The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line by Rob Thomas and Jennifer Graham

“There weren’t many people in this world who would let you be vulnerable and still believe you were strong.”

I rarely listen to audiobooks, but lately I’ve started to explore that world and I gotta say, it’s pretty great.  And a book read by Veronica Mars herself, Kristen Bell?  It doesn’t get better than that.  The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line is the first book in the Veronica Mars mystery series, with Veronica back in Neptune and back in the P.I. business.  It is spring break time and Neptune has become party central.  Things take a turn when two girls go missing, each last seen at a party held at the same mansion just weeks apart.  Veronica takes on the case, slowly adjusting to her new life in Neptune.

I was a big Veronica Mars fan back in the day, so it was fun going back to that world and re-visiting all the characters.  Kristen Bell does an absolutely brilliant job in narrating the story, even doing different character voices.  The mystery itself was a little underwhelming and usually wouldn’t be my cup of tea, however it fits with what we’ve come to know about Neptune and works well as a Veronica Mars story.  I was engaged from the very beginning, which was a result of Kristen Bell’s wonderful narration and enjoyed the story overall.  If you’re interested in reading The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line I would definitely recommend checking out the audiobook.