A Shroud for Aquarius

Written by Max Allan Collins

Narrated by Dan John Miller

The sixties are dead…and so is Ginnie Mullens. She was many things—free spirit, flower child, entrepreneur, gambler—but first and foremost she was mystery writer Mallory’s friend and confidant since childhood. So Mallory understands when Sheriff Brennan drags him out of bed in the dead of night and leads him to the last place he ever wanted to go: the scene of Ginnie’s last breath.

A dead woman clutching the gun that killed her may lead to an official ruling of suicide, but Mallory’s not ruling out murder. Driven by a gaping hole in his heart and a fierce code of honor, he’s willing to risk everything to close the book on this one. Then he’ll throw the book with both hands at whoever wrote Ginnie’s obituary in spilled blood.

Once upon a time, Ginnie hurt Mallory deeply, and he wasn’t the only one. But while he finally forgave her, the same can’t be said for the trail of bitter lovers that stretches back to high school. Pounding the pavement from Port City to Iowa City to Vegas—with detours down memory lane along the way—Mallory is forced to pull back the shroud on a life he only thought he knew…and never realized he couldn’t save.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio
• Release date: Dec 11, 2012
• ISBN: 9781469248301

Max Allan Collins

MAX ALLAN COLLINS was the Mystery Writers of America (MWA)'s 2017 Grand Master. He is the bestselling author of the graphic novel Road to Perdition, the basis for the hit film starring Tom Hanks. He has won two Shamus Awards, for True Detective and Stolen Away, both from his series of Nathan Heller novels. A prolific writer, Collins' other works include mystery novels, screenplays, comic books, film novelizations, and historical fiction.

Reviews for A Shroud for Aquarius

[bezoar44 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The mystery, written in the 1980s, with a Vietnam vet detective protagonist, has been recently re-released, at least in digital form. The mystery itself, featuring the 'suicide' of an old, close friend of the detectives, is fine - the author sets up the suspects and knocks them down one by one until the real murderer's hand is forced. But what lifted the story for me to a greater level of enjoyment was the love interest. It's handled so plausibly and charmingly that I kind of loved the book just for that.

[ssimon2000-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Quick read, mindless fun.