the thousand dollar tan line

the thousand dollar tan line
veronica mars #1
rob thomas
mystery
vintage
published 2014

Ten years after graduating from high school in Neptune, California, Veronica Mars is back in the land of sun, sand, crime & corruption.  She's traded 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 inot 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.

I had so much fun reading this book!  The voice was distinctly Veronica's as only Rob Thomas could do.  All the usual suspects were present including some that just shocked the heck out of me!

I was afraid the story would be cheesy, but I should have known better.  It was like reading the story for a really good, slightly longer episode.  I never knew what was coming and plot twists definitely took me by surprise.  I thought I would like it simply because it was Veronica Mars, but the fact is, I liked it because it's good.  Plus, my town got a brief mention so that was exciting!

I would most definitely read a series of books like this and I hope Rob Thomas keeps writing them, at least until we get another movie.