ARC Review: Veronica Mars: Mr. Kiss and Tell

Title: Mr. Kiss and Tell Series: Veronica Mars #2 Author: Rob Thomas and Jennifer Graham Published: January 20, 2015 by Doubleday (Amazon / Goodreads / Audible) Synopsis: In the second book in the New York Times bestselling mystery series, Veronica Mars is back with a case that will expose the hidden workings of one of Neptune’s most murderous locations. The Neptune Grand has always been the seaside town’s ritziest hotel, despite the shady dealings and high-profile scandals that seem to follow its elite guests. When a woman claims that she was brutally assaulted in one of its rooms and left for dead by a staff member, the owners know that they have a potential powder keg on their hands. They turn to Veronica to disprove—or prove—the woman's story. The case is a complicated mix of hard facts, mysterious occurrences, and uncooperative witnesses. The hotel refuses to turn over its reservation list and the victim won’t divulge who she was meeting that night. Add in the facts that the attack happened months ago, the victim’s memory is fuzzy, and there are holes in the hotel’s surveillance system, and Veronica has a convoluted mess on her hands. As she works to fill in the missing pieces, it becomes clear that someone is lying—but who? And why?

*** I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher (thanks Doubleday) via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This fact has not changed my opinion. ***

This was the perfect book for me at the moment. While I haven't hated any of the books I've read so far this year, I haven't loved them either. I refuse to call it a reading slump because I have enjoyed them, I just haven't been blown away. And while this book didn't blow me away either it was the perfect change of pace. It was like a reread in that I felt like I was falling back in love with an old favorite. And that favorite is Neptune, California.

Before I go any further I should be honest with you guys. If you didn't see my review of the first Veronica Mars book, The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line, then you don't know that I'm a huge Marshmallow. Veronica Mars is arguably my favorite show of all time! I've been watching it since 2004 and I even boycotted the CW when they cancelled it in 2007. I was so excited for the movie prospect that I became a Kickstarter backer. And now that my secret is out you will know about my total bias for this book and this series, I'm a huge fan!

But that's who this book is geared towards, the Marshmallows. I'm not sure how people who have not seen the show or movie will feel about the book but I know fans will love it! (Just so we're clear, I would suggest at least watching the movie if you're planning to read these books). I've talked to a few fellow fans of the series and they all had the same feelings as I did, fangirling. Whether it is the return of favorite characters, the inside jokes, or subtle references to things that happened before, there is a lot of flailing and excited shouting. A hard-boiled mystery like this shouldn't make a person so giddy but that's how us fans feel about Veronica and Neptune. It's like seeing an old friend or your family that you haven't seen in awhile. It's familiar and fresh at the same time.

One of the things that is so familiar and made this book so great for me was the mystery. It was a great slowburn and expertly plotted so that everything built to an interesting conclusion but with twists and turns along the way. This is the kind of mystery where you have to work backwards, you have to search for proof not the truth. At first glance it seems so simple, but this is Neptune, nothing is simple. There are more twists in this mystery than Veronica's hair that year she decided to curl it (remember that? I was not a fan of that hair). I should have remembered that Veronica, who is a great detective, usually gets things wrong before she gets them right. From the snap judgments about a person, to the hiding while breaking and entering, to the getting caught and trying to cover her ass with quick thinking it all reminded me of previous cases.

But that's where Veronica's charm comes from. She's not perfect, she's damn good, but she's not infallible. There is something comforting about one of your favorite characters not changing after ten years. She's developed and matured but she's still the same old Veronica. And that was just another great thing about this book that was both familiar and fantastic, the characters. For a fan of the series, the connection to the characters is already there. We've already learned to love the prickly and plucky heroine, Veronica. We've seen her develop from a jaded and snarky anti-social teenager to a tough and sassy intelligent adult. We've seen her at her best and we've seen her at her worst. We laughed at her jokes and cried with her break-ups. We can dive right back into Veronica's world and already root for her.

And that's not just  with Veronica. We root for Logan and their EPIC love story (LoVe shippers will not be disappointed in the romance of this book). We feel like we're best friends with Mac and Wallace and laugh along with them as they begrudgingly help Veronica solve these mysteries. We love Kieth and his hunt for justice and feud with the Sheriff's department. We especiallywant to attend Daddy-Daughter Dinners so we can have lasagna with Kieth's secret recipe (double the cheese). We root for Weevil and his dubious struggle with the criminal element in town. The majority of characters in this series are those who we already know and love (or love to hate). The introduction of a new character causes more flailing and excitement as we follow the familiar and their continued stories. It of course helps you connect with a story if you have that inherent attachment of the characters.

And this previous connection with the characters of the book helps keep the plot more interesting. The authors don't have to develop the world, we already know all about Neptune and it's seedy underbelly. Whether you're talking about the criminal element, the corruption of those in power, or the class warfare between the 09ers and non-09ers we already know about it. So here we can get a little bit more to the meat of the story. We rely less on exposition and more on plot-development. If you follow me here on the blog you know I hate a lot of exposition, so I loved that we're just able to dive head-first into the world with more of a show style of world-building. Plus the book was intricately plotted. It has two intertwining storylines. The first features an old character that was appeared very briefly and the second resolves something from the movie. And while it wasn't as mysterious as the previous book, it was full of action and intrigue. It was very noir and definitely more on the seedier side of things. But that was just another thing that made this book feel like a return to classic Veronica that we all know and love.

