Mr. Kiss and Tell is the second of two books contracted after the Kickstarted movie in 2014. Both books have done a great job taking the Veronica Mars world, escalating it, and translating it to the medium of books. I also really like what they’re doing with Veronica’s character (and the other characters). They’re allowing them to grow and change. These characters haven’t just been held in stasis in the nine years that have elapsed since the third season of the TV show ended.
This book picks up about three months after The Thousand Dollar Tan Line, and about six months from the end of the movie. Veronica and her father (and Mac) have settled into a routine at work. They are also hard at work trying to clear Weevil’s name from the fallout of cop corruption in the movie. And Logan is home from shore leave and living with Veronica. The Neptune Grand hires Veronica to help them with a lawsuit–a rape victim is naming one of their employees, an illegal immigrant, and suing them for damages. Only it turns out, Veronica and the rape victim have a history with one another.
The book actually takes place over several months, which I liked a lot. We see Veronica living her life even as she takes her time to unravel the case, and come to terms with what her new relationship with Logan means to her. It’s a lot more believable than if it had taken place over a shorter timespan. There are also a lot of in-jokes, but they are never unbearable. They have the effect of making the world of Neptune feel like a real place rather than an artificially constructed one.
I really, really hope they order more of these books. They are fun and well-written and they give me back some of my favorite characters for a couple of hours at a time.
