Back in the early 1980's, the rock band Hot Rod & The Pistons, out of Galena, Illinois, were the hottest things on the the western Illinois/eastern Iowa rock and roll circuit, and they even became a one hit wonder nationally with a cover version of "The Girl Can't Help It", which was the title song from a 1956 movie that starred Jayne Mansfield. As it usually happens, the band broke up, one member passed away, and for the most part, the guys got on with their lives. However, it is now 2020, and Hot Rod & The Pistons are about to be inducted into the Iowa Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and, yes, there really is such an institution. Their induction into the Hall is marred when one of the members dies suddenly of an apparent heart attack, and a few months later, just as a reconstituted version of the The Pistons is about to embark on a summer reunion tour, another member commits suicide.
This is the premise for "Girl Can't Help It", the second in a new series by one of my favorite mystery/thriller/detective authors, Max Allan Collins, that features Krista Larson, the 29 year old Chief of Police of Galena, Illinois, the "youngest female police chief in the United States." The reader, of course, knows that the former bandmates were actually murdered. The motive for the killings is known early on, but the identity of the murderer is not, and that makes for nifty little whodunit for Krista - and the reader - to solve.
Author Collins, 72, is a native of Iowa and has played in rock bands for most of his life. He actually IS a member of the Iowa Rock & Roll Hall of Fame! As such, he brings to this novel a bunch of delightful kitschy pop cultural references to the American rock & roll scene from the 1950's through the 1980's, when The Pistons were the darling of the Iowa rock scene. He also wonderfully evokes the tourist town of Galena. I have never been there, of course, but I have been in many other similar places in my life, and I can perfectly picture the restaurants, parks, bars, and touristy junk stores of the town that he describes.
To assist her in solving the crime, if indeed there really has been a crime committed, Krista enlists the aide of her father, Keith, a widowed and retired police detective. As we learned in the first novel of the series, Krista lives in and now owns the house in which she grew up, but she has invited her father to move back in with her when she worried that he was experiencing depression over the recent death of his wife and her mother. As was the case in the first book, Keith, who had some ties to Hot Rod & The Pistons back in the day, is enlisted by Krista on pro bono basis to help her and the Galena PD get to the bottom of things.
It is apparent that while Collins calls these books "Krista Larson Mysteries", it is really going to be a "Krista and Keith" series of books. Personally, I would like to see more of Krista and less of Keith, but this won't stop me from reading future novels in the series. And as a humorous sidebar, Collins touches upon the somewhat delicate issues of how a daughter, who is just getting involved in a romantic relationship, has to deal with her widowed Dad who is now dipping his toes into the dating/relationship waters once again himself. With both of them living in the same house, no less!
Like I said earlier, the murderer is not revealed as the crimes are committed, but it is apparent that it is someone that everyone, not only in the band, but in Galena, too, knows. I figured it out about about halfway through the book, but that doesn't lessen the fun of reading how Krista and Keith resolve the matter. Also, while I figured out the WHO, I had no clue as to what the eventual denouement would be, and it was both surprising and satisfying. All I will say is that the lesson of how sins of the past can come back to haunt you is the very effective moral of "Girl Can't Help It."
I give it Three Stars on The Grandstander's reliable Four Star scale. I will anxiously await the next Krista Larson adventure, as I also await the release, later this Spring, of Collins' "Do No Harm", a new Nate Heller mystery wherein relentless Private Eye Heller tackles the Sam Sheppard case.
And if this post piques your interest in the previous Krista Larson story, "Girl Most Likely", I will refer you to this:
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