a serious problem.The writing has not risen above the workaday prose of The Silent Patient; there are no brilliant one-liners, no insightful reflections on the human condition, and no great evocations of the feeling and ethos of Cambridge. If I hadn’t purchased the novel and didn’t feel an obligation to review readers to actually complete the reading of it, I would not have made it through the first fifty pages.So why the hype, why the broad readership, why the occasional strong review? I simply don’t know. The crime fiction market is more sparse than it was a generation ago, but there are many, many other eligible choices. I have read at least a dozen regionally-published or self-published novels in the last few months that are of far greater interest. It may just be the marketing. At any rate, caveat emptor. This is a slog with a howler ending that will not leave you hungry for its successor.

I LOVED The Silent Patient. I thought it was incredibly well thought out. Had fantastic visuals. Drew you in. This felt sloppy and a bit gratuitous. The ending didn't make sense. A few simple comments to bring closure to the professor and other characters. It was perfunctory. It wasn't a surprise ending that elicited an - I can't believe I didn't think of that. It was more of a - are you kidding me! Then, the end!

I received my eagerly awaited new novel, "The Maidens" by Alex Michaelides yesterday. I started reading at 7 p.m. and read until 3:45 a.m. Needless to say, I just couldn't put the book down! It's a suspense/thriller novel and it held my interest from the Prologue through the Acknowledgements. (I literally read it cover-to-cover.) I highly recommend this book!

I think comparing this book to the author’s debut would be unfair, this I will review this one independently.I enjoyed reading it. Literally could not put it down and had to read it in one sitting. Cleverly developed characters and plot and an insightful description of our frightfully complicated nature as humans.

There's always a huge amount of anticipation on the shoulders of a writer when their début novel is a worldwide bestseller. Like many, I've eagerly anticipated waiting for The Maidens and for me, this is a very worthy successor to The Silent Patient.Mariana Andros is a dedicated group therapist and widow. When her Cambridge student niece Zoe, calls and tells her, her friend is missing, Mariana's instinct is to go to her. Arriving at St. Christopher's College she consoles Zoe after Tara's body is discovered but something isn't right. In addition to helping find the murdered the college backdrop reawakens Mariana's memories of her beloved husband Sebastian; from the time they spent together as students at the college. When she meets the charismatic professor, Edward Fosca, she is sure he is guilty of murder as the evidence stacks up against him. Only, why would he kill his students?The beginning was slow however, the pace and my interest soon picked up as the narrative settles into a steady rhythm. Thanks to the short chapters it's easy to digest the clues; mostly red herrings as they crop up. Intertwined are references to Greek Tragedies and Alfred Tennyson to add weight to the exposed evidence. The author's writing is clear and succinct, again making it easy for the reader to keep abreast of the proceedings. Therefore, I did manage to pick up on a clue, silently patting myself on the back before getting blind-sided with the reveal of the killer's identity.With the cameo appearance of two characters from The Silent Patient, I do wonder if a third novel by the author may tie these two narratives together… if so, I'll be the first in the clue to read it!***arc received courtesy of Orion Publishing via NetGalley***

Rating: 2.0/5Having missed out on Alex Michaelide's debut novel, "The Silent Patient", which received overwhelmingly positive feedback, I was keen to make sure that I got my hands on a copy of his follow-up. Having read the accompanying synopsis my anticipation was only heightened further: A murder mystery set in the world of academia within the appealing environs of Cambridge University. In addition to murder, the plot was said to combine psychology and Greek mythology, as legendary tales from the time of ancient Greece seem to bear an uncanny resemblance to events taking place now. My appetite was suitably whetted ... but unfortunately it wasn't to be too long before severe disappointment set in.Frustratingly, some sections are nicely written and quite prosaic. This, in combination with an appealing backdrop and an engaging premise, could and should have been a recipe for a successful story. Unfortunately, there are just too many elements that simply don't pass muster: The characterisation is simplistic and lacks any depth. Descriptive language tends towards the melodramatic. The dialogue is often stilted, clunky and unnatural. Some of the mechanics used to move the plot forward are convenient to the point of being inane and reminiscent of the kind of thing you might expect to find in a children's adventure story. The frequent references to Greek mythology are, no doubt, intended to give an impression of worthiness and of being profound, but it is little more than a veneer. Ultimately "The Maidens" is a run of the mill mystery hiding behind an intellectual façade.In his notes the author states that this novel is his fond homage to the classic female crime writers: Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Ngaio Marsh, Margaret Millar, Margery Allingham, Josephine Tey, P.D. James and Ruth Rendell. A nice gesture perhaps, but those ladies really deserved something better than this.

This has to be the stupidest story I've ever read. Absolutely stupid. I cannot believe I finished it, though I did scan the last 50 or so pages, once it became obvious who the perpetrator was. And trust me, you'd better clear away all your precious ornaments once you near discovering this as you will hurl the book across the room in total disgust. Absolutely stupid. I almost never give one star to a book I actually finish, but this deserved minus one star.I mean. Mariana is an intelligent woman. The way she goes for a Cambridge lecturer she's never met, based on hearsay - one comment made by the dead girl to Mariana's niece before she was murdered - is bizarre to say the least. Then we have Mariana agreeing to meet up with this lecturer in private several times and also meet up with a stranger/stalker she met on a train. The whole thing is just weird. She even attacks one of the above in public - it's completely laughable.Mr Michaelides' writing is morose. There's no light and shade to it whatsoever. So it wasn't even fun reading up until the stupidest denouement in the entire bookshop. Oh, I can't be bothered to write any more. It doesn't deserve another minute of my life.

I really wanted to like this book. Having read ‘The Silent Patient’ which was an entertaining thriller, I was hoping this would be in the same vein. But it’s just not very good. The plot is ridiculous and the characters are so two dimensional that you find yourself scoffing at the wooden dialogue. Any references in the plot to therapy feel as though they’ve been lifted directly out of a text book. What most annoyed me was one of the reviews which compared it to ‘The Secret History’ - this is a long long way from being anywhere near as good as Donna Tartt’s writing. Most disappointing.

A hackneyed and silly plot, sloppily written. Clearly rushed out under pressure and I get the feeling even the author was bored and couldn’t be bothered to take the time needed to wrap it up.

The only thing I like about it was the interwoven bit about the silent patient characters otherwise I wouldn’t recommend it