The Likeness

A Novel

Hardcover, 448 pages

English language

Published July 17, 2008 by Viking Adult.

ISBN:
978-0-670-01886-4
Copied ISBN!
OCLC Number:
178210704

View on OpenLibrary

4 stars (36 reviews)

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--From publisher description.

4 editions

A strong followup to "Into the woods".

5 stars

Cassie Maddox is sucked back into undercover work by the freakish coincidence of a murder victim that looks just like her. Most of the book is Cassie impersonating the victim to her housemates. There is lots of interesting characterization of Cassie, the housemates, and the victim.

While "Into the woods" kindof sucker-punched me with the ending, this was less traumatic. The ending of this book is a bit more conventional (even using some police procedural trope, slightly twisted).

You should definitely read "Into the woods first", this book references it quite often. It does switch points of view a bit startlingly compared to the previous book.

Review of 'The likeness' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Once again, a Tana French mystery kept me up late, stole my attention, and had me clinging to every word. She writes pleasingly, and creates such realistic people and relationships that I still think about them for weeks after the pages have run out.

The plot of The Likeness was as rich as the characters. There is so much to think about, I don't know where to begin--except to recommend that you begin. A murder, an interesting victim, some unusual friends, the zany murder squad, the strange locals, and a most unusual undercover operation await you.

This story is haunting and thought-provoking. I recommend it, in case that's not clear.

Review of 'The likeness' on 'LibraryThing'

No rating

Second of the books in the Dublin Murder Squad series, this one taking a detective undercover into a house where a group of university students have formed themselves into a tight family. It's brilliantly written and utterly implausible - depending on the idea that the detective is identical to a murdered woman who took her previous undercover identity (which almost works by playing with the whole idea of assuming and discarding identities). Less important but even more implausible was the idea that she could step into a graduate student position, teach classes, and that all of the gang would be able to work on dissertations and teach without it interfering with their lifestyle. At least, I've never met a grad student as relaxed as this lot.

Review of 'The Likeness' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Tana French outdoes herself here. In The Woods was excellently written, but had a few narrative flaws that marred the gem. The basic premise of The Likeness may require a slight suspension of disbelief, but once you're past that it unfolds as a careful, patient, and exquisite mystery as only Strong can tell it.

Review of 'The Likeness' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Second book in the series. I liked it better than book 1.

We get to see the world through Detective Cassie Maddox's eyes, set a few months past the events in [b:In the Woods|237209|In the Woods (Dublin Murder Squad, #1)|Tana French|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348442606s/237209.jpg|3088141]. Cassie has moved on and is now a part of the domestic violence division--new partner, new cases--when she is pulled back into a complicated undercover assignment with her former boss.

The plot unfolds slowly but the pieces fall into place. Every time I though I knew the answer another clue led me in a different direction. I can't imagine how it is to drop into a new identity, a new life, and not slip up in some way. Anyone who is trying to impersonate me will have their hands full with my idiosyncrasies and weird food rules--something like that will trip you up. It's an interesting mystery and you …

Review of 'The Likeness' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

If i could give this book 3.5 stars out of 5, instead of 4, i would. It's a good book, don't get me wrong, and when you're in the right mood for it, like i was, it's a terrific read. But here's the thing: both this and French's first book, Into the Woods, are based on events and circumstances that, frankly, are quite implausible. With Into the Woods she pulled this off perfectly, so i was able to suspend all disbelief. It was an incredibly easy to just let myself go and enjoy the book. With the Likeness, though, i was never able to convince myself that anything in the book could actually take place. Coincidences like this don't happen, nobody in his right mind makes those kinds of decisions, and there's no way you could get away with these kinds of mistakes. The book suffers as a result. Still, …

Review of 'The likeness' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Good (murder mysteries/cop procedurals are still not my cup of tea), but not as good as In The Woods. I think it's because In The Woods had an eerie/supernatural undercurrent to it because of Ryan's missing friends. This seemed, from the description, to have the same sense of something-isn't-right that keeps the reader off balance, but Tana French squashed that in the beginning. The rest, while still good, didn't have that off-putting charge to it and was just a police story.

Still, will probably read her next book, Faithful Place.

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Subjects

  • Suspense
  • Fiction / Suspense
  • Fiction
  • Fiction - Espionage / Thriller
  • Mystery/Suspense