The Likeness by Tana French

The Likeness (Dublin Murder Squad)

by Tana French

Detective Cassie Maddox is still trying to deal with the events of In the Woods. She is out of the Murder Squad and has started a relationship with fellow detective Sam O'Neill but is too badly shaken to commit to Sam or to her career. Then Sam is allocated a new case, that of a young woman stabbed to death just outside Dublin. He calls Cassie to the murder scene and she finds the victim is strangely familiar. In fact, she is Cassie's double. Not only that, but her ID says she is Lexie Madison the identity Cassie used, years ago, as an undercover detective. With no leads, no suspects and no clues, Cassie's old undercover boss spots the opportunity of a lifetime: to send Cassie undercover in the dead girl's place. She could pick up information the police would never hear and tempt the killer to finish the job. So Cassie moves into Whitethorn House, poses as a post-grad student, and prepares to enter Lexie's world.

Reviewed by ibeforem on

5 of 5 stars

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When I first found out that The Likeness would feature Cassie as the main character, I admit I was a bit disappointed. "But I don’t care about Cassie!" I whined. "I want to know what happens with Rob!" It took no more than a chapter for me to realize how wrong I was.

The premise of the novel is unusual but intriguing. What are the chances that a girl will turn up dead that not only looks like she could be your sister, but is using an identity that you made up? Cassie is originally resistant to the idea that she take Lexie’s place and step into her life in order to find out who her killer was, but it doesn’t take much to convince her. She’s just been biding her time in Domestic Violence since the end of In the Woods, and the spice has been sucked from her life. The trick is, pretending to be someone who existed, someone with friends and responsibilities and a life, is a whole lot different than pretending to be someone entirely new.

When I think about it, I haven’t read many books that feature undercover work, and that’s a shame. I thought it was exhilarating, not only for Cassie but for the reader. It raises the suspense level like nothing else, because the most innocuous situation could become a disaster with just one wrong word. Her housemates are wonderfully written, almost maddening in their peculiarities, and you know right away that there is something beneath the surface that you’re not seeing. The only question is, how serious is it?

There are a lot of ghosts in this story. Lexie haunts not only Cassie, but her housemates, even though they think she’s still alive. There’s the ghost of the past haunting a village that’s trying to deal with the animosity it feels towards those that once lorded over them. And even Rob is a ghost. He’s not dead, but he might as well be as far as Cassie is concerned. The events of In the Woods continue to hang over her like a storm cloud. But I’d rather it be that way than for her to pretend like the previous events never occurred.

I do have to confess that at least some of my love for this book is due to the stellar audiobook production. Heather O’Neill’s narration could not be more perfect. Her gentle Irish brogue pulls you along like a song you can’t stop yourself from singing. She even made the distinction between country and city accents obvious to these untrained ears. I wish the next book wasn’t about Frank!

I’m pretty stingy with my 5-star ratings nowadays, but this deserves nothing less.

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  • Started reading
  • 2 April, 2011: Finished reading
  • 2 April, 2011: Reviewed