Review of Mr. Kiss and Tell: A Veronica Mars Book

My Review of Mr. Kiss and Tell: A Veronica Mars Book gives you my take on this second book in the Veronica Mars adult book series, compares the pros and cons of Mr Kiss and Tell and The Thousand Dollar Tan Line, and More!

Mr. Kiss and Tell (Veronica Mars #2) by Rob Thomas and Jennifer Graham
Published January 20, 2015 by Vintage Books

What is Mr. Kiss and Tell About?

The Neptune Grand Hotel has always been the seaside town’s fanciest place to stay, 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 problem 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.

Plus the attack happened months ago, the victim’s memory is fuzzy, there are holes in the hotel’s surveillance system, and Veronica has a convoluted mess on her hands. As Veronica works to fill in the missing pieces, it becomes clear that someone is lying—but who? And why? 

Review of Mr. Kiss and Tell: a Veronica Mars Book

I’m about the biggest Veronica Mars fan there is. And just to put it out there, I consider that the TV show has the highest level of VM canonicity.  I’m not sure if I can consider the movie and these books as canon at all. But we can debate that in comments.

I listened to the first book in this series, The Thousand Dollar Tan Line, on audio with Kristen Bell narrating, and that may have elevated my opinion above what it deserved.

I liked the noir-ish plot of The Thousand Dollar Tan Line, but the characters seemed like caricatures to me. I mean, Veronica and Dick Casablancas crashing a college party wearing a coconut bra? (Her, not him. I think.)

Mr. Kiss and Tell feels truer to the characters I know and love — Veronica, Weevil, Mac, Logan, Keith. And I thought the case in this book — a rape victim with a hazy memory — had promise.

But I felt Mr. Kiss and Tell was a little emotionally flat. In The Thousand Dollar Tan Line, Veronica is dealing with both the reappearance of her mother and with Logan’s deployment, and in Mr. Kiss and Tell, she and Logan are back in co-habitating bliss. (Sorry, I shouldn’t be complaining about that, but I thought this book lacked tension. Even if it gave the readers what they wanted: Logan and Veronica together!)

Still, a foray back into Neptune is always a happy occasion for me, and I think most VM fans should be pleased with this. I hope there’s a book three, and hope it’s able to combine the emotional punch  of the first book with the better characterization of the second.