'An absolute jaw-dropper' LUCY FOLEY 'Absolutely brilliant ... A thrilling, heart-in-throat ride' STEPHEN FRY From the author of the global #1 bestselling debut The Silent Patient comes a spellbinding literary thriller which weaves together Greek mythology, psychology, and murder... St Christopher's College, Cambridge, is a closed world to most. For Mariana Andros - a group therapist struggling through her private grief - it's where she met her late husband. For her niece, Zoe, it's the tragic scene of her best friend's murder. As memory and mystery entangle Mariana, she finds a society full of secrets, which has been shocked to its core by the murder of one of its own. Because behind its idyllic beauty is a web of jealousy and rage which emanates from an exclusive set of students known only as The Maidens. A group under the sinister influence of the enigmatic professor Edward Fosca. A man who seems to know more than anyone about the murders - and the victims. And the man who will become the prime suspect in Mariana's investigation - an obsession which will unravel everything... The Maidens is a story of love, and of grief - of what makes us who we are, and what makes us kill. * * * * * 'Elegant, sinister, stylish and thrilling, The Maidens answers the weighty question, how do you go about following one of the biggest thrillers of the past decade? You write something even better.'CHRIS WHITAKER, bestselling author of WE BEGIN AT THE END 'Grips from intriguing start to horrifying finish ... A brilliant achievement.' HARRIET TYCE 'A page-turner of the first order' DAVID BALDACCI 'The greatest campus novel since The Secret History by Donna Tartt ... with a climatic twist that you will NEVER see coming.' TONY PARSONS 'A stunning psychological thriller ... Michaelides is on a roll.' PUBLISHERS WEEKLY