Veronica Mars, The Show

The series revolves around Veronica Mars, a high-school student and amateur investigator in the fictional Southern California seaside town of Neptune. As the daughter of well-respected County Sheriff Keith Mars, Veronica's biggest problem was getting unceremoniously dumped by her boyfriend (and Lilly's brother), Duncan Kane.

With Lilly's murder, however, Veronica's life falls apart. Her father accuses Lilly's father, the popular software billionaire Jake Kane, of being involved in the murder; this provokes Neptune's wrath and causes Keith to lose a recall election. Veronica's mother, Lianne, develops a drinking problem and leaves town. And Veronica's "09er" friends—wealthy students from the fictional 90909 ZIP code—force her to choose between them and her father. Veronica chooses her father. After being forced out of the sheriff's office, Keith opens his own private investigation agency, Mars Investigations, where Veronica works part-time. Over the course of the series, Veronica helps her father solve cases and conducts her own investigations on behalf of friends and acquaintances at school.