The Maidens: A Novel

Edward Fosca is a Greek tragedy professor at Cambridge University whom Mariana Andros believes is a murderer. Fosca is charismatic and popular with students and staff, particularly members of a secret society of female students called The Maidens. Mariana is a group therapist who becomes focused on The Maidens after one member, a friend of her niece Zoe, is found murdered in Cambridge. Mariana, a former student at the university herself, suspects that beneath Cambridge's beauty and traditions lies something sinister. She becomes convinced that Fosca is guilty of the murder despite his alibi, and wonders why he would target one of his students and why he repeatedly references the rites of Persephone and her journey to the underworld. When a second body is discovered, Mariana's obsession with proving Fosca's guilt intensifies, jeopardizing her professional credibility and personal relationships. She remains determined to stop the killer, regardless of the personal cost.