Gabrielle's Reviews > The Likeness

After getting what I believe I referred to as a sucker-punch to the heart from Tana French’s first book, "In the Woods" (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...), one might wonder why I would choose to read the following installment of the Dublin Murder Squad series. First of all, I loved Cassie, and I was very curious to know how she’d put her life back together after the messy conclusion of Operation Vestal. And, well, I guess I just like the kind of pain good writers inflict upon me; so not unlike a lemming, I am irresistibly drawn to scour used bookstores until I find my next paper heart-break.

Cassie Maddox is no longer the carefree pixie she was before Operation Vestal: the investigation and the falling out with her former partner snuffed something inside of her. She got a bit quieter, settled serenely into a relationship with Sam (who definitely has less baggage and issues than Rob ever did) and she transferred to the Domestic Violence unit. But something very eerie happens: she is called to a crime scene where the body of a young woman was found, a body bearing an uncanny resemblance to Cassie. Creepy cherry on the creepy sundae: the identification found on the body indicates the woman is named Lexie Madison, Cassie’s old undercover alias…

Now how often do you get to conduct a murder investigation from the point of view of the intended victim? I’m going to guess not frequently, so while I was very annoyed with Cassie’s undercover handler for pushing her back under her former assumed identity, I could also see how such an opportunity would be solid gold. As soon as Cassie slips back into this role, she is pulled in many directions at once.

The improbable event of two women, who look almost perfectly identical, both using the same alias can definitely feel far-fetched when the story begins – and since “In the Woods” also featured a few elements that were hard to believe, I was hoping French would handle this smoothly, and I think she did. One of the many facets of this mystery is who the hell is that woman, where she came from and what was she doing as Lexie, and the investigation takes these questions to very interesting places.

“The Likeness” is just as literary (bordering on lyrical, really) and psychologically rich as its predecessor was: we are very aware that there is a complex murder investigation going on, but the story isn’t bogged down by technical details and procedural babble. This is much more about the effect working on such an investigation can have, both on Cassie and on Sam (whom I couldn’t help but feel terrible for: the poor guy is adorable and clearly cares about Cassie so much, but he really is a meager stand in for his predecessor, now isn’t he? #teamrob). And just like in the first book, I stopped trying to untangle the mystery pretty early and simply let myself be buoyed by the narration, wondering what hell was going on every time I’d turn a page. The last 150 pages had me on my toes and I was ready to bite anyone who interrupted my reading (sorry, Jason!).

I have to say, I loved being in Cassie’s head, at last! The opportunity to be Lexie is a chance for her to run away from the malaise she has been dealing with since her transfer from Murder to Domestic Violence, to pour herself into somebody else’s life so she doesn’t have to deal with the hole Rob left in hers. Sure, she misses the thrill of her old job, but she also misses the intimacy of her old friendship, and as much as she wants to know what this Lexie 2.0 was doing with her identity, she is attracted to the very close-knit group of friends, who seem to have been lifted straight off the page of a leather-bound novel. The atmosphere of luxurious decay French pushes you into the minute you cross that mysterious house’s threshold was the prefect setting for Cassie’s slip into another’s skin: everything is already dream-like, chic in its surrealism and so wonderfully different from her life…

The similarities between the Whitethorn House housemates and the little group of students from “The Secret History” (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...) was striking: super-intellectual types who disdain technology and excessive modernism, preferring to live as if they were E.M. Forster characters, and who can’t help but give off this insular vibe that they are simply better than everybody else. But while the characters of Donna Tartt’s novel irritated me to no end (partially because they were too superficially developed), I found myself warming up to this group. They are pretty full of themselves and their eccentricity sometimes feels like an affectation, but I can see why Cassie would want to belong with a group who not only have each other’s backs, but who also share the intimacy of a family – something she has never really known. The quintet is obviously keeping a ton of secrets, from outsiders and from each other, and any rational observer knows this fragile equilibrium is bound of fall apart sooner or later; but it all looks so idyllic and romantic…

If you enjoyed the first book, can suspend disbelief for the sake of amazing writing and rich character development, and enjoy losing yourself in a good mystery, then you should definitely read “The Likeness”. While a prior reading of “In The Woods” might not be absolutely mandatory to enjoy this, why wouldn’t you want to know why our main character is a mess (and fall in love with Rob, like the rest of us)?

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I watched the BBC produced series "Dublin Murders", which blended together the stories of "In the Woods" and "The Likeness", and while I wasn't sure about it at first, I persisted, and at the halfway mark, I was completely sucked in. The series is not a perfect adaptation of the books, but it's beautifully put together, dark and gritty and the casting carries the convoluted story very strongly. It's definitely worth watching for fans of the books.