April 25, 2023, 11:00am
Lloyd Devereux Richards’ debut thriller Stone Maidens was published in 2012, received by a largely indifferent world until Devereux Richards’ daughter Margueritte posted a TikTok about her dad, aged 74, last year. Nearly overnight, the mystery novel about an FBI forensic anthropologist, a serial killer, and some mysterious tribal artifacts, became a bestseller.
People were charmed; the story went viral and he wound up on the Today show. It was honestly the best dad TikTok since this one. There Lloyd was, hunched over his typewriter in suspenders, slaving away on a masterpiece having devoted earlier years to raising children. You loved to see it!
Now, the rights to Devereux Richards’ sequel, Maidens of the Cave, and another standalone novel, The Runner, have been snapped up. The Bookseller reports that UK and Commonwealth rights, excluding Canada, are held by The Jenny Meyer Literary Agency, and North American rights for Maidens of the Cave have gone to William Morrow at auction from Elisabeth Weed at The Book Group. Per the media release, FBI forensic anthropologist Christine Prusik will be back:
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.”
YES, LLOYD!
Let’s take a stroll back (in suspenders) to where it all began:
@stonemaidens It’s a beautifully written thriller on Amazon 🥹❤️ #stonemaidens #booktok #authorsoftiktok #thrillerbooks #books
More dads on TikTok, please.