"The Likeness" was written by Tana French and published in 2008 by Viking Adult Press. It is the second in the Dublin Murder Squad series.
After reading "In the Woods", French's first book in the Murder Squad series, I had pretty high expectations for this second in the series. "The Likeness" is written in first-person point of view with Detective Cassie Maddox as the narrator. I listened to this story as an audio-book, narrated by Heather O'Neill, who did an excellent job.
Cassie was introduced in "In the Woods" as a young, sprite-like-girl, not the kind of person who would be assumed to be a murder detective. In that story we learned that she had been stabbed working under cover before joining the murder squad. She was tough and the force of stability that kept Detective Ryan mentally and emotionally together to solve the murder case in "In the Woods".
In "The Likeness" Cassie has been reassigned to work in Domestic Violence and is dating Sam, the other murder detective who worked on her case in "In the Woods." She is more focused on appearing normal to the world and her colleagues than anything else, and is still recovering from the emotional wounds of their previous murder investigation. Then she gets a call from her old undercover boss, who asks her to come to a crime scene. There, she learns that the murdered victim is essentially her doppelganger and has assumed her old undercover identity. When Cassie was first working undercover, she and Frank (her undercover boss) created the character of Lexie Madison, a college student in order to get involved in a drug ring. In the end, Cassie got the information she needed, but got stabbed in the process. Now, Lexie Madison has appeared again and Cassie is asked to go under cover as Lexie to find her killer.
The premise of this book was hard to accept. What are the chances of two people who look essentially identical, who have no genetic relationship, living in Dublin at the same time? In my opinion, the plot starts on shaky ground. As the plot progresses, Cassie/Lexie becomes obsessed with Lexie and her life. She moves into a house with Lexie's flatmates- 3 students, 2 men and a woman. She manages to fool all 3 of these people into believing that she is Lexie for weeks on end, until her boss pulls the plug on the operation.
In the end Cassie does get some closure- learning about Lexie's past and why/how she was killed. But the frightening aspect of this story is how close she comes to loosing herself and her own identity. The action is more psychological than the detective work in "In the Woods," and in some ways more disturbing. French does get extremely descriptive in her explanations and discussions of Cassie's thoughts and emotions- perhaps overly wordy in some places.
Like I said, I had high expectations for this book after reading"In the Woods", and I think that worked against my enjoyment of this book. It was still a interesting read and exciting story, but didn't have the level of excitement and intrigue I was expecting.
"In the Woods" by Tana French was published in 2007 by Viking Adult Press. This is the first in the author's Dublin Murder Squad series. I had never read a Tana French book before, but I love a good murder mystery, especially when UK Detectives are the crime solvers!
I started this story by listening to the audio-book, narrated by Steven Crossley. Mr. Crossley was an excellent narrator- and in my opinion the narrator can really make or break the story experience. Half way through the audio-book, I ran into some technical difficulties, so I had to switch to reading the traditional book, which may or may not have influenced my experience with the book.
The story begins with the backstory of Detective Ryan, who is on Dublin's Murder Squad. He and his partner Cassie Maddox happen to be assigned to a case with eerie similarities to Ryan's childhood experience. The story is told in flashbacks, with the author only giving the reader enough information and insight into the character to leave them begging for the next chapter. In the end Ryan unravels pretty dramatically, but Cassie manages to hold him together so they can identify the murderer.
As I was listening/reading this story, I was completely pulled into the drama and intrigue of the story. The story is told in first person perspective by Detective Ryan. With the reveal of each detail of Ryan's backstory I felt more and more intrigued and enveloped in the story. When life got in the way and I had to take a break from the book, I would try to put on my deerstalker hat :) and try to decide identify the murdered, and the book is so well written that the reader is kept indecisive for most of the book. There's nothing more annoying for me as a reader than a story where I can identify the criminal/murderer/solve the mystery before the characters have. In comparison, French has the ability to draw the reader along with the murder investigation, red herrings and all until the last few chapters.
Now, I'm not going to give any spoilers, so I'll just speak broadly about the end of the book. Detective Ryan was such a heartrending character and I really wanted him to solve both crimes triumphantly. French does such an excellent job at creating a character whom the reader understands and empathizes with. Again, no details, but it is his partner Cassie who is able to see through to solve the case, and it doesn't seem that Ryan ever recovers from his experiences. The reader is left a lack of closure- there are still many questions, both from Rob's past and his future. But on reflection, I think I appreciate a story that keeps me thinking and asking more questions than one with all the story tied up in a pretty bow of plot and character.
Tana French is an amazing writer and I am very excited to read more of this series and her other books!
/5
