Written by Tana French

The Likeness

By Tana French

Book Synopsis: 

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.

Reader's Review:

A tense, atmosheric novel with threatening undertones, 'The Likeness' draws the reader into a plot as bizarre as it is gripping. I came to care about the characters as their apparently idyllic household revealed fatal flaws, disintegrating under the pressure of guilt, hope and finally the escalating tension to the last. Tana French has gone from an exciting debut to a finely honed follow-uo. More from this author eagerly awaited.

Reviewed by Maureen Nield on 12/08/2008