The New York Times bestselling author Alex Michaelides will be in the shop discussing his elegant, sinister, and compelling literary thriller The Maidens with bestselling crime author Sophie Hannah.

When a body is found murdered in Cambridge, Mariana, who was once herself a student at the university, quickly suspects that behind the idyllic beauty of the spires and turrets, and beneath the ancient traditions, lies something sinister. And she becomes convinced that, despite his alibi, Edward Fosca is guilty of the murder. But why would the professor target one of his students? And why does he keep returning to the rites of Persephone, the maiden, and her journey to the underworld?

Alex Michaelides was born and raised in Cyprus. He has an M.A. in English Literature from Trinity College, Cambridge University, and an M.A. in Screenwriting from the American Film Institute in Los Angeles. The Silent Patientwas his first novel. It spent more than a year on the New York Times bestseller list and sold in a record-breaking fifty countries. He lives in London.

Sophie Hannah is a Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling writer of crime fiction. In 2014, with the blessing of Agatha Christie’s family and estate, Sophie published a new Poirot novel, The Monogram Murders. Sophie helped to create the Master’s Degree in Crime and Thriller Writing at the University of Cambridge, for which she is the main teacher and Course Director. She lives with her husband, children and dog in Cambridge, where she is an Honorary Fellow of Lucy Cavendish College.