This was an amazing return to Neptune that fans of Veronica Mars will love. It's a return to our favorite town and it's seedy unbelly, a return of the characters we have come to love, and a mystery that is tawdry and engaging expertly plotted from beginning to end.

I give Veronica Mars: Mr. Kiss and Tell by Rob Thomas and Jennifer Graham 9.5 out of 10

Buy/Borrow/Bypass: Buy. If you are a fan of this series than check this book out. You will love the return to Neptune and the seedy romance that Veronica solves. You will love more time with your favorite characters and at all the amazing inside jokes that Rob Thomas included. If you're not a fan of this series go watch the TV show and then come back. You'll thank me later!

Have you read Veronica Mars: Mr. Kiss and Tell? What did you think? Leave me a comment with your thoughts. Thanks for stopping by and HAPPY READING!

Book Review: Veronica Mars: The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line

Title: Veronica Mars: The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line Series: Veronica Mars #1 Author: Rob Thomas and Jennifer Graham Published: March 2014 by Random House Amazon Goodreads Synopsis:  From Rob Thomas, the creator of the television series and movie phenomenon Veronica Mars, comes the first book in a thrilling mystery series that picks up where the feature film left off. Ten years after graduating from high school in Neptune, California, Veronica Mars is back in the land of sun, sand, crime, and corruption. She’s traded in her law degree for her old private investigating license, struggling to keep Mars Investigations afloat on the scant cash earned by catching cheating spouses until she can score her first big case. Now it’s spring break, and college students descend on Neptune, transforming the beaches and boardwalks into a frenzied, week-long rave. When a girl disappears from a party, Veronica is called in to investigate. But this is no simple missing person’s case; the house the girl vanished from belongs to a man with serious criminal ties, and soon Veronica is plunged into a dangerous underworld of drugs and organized crime. And when a major break in the investigation has a shocking connection to Veronica’s past, the case hits closer to home than she ever imagined. In Veronica Mars, Rob Thomas has created a groundbreaking female detective who’s part Phillip Marlowe, part Nancy Drew, and all snark. With its sharp plot and clever twists, The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line will keep you guessing until the very last page.

So before I go any further, a confession. I'm a huge fan of Veronica Mars, and I mean HUGE! I started watching the show when I was in college and it was on season 2, after a few episodes I was completely hooked. I've seen every episode more than once and list Veronica Mars as one of my top TV shows of all time, if not my absolute favorite. Anything and everything to do with Veronica Mars I totally love, so I may be a little biased, but this book was no exception. This book made me feel like a junkie, I needed my next fix on Veronica Mars and that's just what I got. Throughout most of the book I was flailing and fangirling more than even the movie. Maybe that's because the movie rekindled my love for the series and reopened up those old wounds that never completely healed.

Maybe I loved the book so much because I got more of my favorite characters. There were a few

obscure secondary characters who came back in the book including one person from Veronica's past that she hasn't had contact with in a long time and things did not end well for them. But there were also some characters that I would have thought would have bigger parts and didn't. Be warned Logan is barely in the book and so is Dick and Weevil. I kept waiting for those two to come back into the story, it seemed so perfect for them to help with this particular mystery. But what we did get in the book was more time with people like Kieth, Mac, Wallace, and Sherriff Lam.

Of course we also get more of our illustrious heroine. This book felt like the return of the classic Veronica that we know and love. She's brash, she's reckless, she's stubborn, and she acts before she thinks. All of this causes Veronica to find herself in a lot of trouble. But she's also sassy, smart, dedicated, and damn good at solving mysteries. There were so many instances during the book that I couldn't help smiling thinking about all the times Veronica found herself in such similar situations during the TV show and movie.

Or maybe it was the mystery that made me love this book so much. It was all very noir and harkened back to similar mysteries from the show including the very first one that got Veronica into this racket in the first place. This book was definitely full of action and intrigue that keeps you guessing till the last minute. I learned a long time ago with these mysteries that I was probably never going to solve them completely but that never kept me from trying. In the case of this book I did solve about half of the big reveal, and I was really proud of myself. There are some weird plot points that seemed unimportant and left me very confused when the book was over, but I will let them slide. Maybe because I'm biased or maybe because they were red herrings or setups for later books (yes friends there will be two more books). Either way the mystery of the book was fantastic and definitely one of my favorite parts. 

Or maybe I loved it so much because I listened to the audiobook which is narrated by Kristen Bell, Veronica Mars herself. Few people understand this world and these characters better than Kristen Bell. Her voice seemed to ground the book and give it more credibility, as weird as that sounds. Just like the movie it felt like catching up with old friends. Not to mention that Kristen's voices were fantastic. They were hilarious and often scary accurate. The audiobook was an excellent choice.

All of these things combined made for a truly fantastic book. This is definitely a book for fans of the series. It is a return to classic Veronica and I personally couldn't be happier about it. The book does have spoilers for the movie so if you have not seen that yet definitely do that first. And if you haven't experienced Veronica Mars at all, WE CAN'T BE FRIENDS! Kidding! But seriously go do that! Watch the show, the movie, read the book, and then come back here and fangirl with me!

I give Veronica Mars: The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line by Rob Thomas and Jennifer Graham a 9 out 10

If you have read the book leave me a comment with your thoughts. Did you love it as much as I did? Thanks for stopping by and HAPPY READING!