Maidens of the Cave: A Novel

by Lloyd Devereux Richards

Overview

From TikTok sensation Lloyd Devereux Richards, author of Stone Maidens, comes the next pulse-pounding thriller in which FBI agent Christine Prusik races to track down a serial killer who leaves a peculiar mark on his victims

Forensic anthropologist Christine Prusik has a knack for solving the most unusual cases—and for bending the rules in the process.

When the bodies of young women start appearing in the caves of Indiana and Illinois, Christine immediately jumps into action. But her Chicago field office is undergoing a reorganization, and the boys’ club at the top seem more interested in getting all the paperwork in order than solving the murders.

Christine isn’t going to let a little red tape stop her, and when she discovers that all the bodies have the same mysterious pin-sized bruise on the back of their necks, she realizes she’ll have to confront her own inner demons to find the killer. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780063348851
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	08/01/2023
Series:	Stone Maidens , #2
Pages:	368
Sales rank:	118,233
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.90(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Lloyd Devereux Richards was born in New York City and traveled extensively in Europe, Africa, and Central America before attending law school. He previously served as a senior law clerk for an Indiana Court of Appeals judge, researching and writing drafts for dozens of published opinions, including the appeal of a serial killer sentenced to death. A father of three, he lives with his wife, Cameron O’Connor, and their two dogs in Montpelier, Vermont. This is his second novel, after Stone Maidens.

Editorial Reviews

06/26/2023

Richards’s formulaic second thriller featuring forensic anthropologist Christine Prusik (following 2012’s Stone Maidens) sees the Chicago FBI agent once again entangled in bureaucracy. The Chicago field office’s new director, Patricia Gaston, seems more concerned with paperwork than closing cases, burying her agents in a flurry of mandatory daily reports. The new regulations get in the way of Prusik’s probe into the death of a 20-year-old college student, Ellen McKinley, whose body was found by an Illinois creek. The medical examiner speculates McKinley died of a heart attack as a result of hypothermia after swimming out of a nearby cave, but Prusik is skeptical that McKinley, who was on her school’s swim team, could have succumbed so easily. Her doubts are validated when an unusual indentation is found on the back of McKinley’s neck, indicating foul play. Meanwhile, Prusik learns of a similar murder in Indiana, which Gaston had kept from her since it was technically outside their office’s jurisdiction, and decides to ferret out the killer. Scenes from the perspective of the murderer—by now a tired genre cliché—don’t add to the suspense, and Richards makes Gaston a paper-pushing caricature rather than a plausible boss. Readers looking for the next Temperance Brennan will be disappointed. Agent: Elisabeth Weed, Book Group. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

[A] deftly crafted and compelling read from beginning to end. Offering more unexpected plot twists and turns that a Coney Island roller coaster, Maidens of the Cave is a terrific read and a welcome addition to community library Contemporary Mystery/Suspense collections.” — Midwest Book Review on Maidens of the Cave

"Pulse-pounding thriller" — The National Examiner on Maidens of the Cave

From the Publisher