So I’m dumb and I just learned that there are books for VM. Are the books the same storyline as the show or are they different? Were they written before or after the show? Where can I buy them? Thank you!
You’re not in any way dumb, anon, but you’re definitely in for a treat! Yes, Ask the Librarian can confirm that there are two VM books, both sequels to the 2014 movie. The books were written by Rob Thomas (showrunner of the VM TV show, and writer/director of the film) and his co-author Jennifer Graham. They should be available at any major bookstore, shelved in the mystery section.
The first, The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line, came out in 2014 shortly after the movie, and is its immediate sequel. Here’s the introductory blurb and cover pic:
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.
The second book, Mr. Kiss and Tell, came out a year later in 2015, and follows the events of the first book by a few months. Here’s the data on that one:
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?
We here at VMHQ highly recommend both books; they’re well-written, and all your favorite characters appear. We hope many more are published in the future, alongside the Veronica Mars Series Revival this fandom is DEFINITELY GETTING.
