[4] Of the book, Hilton has stated that "My novel doesn't set out to provoke, nor is it precisely a feminist polemic – I merely attempted to write about a modern female character who is unapologetic about desire and who feels no shame or conflict about its fulfilment.

Her boss Rupert is the most dismissive of her co-workers, and he has no problem sending her to a client that fully expected Judith to have sex with him in exchange for selling his paintings through the auction house.

She manages to trick the seller, Cameron Fitzpatrick, into going to a secluded location with her, where she murders him in order to gain access to his personal effects, which tell her when and where the sale will occur.

Judith then goes in his place to a meeting point in Italy, passing herself off as his assistant and manages to sell the painting and quickly transfer the funds into a private account she had set up earlier.

Although she is now very wealthy and living in France, Judith remains concerned that Rupert and Moncado will detect her duplicity and come after her for retribution, despite attempts to further hide her actions by moving the money once more.

Hilton initially began writing Maestra at the behest of Georgina Capel, her agent at the time,[6] a move that she believes was due to the popularity of Fifty Shades of Grey.

Hilton briefly considered self-publishing and gave a copy of the manuscript to a restaurant owning friend, who brought it to the attention of Zaffre Publishing, who ended up purchasing the book rights and became her new agent.

[7][8] While writing Maestra, Hilton chose not to include any physical descriptions of Judith as she wanted readers to project their own opinions and ideas upon the character.

[11][12] The Guardian also felt that the erotica suffered from the "law of diminishing returns", but also wrote that its art history was well written and researched and that "through Artemisia Gentileschi's painting Judith Slaying Holofernes, Hilton offers a sly mirror of her antiheroine and namesake's progress.

"[1] Hilton has expressed frustration over reviews that predominantly focus on the book's sexual themes, writing in an article for The Guardian that "Women can contain multitudes, too, and a conversation about sex on the page obviously doesn't preclude the ability to discuss anything else.