Cliff Lipson, CBS The stars of 'Veronica Mars' are, back left, Francis Capra, Teddy Dunn, Jason Dohring and, front from left, Percy Daggs III, Kristen Bell and Enrico Colantoni. Click photo for larger image.

star in VERONICA MARS on UPN. Photo: There is an ongoing mystery component to "Veronica Mars," which could make the show daunting for newcomers. Let this character guide serve as a primer.

Veronica Mars (Kristen Bell) was once part of the popular crowd, but saw her high school status drop several notches after her father ...

Keith Mars (Enrico Colantoni) was vilified for allegedly botching a murder investigation. He's now a private investigator and Veronica helps him with some of his cases and also does detective work of her own with the help of ...

Wallace (Percy Daggs III), Veronica's best friend. That includes trying to find the truth behind the murder of ...

Lilly Kane (Amanda Seyfried), the sister of ...

Duncan Kane (Teddy Dunn), Veronica's boyfriend until he dumped her not long before Veronica's father named Duncan's dad ...

Jake Kane (Kyle Secor) as the prime suspect in Lilly's murder. Jake, who may be Veronica's real father, was exonerated after ...

Abel Koontz (Christian Clemenson), a disgruntled former employee of Kane Software, confessed to the murder. Lately, Veronica has found evidence that ...

Clarence Wiedman (Christopher B. Duncan), an employee of Jake Kane's company, took photos of Veronica and used them to scare off ...

Lianne Mars (Corrine Bohrer), Veronica's mother who abandoned Veronica and Keith after Lilly's murder. Before her death, Lilly dated Duncan's best friend...

Logan Echolls (Jason Dohring), the angry, abused, unstable son of ...

Aaron Echolls (Harry Hamlin), a philandering movie star, and wife Lynn (Lisa Rinna), a longtime friend of the Kanes, who appears to have committed suicide. Logan's half-sister ...

Trina (Alyson Hannigan), an aspiring actress, returns home from Australia in tonight's episode.