The Maidens by Alex Michaelides

 

The Maidens by Alex Michaelides

In his first book, The Silent Patient, Michaelides totally blindsided me.  I did not see the ending coming.

In this book, I expected a huge twist again, so I read this one really fast to get to that ending.  It is a quick read, short chapters, and a mystery you do want to have solved. (Briefly: newly grieving group therapist Mariana has raised her niece and when one of her niece's friends is murdered at college, Mariana goes to help and protect and solve the murder, more bodies pile up, she suspects a certain professor and is determined to prove his guilt.) 

But...it was just kinda flat.  I gave it four stars on Goodreads because it did hold my interest (oh how I wish for half stars, this would have been a three and a half really), I loved the Greek Mythology nods, the setting was good.  Mariana was blind to a lot going on and missed a huge clue about the killer, and why was she so obsessed with this anyway?  Just pull her niece out of school to keep her safe and go home!!  What I felt was flat though was Mariana's obsession with proving the professor was guilty (not finding out who did it), her relationship with her niece, the whole introduction of Fred, and the reveal itself seemed way too unlikely and creepy.  I agree with other reviewers that the hints were not there.  But why should they be?  We are blindsided in this book as if we are Marianna and HAD NO IDEA. 

A bit of bull malarkey there though.  I just don't believe the ending, it doesn't add up (literally).  I do believe who the killer was, but how many people in a group therapist's life are unstable, seriously??  Mariana has dealt with a LOT of loss in her life - parents, sister, husband.  I think there was too much going on - too many red herrings and diversions that were honestly obvious.  I did not really buy into the conspiracy.  I said it was a quick read, and maybe that just means the story itself was rushed.  It also seemed weirdly unemotional. I don't want to give too much away here, so this review probably seems as disjointed as the book because there is a lot to discuss once you have read it; the spoiler alert questions on Goodreads are a good place to go debrief if you read this outside of a book club.

There is a clever and scary nod to The Silent Patient at the end which was a great wink, and if you think about it, the irony of it once you know what you know about TSP could really frighten you.  Why is it that therapists never see their loved ones in a clinical light?  The cobbler's son has no shoes syndrome??  

Interesting how the author uses the device of an unreliable narrator in such a different way here.  I do think he is better with a male protagonist. As a suspense novel, this is still a good one, just has some flaws.  I would still read another by him; this sophomore effort was just not as good as his debut.  And as I reread this review, you'd think four stars would be too much, right?  You are right, which is why it now shows as three.  Sometimes a bit of distance (and a review!) reveals more truth.