Still reeling from the sudden death of her husband, Mariana Andros is pulled into a murder investigation when her niece Zoe calls. Currently a student at Cambridge University, Zoe’s best friend was found stabbed to death and charismatic Edward Fosca seems a likely suspect. The murdered girl was part of his exclusive study group called The Maidens, all of whom seem a little too enamored to professor Fosca. The only problem is, the police aren’t looking at Fosca as a suspect. Determined to prove to the police that they are not looking in the right direction Mariana sets out to investigate the murders herself.
The Maidens starts off a little slow as we get to know the characters and the world that Mariana inhabits, but the short chapters keep the book from feeling too bogged down. When we finally get to Cambridge, things start to pick up and we encounter many potentially suspicious characters and events. I do want to say that I thought I had the whole thing figured out, but I ended up being completely wrong, which I really enjoyed, but it also made the ending feel a bit out of the blue. Overall the whole book felt a little too fast and could have used a bit more development leaving the story seeming more like the cliff notes of a book rather than the book itself.
The Maidens starts off a little slow as we get to know the characters and the world that Mariana inhabits, but the short chapters keep the book from feeling too bogged down. When we finally get to Cambridge, things start to pick up and we encounter many potentially suspicious characters and events. I do want to say that I thought I had the whole thing figured out, but I ended up being completely wrong, which I really enjoyed, but it also made the ending feel a bit out of the blue. Overall the whole book felt a little too fast and could have used a bit more development leaving the story seeming more like the cliff notes of a book rather than the book itself.