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 Whitney @ First Impressions Reviews on

5 of 5 stars

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Cassie Maddox is back, and on the case of the murder of Lexie Madison a clone of Cassie herself. The Dublin Murder Squad is certain that it is one of Lexie's housemates, informing them that she was wounded not murdered, giving Cassie the chance to go undercover.

All of Lexie's roommates were creepy, Abby appeared to know more than she lets on almost acting like a know-it-all Donna Reed, keeping everything orderly, watching all her ps and qs. Justin, is a squirrely little thing, jumping at the slightest noise and willing to please. Raphael, really fades into the background, and sometimes I forgot he was there, popping back up like an aberration. And Daniel, the mastermind of them all and has a very disturbing quality about him, being calm as a cucumber under pressure.

Cassie does an outstanding job of cat and mouse until she literately eats an onion, and like the stench I detest her undercover goes downhill, with both Cassie's persona and her friends starting to unravel like a ball of yarn.

Like French's In the Woods, The likeness was a cool, clever, and thought out murder mystery. I really thought I had it figured-out from the beginning, as Daniel is eerie like Norman Bates, therefore it must be him. Wrong! Tana French is a mastermind for playing with your head and developing alarmingly dimensional characters.

Cassie Maddox was one of the things I liked best about In the Woods and was thrilled that she came back on her own. She is an outstanding female lead who can stand on her own and take care of herself, despite her "traumatic" past, in a sense she reminds me a little of Lisbeth Salander, a character who I bitterly cried over at the end of The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest knowing she would never be written about again. Therefore, I was tickled to have a second chance with Cassie, even if it was only for a little while.

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  • Started reading
  • 5 September, 2012: Finished reading
  • 5 September, 2012: Reviewed