Overall, this is a fairly solid book. The coming to terms with what you want to see versus what is really happening was the clear theme of the novel. It had its moments of predictability. There were quite a few of them, actually. Manipulation of perception flowed like the river through St. Christopher’s College.

Mariana lost her husband to the sea while on vacation in her home country of Greece. Sebastian’s death was a blow that she couldn’t dodge. He haunted her every waking thought. She allowed is passing to color the world around her, shielding her from what could possibly spark any hint of joy. He was the Hallam to her Tennyson, an ever present figure sprinkled throughout to convey a deeper connection to living a life in the shadow of a lost love. She felt that she was being disloyal to him, despite his being deceased.

Mariana returns to Cambridge to be with her niece, Zoe. A close friend of Zoe’s was found murdered. Gruesome and highly ritualistic: Zoe said she knew who the killer was, and she was afraid of him coming after her. Mariana made it her mission to make sure this man, Edward Fosca, would be brought to justice. One major hurdle stood in her way; he was a professor at the college. That and there wasn’t anything physical to tie him to the crimes. Tara was the first of three, each in the same ritualistic fashion. Mariana felt him taunting her at every turn. She just could not find the evidence to prove him as the killer to the police investigating. Though, each of the victims had postcards with text from Ancient Greek tragedies written on them. Just after the third victim was found, Mariana received her own postcard. A short time later, she finds out Zoe has received one, too.

The twists and turns throughout the book are well placed, even if a bit obvious. Through Marianne’s skewed view of the world, we’re given a taste of what it feels like to be lead to believe the things you are being told as opposed to the way things actually are.

Colors seem to be an ever present motif throughout the story. I felt that there was a heavy emphasis placed on them as they were prolific through out the novel. And as with The Silent Patient, the characters and their story were saturated with Greece and the Greek tragedies. Further more, this novel takes place just prior to the events of its predecessor. They share the connection with Ruth, who appears in both books. They have a conversation, both protagonists in their respective books, with Ruth. These meetings feel like the crux of the story before everything starts careening to the climax. Then, Theo and Mariana meet. She encourages him to apply to the Grove and cheekily makes mention of possibly getting Alicia Berenson to talk.

Overall, this novel comes in second to Michaelides’ debute novel. The narrative is good, albeit a bit cliche in most places. Some of the misdirections are a bit lackluster. He does set up the manipulation by perception very well. I thoroughly enjoyed that bit of psychological game play. The ending was semi predictable, but they why of the who done it was very well concealed until the end.