Girl Can't Help It: A Thriller

Written by Max Allan Collins

Narrated by Dan John Miller

A rock band’s reunion is looking more like a farewell tour in a captivating mystery by New York Times bestselling and award-winning crime master Max Allan Collins.

No sooner do Hot Rod and the Pistons reunite for their induction into the Iowa Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame, than two band members take a final bow. Both alleged suicides. A tragic way to go out. A bum way for one-hit wonders to be remembered. But it’s Labor Day weekend. The show must go on.

With replacements at the ready, the Pistons are back on home turf to headline the first ever Rock and Country Music Fest. Police Chief Krista Larson and her father, Keith, are there listening. And watching. Because they suspect there may be more to the band members’ untimely deaths than anyone else can see.

As Krista and Keith navigate the investigation, a dark picture of the band’s rocky history begins to take center stage. As betrayal, revenge, and blackmail start playing out in the present, the father-daughter team fear that this encore may be the band’s finale.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio
• Release date: Mar 10, 2020
• ISBN: 9781799750154

Max Allan Collins

<p>Max Allan Collins is a Mystery Writers of America Grand Master. He is the author of the Shamus Award-winning Nathan Heller thrillers and the graphic novel <em>Road to Perdition</em>, basis of the Academy Award-winning film starring Tom Hanks. His innovative Quarry novels led to a 2016 Cinemax series. He has completed a dozen posthumous Mickey Spillane mysteries, and wrote the syndicated <em>Dick Tracy</em> series for more than fifteen years. His one-man show, <em>Eliot Ness: An Untouchable Life</em>, was an Edgar Award finalist. He lives in Iowa.</p>

Reviews for Girl Can't Help It

[marquis784-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I received a complimentary digital copy of this arc book from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

This follow up in the Krista Larson series is a stand alone read for the most part. The history and situation from the first novel have no impact or relation to this storyline.


In the first book you are introduced to Krista Larson who has become the youngest female Police Chief in Galena, IL at 28 years old. It seems she is following in her father Keith’s footsteps as he recently retired at 58 from his position as Chief Detective at Dubuque PD. Krista has her father move back to the family home in Galena months after her mother passes away.

This second novel involves a murder mystery surrounding a popular rock band, Hot Rod and the Pistons. They were written about in the Dubuque Telegraph Herald as reuniting for their induction performance into the Iowa Hall of Fame.

The book describes a lot of music history as related to rock and roll of the past. Of course the group takes a look down memory lane of all the wild nights and crazy performances. By now most of them are married and have moved on with their lives. There are a few who wish they could rekindle the old days and some who wish they could erase evidence of the past.

Some members of the band seem to be dying unexpectedly as Detective Larson begins to learn of a missing video tape with potentially incriminating evidence of the past. It seems like a race to uncover and catch the killer before another victim is found.

I didn’t enjoy this book as much as the first book. It seemed to drag and contain too much information about music history in my opinion. I didn’t find the main character and her father as instrumental in the storyline as the first book.