Title: Mr. Kiss And Tell
(Veronica Mars #2)
Author: Rob Thomas
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Contemporary
First published: January 20th 2015
Finished reading: February 23rd 2016
Pages: 336
“What do you think? More cheese? Less cheese? Different cheese?” Keith held up a measuring cup of shredded mozzarella and looked inquiringly at Veronica across the kitchen island. She was slicing tomatoes but paused mid chop to look up with one raised brow. “When is the answer ever less cheese?” “Fair point.” He dumped the entire cup into the mixing bowl and started to stir.”
I read the first book The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line in January and I absolutely loved it, so I have been looking forward to the sequel. I’m not sure if it was the beginning reading slump or my sky high expectations, but I was disappointed by Mr. Kiss And Tell. Instead of devouring this second Veronica Mars book, it actually took me ages to finish. The plot was nowhere close as good as the first book, and the story itself didn’t manage to grab my attention. I’m not saying the actual case Veronica has to investigate isn’t intriguing, but unfortunately the focus in Mr. Kiss And Tell lies somewhere else. Between the ‘uninteresting’ political/police corruption case her father is involved in, the many unrelevant background stories of Logan (I’m not saying they aren’t interesting, but they don’t add anything to the story) and the romantic relationship between Veronica and Logan, the story of the woman that was brutally assaulted and left for dead is pushed into the background. Which is a shame, because the hunt for the person that is responsible and those related plot twists are the most interesting parts of the story. All in all quite a slow read and an unworthy sequel of what was such a promising series. Still, if you like Veronica Mars as a character, you will probably enjoy reading it as long as you don’t set your expectations too high.
WARNING: do not read this summary if you haven’t read the first book yet! It will most likely contain spoilers, even though I’ve made sure to keep it short.
Veronica Mars is back and about to start another complicated investigation after a woman was brutally assaulted and left for dead outside the Neptune Grand hotel. The victim claims one of the staff members did this to her and starts a lawsuit against the hotel. Veronica is asked to find out what really happened and see if the hotel can be held responsable… The case turns out to be more complicated than she originally thought as the witnesses don’t seem to want to cooperate and even the victim doesn’t seem to want to tell the full truth… The corruption within the police station doesn’t really help either and her father might actually be in danger for wanting to expose it. Will Veronica find out the truth?
I’m not saying Mr. Kiss And Tell is a bad read, but after such a great start of the Veronica Mars series the sequel is a bit of a disappointment. Instead of a fast-paced, action-packed crimesolving read I was expecting, there are so many other elements involved that the case itself is pushed into the background. More importantly, they slow down the pace considerately and lowered my final rating as well. It’s not a bad read though if you like the characters, and I hope Rob Thomas will decide to continue the series one day.
