Veronica Mars: The Thousand Dollar Tan Line

Veronica Mars: The Thousand Dollar Tan Line by Rob Thomas and Jennifer Graham, 324 pages


Back in corrupt Neptune, California, after nearly 10 years away, Veronica has once again taken up the role
of private investigator, holding down the fort at Mars Investigations as her father, Keith, recovers from a horrific accident. It's spring break time in Neptune, and college students have flocked to the city to party non-stop and inject some tourism cash into the local economy. So when a girl goes missing from a wild party, the Chamber of Commerce hires Veronica to do the investigating that the arrogant, corrupt, and inept sheriff won't. For fans of the TV show upon which this is based, it shouldn't be a surprise that there's plenty of danger (and a heavy dose of sarcasm) involved in this story.

As I mentioned, this is based on TV show, Veronica Mars, which last aired in 2007, but inspired a record-breaking Kickstarter campaign to fund a movie, which saw limited release earlier this year. This book is set a couple months after the movie, and 9 years after the TV show. Graham does a great job of being true to the characters and setting that Thomas created in the TV show, though as a longtime fan, I found it a bit jarring to read physical descriptions of these characters that I already know and love so well. That said, it's written in a way that someone who hasn't seen the TV show or movie can understand it (though I'd certainly recommend watching the show, which is FANTASTIC). The plot twists and turns in the novel make it feel just like an episode of the show, but one that takes longer to experience. The only things that don't really come through too well are the dark, noir feel and the deep-seated hatred between the haves and have-nots in Neptune. But as this is supposedly the first of a series, I have hopes that those will appear in the future.