The Likeness (Dublin Murder Squad 2)
Tana French, 2008
Penguin Group USA
480 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780143115625
Summary
Six months after the events of In the Woods, Detective Cassie Maddox is still trying to recover.
She's transferred out of the murder squad and started a relationship with Detective Sam O'Neill, but she's too badly shaken to make a commitment to him or to her career.
Then Sam calls her to the scene of his new case: a young woman found stabbed to death in a small town outside Dublin. The dead girl's ID says her name is Lexie Madison—the identity Cassie used years ago as an undercover detective—and she looks exactly like Cassie.
With no leads, no suspects, and no clue to Lexie's real identity, Cassie's old undercover boss, Frank Mackey, spots the opportunity of a lifetime. They can say that the stab wound wasn't fatal and send Cassie undercover in her place to find out information that the police never would and to tempt the killer out of hiding.
At first Cassie thinks the idea is crazy, but she is seduced by the prospect of working on a murder investigation again and by the idea of assuming the victim's identity as a graduate student with a cozy group of friends.
As she is drawn into Lexie's world, Cassie realizes that the girl's secrets run deeper than anyone imagined. Her friends are becoming suspicious, Sam has discovered a generations-old feud involving the old house the students live in, and Frank is starting to suspect that Cassie's growing emotional involvement could put the whole investigation at risk.
Another gripping psychological thriller featuring the headstrong protagonist we've come to love, from an author who has proventhat she can deliver. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—1973
• Where—Vermont, USA
• Education—B.A., Trinity College (Dublin)
• Awards—Edgar Award, Macavity Award, Barry Award
• Currently—lives in Dublin, Ireland
Tana French is an Irish novelist and theatrical actress. Her debut novel In the Woods (2007), a psychological mystery, won the Edgar, Anthony, Macavity, and Barry awards for best first novel. She is a liaison of the Purple Heart Theatre Company and also works in film and voiceover.
French was born in the U.S. to Elena Hvostoff-Lombardi and David French. Her father was an economist working in resource management for the developing world, and the family lived in numerous countries around the globe, including Ireland, Italy, the US, and Malawi.
French attended Trinity College, Dublin, where she was trained in acting. She ultimately settled in Ireland. Since 1990 she has lived in Dublin, which she considers home, although she also retains citizenship in the U.S. and Italy. French is married and has a daughter with her husband.
Dublin Murder Squad series
In the Woods - 2007
The Likeness - 2008
Faithful Place - 2010
Broken Harbor - 2012
The Secret Places - 2014
The Trespasser - 2016
Stand-alone mystery
The Witch Elm - 2018
(Bio adapted from Wikipedia. Retrieved 9/2/2014.)
Book Reviews
Ms. French resists genre conventions defiantly enough to have written a long, rambling book, one that is more interested in character revelations than in “Aha!” moments about the plot. She could have achieved the same effects much more succinctly in a more tightly edited version of this same story. But Cassie herself remains a strong enough character to sustain interest, even if many of her observations...have a vague, hazy quality. All she needs is a sparring match with Frank, and Cassie quickly returns to the land of the living—and to the subtle demands of her perilous, suspenseful masquerade.
Janet Maslin - New York Times
The Likeness [is] a book even better than the first, which was very good indeed.... The suspense is gut-grinding.... A wonderful book.
New York Daily News
[French’s] already signature blend of psychological insight, beautiful writing and wry humor is on display once more in The Likeness.”
Baltimore Sun
[Tana French] aces her second novel. The Likeness [is a] nearly pitch- perfect follow-up to her 2007 debut thriller, In the Woods.
Entertainment Weekly
Suspense writing is clearly French's forte. Rather than employing cliff-hanger tactics, such as ending chapters with striking discoveries, French relies on more delicate revelations to engage readers all along.
Rocky Mountain News
The Likeness has everything: memorable characters, crisp dialogue, shrewd psychological insight, mounting tension, a palpable sense of place, and wonderfully evocative, painterly prose. In the Woods was an Edgar Award finalist; this one just might go one step further. —Thomas Gaughan
Booklist
Stunning…. French cleverly subverts the conventions of the locked room mystery, ratcheting up the tension at every turn with her multidimensional characters. Readers looking for a new name in psychological suspense need look no further than this powerful new Irish voice.
Publishers Weekly
French creates remarkably complex characters while gradually unpeeling the layers of her story in this rich and insightful psychological thriller. A stunner.
Library Journal
The discovery of her murdered doppelganger leads a Dublin detective to insert herself into the victim's life.… Police procedures, psychological thrills and gothic romance beautifully woven into one stunning story.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
1. Early on in the book, Cassie Maddox says that "all the best undercovers have a dark thread woven into them, somewhere." What is hers?
2. For Cassie, going undercover is almost a compulsion. What drives her to accept Frank's offer and take on Operation Mirror?
3. The rule at Whitethorn House is "no pasts," yet the house is seeped in history and artifacts from earlier eras. How does the house help its inhabitants avoid their own histories?
4. Undercover, Cassie slowly gets drawn into life at Whitethorn House and develops a fondness for Lexie's idiosyncratic housemates. What is it about this world that is so enchanting for her?
5. Cassie says this is Lexie Madison's story, not hers, yet she tells it like it's her own. Whose story do you think it is?
6. Commitment is an issue for Cassie, as she can't seem to settle down with a desk job or her boyfriend. At the same time, she has chosen to work undercover and devote her every hour to this case—a very serious commitment of a different kind. Is this a contradiction in her personality, or are they complementary behaviors?
7. Daniel, Abby, Rafe, Justin, and Lexie's relationship is a fascinating study of group dynamics and each character plays a distinct role. Just as Lexie did before her, Cassie can home in on who she needs to be to fit in. Do you think this is something most people do in social situations or is it a special skill?
8. What does posing as Lexie teach Cassie about herself? What are the differences between the two characters and where does Cassie draw the line?
9. Cassie wonders if Frank Mackey may have had a stronger hunch about the killer than he was admitting all along. Do you think he knew who the killer was?
10. French leaves the story of what happened the night of the stabbing somewhat open. What do you think really happened to Lexie and who was truly responsible?
(Questions issued by publisher.)
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