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A review by danubooks
Maidens of the Cave by Lloyd Devereux Richards
3.0
An FBI forensic pathologist matches wits with the person killing female college students and leaving their bodies in caves.
Christine Prusik heads the forensic unit at the FBI’s Chicago office. She is a knowledgeable and intuitive investigator who has proven herself to be tenacious in solving the complex crimes where she and her team have been called in to assist. She also has a deserved reputation for not always following the rules to get the needed results, and it is that aspect of her persona that is going to cause her problems under the new director of her branch, Patricia Gaston. Gaston is implementing a new hierarchy and a whole lot of new paperwork, two things that Christine regards as barriers to doing her job. When Christine’s presence is requested by an ME in a local Illinois town she jumps at the chance to go out into the field, without seeking permission from her new supervisor. A young college student has been found dead of no obvious cause near a set of local caves, and she may not be the first. When Christine is told that she needs to be back in the office the following day, she considers it a suggestion rather than an order (oops) and manages to miss the next mandatory meeting too (oops again) as she continues to investigate the case. She is not off to a good start with her new boss, to put it mildly, and it is going to complicate her ability to effectively do her job. When a second coed is found dead inside a cave in nearby Indiana, with a similar wound on her neck, Christine fears that both deaths are the work of a single individual. She ruffles feathers at the colleges as well as with her bosses, but is determined to aggressively pursue the case. Trying to pry information out of college personnel not eager to make their schools look bad, ducking phone calls from her supervisor, and rekindling ties with a local sheriff with whom she became involved during an earlier case, Christine has precious little information to go on. An exotic poison extracted from a breed of South American frog seems to be involved, and is being heavily researched both by one of the universities and a local pharmacology business with ties to the NIH. Why would academically gifted young women allow themselves to be lured to subterranean caves? Is a professor, a grad student, or a somewhat sleazy head of the research firm involved? What is the killer’s motive, and can Christine suss it out before she herself is fired…or targeted for death?
It’s always enjoyable to read a thriller featuring someone in law enforcement who doesn’t deal well with bureaucracy…lawmakers who are also rule breakers can be a lot of fun. In Christine Prusik, that’s exactly what we have. She can be impulsive, and her tendency to bend and even break the rules can be both a strength and a weakness. The mystery is well-paced, and the existence of the exotic “weapon” is given a reasonable foundation for its presence in the case. I enjoyed the story, and had my suspicions as to the culprit about halfway through the book (I was right). This series has potential, but I found this outing a little short on forensic detail and a little heavy on acceptance of a federal agent playing hooky. Still, it was an enjoyable read, and in Christine there is a protagonist with potential. Readers of Patricia Cornwell and Kathy Reichs might enjoy giving this series a try. My thanks to HarperCollins/William Morrow Books for providing me with an advanced reader’s copy.
Christine Prusik heads the forensic unit at the FBI’s Chicago office. She is a knowledgeable and intuitive investigator who has proven herself to be tenacious in solving the complex crimes where she and her team have been called in to assist. She also has a deserved reputation for not always following the rules to get the needed results, and it is that aspect of her persona that is going to cause her problems under the new director of her branch, Patricia Gaston. Gaston is implementing a new hierarchy and a whole lot of new paperwork, two things that Christine regards as barriers to doing her job. When Christine’s presence is requested by an ME in a local Illinois town she jumps at the chance to go out into the field, without seeking permission from her new supervisor. A young college student has been found dead of no obvious cause near a set of local caves, and she may not be the first. When Christine is told that she needs to be back in the office the following day, she considers it a suggestion rather than an order (oops) and manages to miss the next mandatory meeting too (oops again) as she continues to investigate the case. She is not off to a good start with her new boss, to put it mildly, and it is going to complicate her ability to effectively do her job. When a second coed is found dead inside a cave in nearby Indiana, with a similar wound on her neck, Christine fears that both deaths are the work of a single individual. She ruffles feathers at the colleges as well as with her bosses, but is determined to aggressively pursue the case. Trying to pry information out of college personnel not eager to make their schools look bad, ducking phone calls from her supervisor, and rekindling ties with a local sheriff with whom she became involved during an earlier case, Christine has precious little information to go on. An exotic poison extracted from a breed of South American frog seems to be involved, and is being heavily researched both by one of the universities and a local pharmacology business with ties to the NIH. Why would academically gifted young women allow themselves to be lured to subterranean caves? Is a professor, a grad student, or a somewhat sleazy head of the research firm involved? What is the killer’s motive, and can Christine suss it out before she herself is fired…or targeted for death?
It’s always enjoyable to read a thriller featuring someone in law enforcement who doesn’t deal well with bureaucracy…lawmakers who are also rule breakers can be a lot of fun. In Christine Prusik, that’s exactly what we have. She can be impulsive, and her tendency to bend and even break the rules can be both a strength and a weakness. The mystery is well-paced, and the existence of the exotic “weapon” is given a reasonable foundation for its presence in the case. I enjoyed the story, and had my suspicions as to the culprit about halfway through the book (I was right). This series has potential, but I found this outing a little short on forensic detail and a little heavy on acceptance of a federal agent playing hooky. Still, it was an enjoyable read, and in Christine there is a protagonist with potential. Readers of Patricia Cornwell and Kathy Reichs might enjoy giving this series a try. My thanks to HarperCollins/William Morrow Books for providing me with an advanced reader’s copy.