Girl Most Likely

Krista Larson, Book 1

By: Max Allan Collins

Narrated by: Dan John Miller

Length: 7 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

It’s never too late for revenge in this thrilling novel by New York Times bestselling and award-winning crime master Max Allan Collins.

In a small Midwest town, twenty-eight-year-old Krista Larson has made her mark as the youngest female police chief in the country. She’s learned from the best: her father, Keith, a decorated former detective. But as accustomed as they are to the relative quiet of their idyllic tourist town, things quickly turn with Krista’s ten-year high school reunion.

With the out-of-towners holed up in a lakefront lodge, it doesn’t take long to stir up old grudges and resentments. Now a successful TV host, Astrid Lund, voted the “Girl Most Likely to Succeed” - and then some - is back in town. Her reputation as a dogged reporter has made the stunning blonde famous. Her reputation among her former classmates and rivals has made her infamous. Astrid’s list of enemies is a long one. And as the reunion begins, so does a triple murder investigation.

Krista and her father are following leads and opening long-locked doors from their hometown to the Florida suburbs to Chicago’s underworld. They just never imagined what would be revealed: the secrets and scandals of Krista’s own past.

©2019 by Max Allan Collins. (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

“A well-wrought tale…” --Booklist

“In Girl Most Likely, small-town America and its characters come to life under Collins’s deft touch. Fans of Road to Perdition will enjoy this book.” --Authorlink

Just OK

oK story but I felt as though I had listened to an abridged version. I needed more character development, more suspense.

Sophomorish

I felt like I was listening to a story that was an English paper assignment for a freshman or sophomore in high school.
Gelena IL sounds like a very pleasant town but I would not rely on this book for proper police procedure.

Fast paced & FREE with Kindle Unlimited!!

I've never been a fan of this author (Max Allan Collins), that is until now. I got this book basically because it was FREE to borrow with the kindle unlimited edition.
Anyway, this is book is an exception. I really enjoyed it very much
The book begins with a stalking followed by a viscous murder.
Approximately one year later, it's the new chief of police's 10 year high school reunion. Krista Larsen is the youngest chief of police, her father Keith was her predecessor. He now lives with her.
When the prettiest woman from her class and a wanna be news anchor from Chicago is murdered in the same way as the woman from Florida the previous year Krista begins to wonder if this might have something to do with the reunion. Her father is hired as a consultant to follow up on leads. There are so many new visitors for the reunion and so many stories to check. Was it someone from the reunion? Or was it that the murdered woman was working on a dangerous story?
I really like that you don't find out who done it until the book is almost over.
If you have kindle unlimited this book is FREE to borrow with the kindle edition.
Dan John Miller does an excellent job narrating.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
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Honey, how are you doing?

Interesting story, plot holds attention to the end
Narration makes the characters live
Recommend for beach reading

Don’t Sleep on This

I love Collins’s Quarry books, Nate Heller books, Nolan books and the Fancy Anders books. I wasn’t sure I was even interested in this series, it’s only 2 so far, but it was great. Of course it was, it’s Collins! Great characters. Believable relationship between dad and daughter. Fun thriller that doesn’t quite go as expected.

Definitely a thriller

It was good; the descriptions of food or outfits took me out of it, but that might be just a pet peeve of mine. good build-up, and very relatable characters. Looking forward to the next one! There is a next one, right?

Riveting Mystery with a Veronica Mars Vibe

Girl Most Likely is a bit of a departure for Mr. Collins. His most familiar feature - the Iowa/Illinois border cities - is on display, but it differs from his usual subjects in many ways. Mr. Collins' most famous books feature private investigators, hitmen, Secret Service agents, and antiques dealers. Many of the novels have historical settings or ties that drive the mystery. This is a contemporary mystery in a small town that shows what resources they can bring to the crime scene and the challenges of small-town policing. The story is tight and while the author plays fair and lays out the clues, he throws in enough distractions to keep the reader second guessing the ending. And while the ending is a bit abrupt, that final sentence is brilliant. This book is a love letter to Charlie Chan movies, Veronica Mars, Criminal Minds, police procedurals, and modern thrillers. As an author of many talents (there is nothing he cannot do - read Quarry, Caleb York, Nate Heller, Mike Hammer, Ms. Tree, the Antiques mysteries and so on), Mr. Collins has knocked another one out of the park and will hopefully let us see more of Krista and her Pop.

The Narrator, Dan John Miller, does an excellent job of telling the story through his voice. Like Collins, he is one of those quiet experts who does the job incredibly well without a lot of fanfare.

Wondering...

The basic story was good; the performance was just great, but I spent the second half of the book wondering: What was the author wearing while writing?

A Daughter always needs Her Dad!

l liked the relationship between daughter and father. Their humor & tender moments. But also knowing when they had to keep it to the buisness at hsnd. And the father also treated his daughter with respect as a Police Chief. And he never showed any jealousy because even though he was a cop for 30years and wasn't never became a Chief and she did in such a short time. But she wanted his experience on this case even though he was retired so took him on as a consultant. A gteat story.

Didn't know until the last chapter who did it..

So, this was a great mystery. There were so many suspects you couldn’t even begin to guess who the killer was. Krista was the police chief and she called in her retired father, Keith, an ex-cop, to consult on the murder cases that kept piling up. It was a very entertaining book.

There was no romance and no swearing to speak of. Definitely a G-rated mystery.

As to the narration: Dan John Miller is not all that great. His female voices need help and he doesn’t read with any emotion at all. He was just okay for me.