“After all, everyone’s entitled to be the hero of their own story. So I must be permitted to be the hero of mine. Even though I’m not. I’m the villain.”
The Maidens is a 2021 mystery thriller by New York Times bestselling author Alex Michaelides. The story follows Mariana, a Greek-born group therapist still mourning the death of her husband. One evening she receives a call from her niece, Zoe, saying that her best friend has been found murdered in Cambridge. Once a student at Cambridge University herself, Mariana soon finds herself digging beneath the idyllic beauty of the spires, turrets and ancient traditions and into a secret society of young girls led by the enigmatic Edward Fosca. Mariana is convinced Fosca is a murderer, even though his alibi is rock solid. Soon, her obsession with proving Fosca’s guilt begins to spiral out of control, threatening her credibility, sanity and even her own life. If you love dark academia, murder mysteries and eccentric characters, join us at What We Reading for the best books like The Maidens!
The Silent Patient – Alex Michaelides
Where better to start in a list of the best books like The Maidens than with Michaelides’ record-breaking debut novel, The Silent Patient? The story revolves around a woman named Alicia Bereson, a successful artist with a beautiful London house and a doting husband. One evening, however, her husband returns home from work when Alicia shoots him five times in the head. She then never speaks again. Eventually, she is transported to a secure forensic unit.
Theo Faber is a criminal psychotherapist who has become fascinated with Alicia’s story. So much so, that he gets a job at the Grove just for the opportunity of working with her. His determination to get her to speak soon leads him down a dark path into his own motivations, a search that soon threatens to consume him. Set in the same universe as The Maidens, The Silent Patient is a shocking psychological thriller and an absolute must-read for any fans of Michaelides’ writing.
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Confessions On The 7:45 – Lisa Unger
Selena Murphy is commuting home on the train when she begins striking up a conversation with a beautiful stranger on the seat next to her. The woman introduces herself as Martha and reveals that she’s been stuck in an affair with her boss. In turn, Selena confesses that she suspects that her husband has been sleeping with the nanny. When the train pulls into the station, the two women part ways, presumably to never see each other again.
Then Selena’s nanny disappears. As Selena finds herself pulled into the mystery of what has really happened, and the cracks in her marriage widen further, she is forced to confront who Martha really is. But she couldn’t have ever imagined what she discovered. Similar to The Maidens, Lisa Unger’s Confessions on the 7:45 is a dark mystery thriller that slowly deals out its shocking twists and secrets.
The Ancient Nine – Ian K. Smith
If you’re looking for more books like The Maidens with a focus on cloak-and-dagger cliques, Ian K. Smith’s The Ancient Nine has to be on your TBR list! Harvard students Spenser Collins and Dalton have just been invited to join the Delphic Club, one of the school’s most infamous all-male final clubs. The invite is too good to turn down. Founded in the nineteenth century, the Delphic has had titans of industry, Hollywood legends, heads of state and powerful brokers all amongst its ranks.
Dalton, whose great-uncle is one of the group’s oldest living members, steers Spenser deeper into the recesses of the club, attempting to make sense of what they think they’re seeing. But, with every small detail they unearth about the Delphic’s clandestine history and the shadowy Ancient Nine sect at the heart of it, a new complication arises. Like with Michaelides’ novel, the more the friends investigate, the more they begin to discover how their own lives are in real danger.
The Sanatorium (Detective Elin Warner #1) – Sarah Pearse
Half-hidden by forest and overshadowed by threatening peaks, Le Sommet has always been a sinister place. Having been plagued for years by unnerving rumours, the abandoned sanatorium has been renovated into a minimalist five-star hotel. Such a place is the last spot Elin Warner wants to be. But, when her estranged brother Isaac and his fiancee, Laure, invite her to celebrate their engagement at the hotel, she has no real reason to refuse.
Arriving in the midst of an ominous storm, Elin immediately feels something that makes her nervous. And her fears are vindicated when they wake the next morning to find Laure is missing. With the storm locking off all access to the building, she is forced to rely on her instincts to keep the remaining guests calm. What no one realises, however, is another woman has already disappeared. And she’s the only one who could have warned them all just how much danger they are all in.
The Bellwether Revivals – Benjamin Wood
Bright, bookish Oscar Lowe has made a home for himself amid the colleges and spires of Cambridge but lives a very different life to the students inside their hallowed halls. One evening he is lured into the chapel at King’s College by the sound of an organ. Inside, he meets and falls in love with the beautiful Iris Bellwether. Enchanted, he follows her into the world of academic brilliance, wealth, privilege and the machinations of her older brother, Eden.
Eden is a brilliant, albeit troubled, musical prodigy. He has become convinced that his musical skills have the power to cure, and will stop at nothing to prove himself right, dragging Oscar, Iris and their group of friends into a series of increasingly disturbing experiments. With its Cambridge setting, dark academia vibes and poignant exploration of where the lines between genius and madness are drawn, Benjamin Wood’s The Bellwether Revivals is undoubtedly one of the best books like The Maidens!
If We Were Villains – M.L. Rio
Another one of the best dark academia books similar to The Maidens, If We Were Villains introduces readers to Oliver Marks, a felon who has just served ten years in jail for a murder he may, or may not, have committed. Detective Colborne was the person responsible for putting him behind bars. But now, on the eve of his retirement, he is determined to find out exactly what happened a decade ago.
As one of seven gifted actors studying Shakespeare at a prestigious arts college, Oliver and his friends are used to playing the same roles both onstage and off. But, when the casting changes and secondary characters begin to replace the stars, the plays spill into real life and one of them is found dead. For those that remain, they are forced into their greatest performance to date: convince the police, and themselves, that they are innocent.
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Ariadne – Jennifer Saint
If you loved the themes of Greek mythology in The Maidens, Jennifer Saint’s Ariadne should be a great follow-up read! Ariadne, Princess of Crete, grows up greeting the dawn from her beautiful dancing floor and listens intently to her maid’s stories of gods and heroes. Yet, underneath the marble floors of her palace, she can hear the echo of hoofbeats from her brother, the Minotaur, who demands a blood sacrifice.
When Theseus, the Prince of Athens, arrives to vanquish the beast, Ariadne sees her opportunity to escape. Defying the gods, betraying her family and risking everything for love, she helps him slay the Minotaur. But, will her decision lead to a happy ending? And what about Phaedra, her younger sister who she is forced to leave behind? Like Michaelides’ story, Ariadne is a hypnotic retelling that transports readers to the heart of the ancient world, shedding light on the forgotten women from its myths and legends.
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Part-time reader, part-time rambler, and full-time Horror enthusiast, James has been writing for What We Reading since 2022. His earliest reading memories involved Historical Fiction, Fantasy and Horror tales, which he has continued to take with him to this day. James’ favourite books include The Last (Hanna Jameson), The Troop (Nick Cutter) and Chasing The Boogeyman (Richard Chizmar).
