Veronica Mars Novel's Title and Cover Art Revealed; Blurb Seemingly Spoils Part of the Movie

Warning: Potential spoilers ahead for Veronica Mars, in theaters and on VOD services March 14.

Earlier today, Veronica Mars creator Rob Thomas--who directed the film version coming in three weeks' time--unveiled the title and cover of his first new Veronica Mars mystery novel, coming less than two weeks after the movie's release. Veronica Mars: The Thousand Dollar Tan Line will be available to buy and download on March 25, co-written by Thomas and Jennifer Graham and reportedly jumping off from events depicted in the March 14 movie. And, yes, it seems as though Veronica will remain in Neptune after the film's conclusion. This isn't much of a surprise, certainly, but so far it looks like the choice between New York (and by extension Piz) and Neptune (and implicitly Logan) will be a key part of Veronica's character arc in the film. Here's the scoop from Entertainment Weekly, who featured the film on the front page of their print magazine last week and have a solid working relationship with Thomas who, in addition to revitalizing the Veronica Mars brand, will also craft a pilot based on Chris Roberson and Mike Allred's Vertigo comic book iZombie for The CW.

The book, subtitled The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line, features 28-year-old Veronica Mars, back in action after the events of Veronica Mars: The Movie. With the help of old friends — ex-boyfriend Logan Echolls, Cindy "Mac" Mackenzie, Wallace Fennel, and even Dick Casablancas — Veronica is ready to take on Neptune's darkest cases.

The degree to which this is a spoiler is, of course, relative. It's not as though Veronica was ever going to be the perky girl detective in New York, without the unique setting and supporting cast that made the TV series work. As the novel is the first in what's expected to be a continuing series, with at least one already on the schedule for later in 2014, the possibility of Thomas and company continually finding reasons to take Veronica out of her home and comfort zone to head back to Neptune seemed like a pretty remote one.