Review: The Thousand Dollar Tan Line

Veronica Mars: The Thousand Dollar Tan Line

By Rob Thomas and Jennifer Graham

Random House Audio March 2014; 9 hours

Narrated by Kristen Bell

From the library 

Our favorite detective is back at it again. On the heels of a successful Kickstarter campaign and movie featuring Veronica Mars, marshmallows (or fans to those of you not in the know) are being treated to a book series as well. This first book, The Thousand Dollar Tan Line, takes places shortly after the movie. Veronica is living in Neptune again as she nurses her father back to health and temporarily runs his private investigation firm. She fears that the business won't be able to stay afloat for long, but finds a reprieve when two college girls go missing and the town council hires Mars Investigation to find them. Getting answers is never easy, especially when dealing with a corrupt sheriff, drug cartels, and family members with secrets of their own. Veronica turns to her friends Mac and Wallace and her father to help as she tries to discover what happened to the two girls.

This book came out in March but I held out for the audiobook because Kristen Bell, Veronica Mars herself, is the narrator. Although the beginning was slightly jarring because it begins from the point of view of other characters, her narration added so much to the story. Veronica sounded just the same and Bell's imitation of other beloved characters was spot-on.

I loved what the writers did with Veronica herself throughout this story. (Spoilers for the movie ahead!!) At the end of the movie, she was back together with Logan. While Logan does not feature heavily into this story, the mix of banter and painful honesty between the two seemed just like old times. It also appeared that Veronica was committing to life as a PI, against her father's wishes. The push and pull between Keith and Veronica is fascinating as he worries for her safety and wants something better than his life while she finds herself inexplicably drawn to this life. The relationship between father and daughter was always one of the most realistic and nuanced of the TV show and that continues to develop here, especially when a surprising someone from their past becomes a part of the case. 

My only issue with this story lies with the mystery itself. It seemed to drag on forever and had way too many false leads. Perhaps this was because I listened to the story instead of read it, but I thought the book was wrapping up two or three times before it actually did. I also found the ending to be somewhat unbelievable.

If you are a fan of the show, reading or listening to this story is going to be a treat you don't want to miss. We may have been friends a long time ago, but it feels like no time has passed at all since we were last in corrupt and crime-ridden Neptune in the fantastic company of one Veronica Mars.