Oh, Tana French, I love you. I loved The Likeness…from the top to the bottom. I read French’s first novel, In The Woods, and when the end hit I wasn’t sure if I wanted to love or hate French but one thing was obvious…I respected her, respected her writing style, her plot and character development, and even the way she left me wondering wtf at the end. I waited with trepidation for French’s follow up novel. Ummm…would she be able to do it again?
Shame…let me bow down now; I will never doubt again. The Likeness is even better than In The Woods. This is partially due to the fact that I found the main character of In The Woods, Rob Ryan, obscenely stupid, actually I sort of just wanted to kick him in the mouth, and other places, with the hopes of curbing some of his stupidity. But the character of Cassie I enjoyed and was happy to hear she would be back in The Likeness.
Cassie Maddox has transferred to Domestic Violence from Dublin’s Murder Squad after a case (read In the Woods) unravels not only a murder but also the investigators on the case. However, it isn’t long before Cassie is called to check the remains of a murder victim—a young woman who looks exactly like Cassie, a young woman going by the alias that Cassie used in an undercover case years before, Alexandria Madison. Now Frank Mackey, Cassie’s former undercover boss and my new character crush, in an attempt to find the girl’s murderer, wants Cassie to once again become Lexie. This time she’ll have to enter the world of Lexie created by a dead girl. While Cassie is still unsure of her own world, she agrees to move into Lexie’s and try to catch her killer.
So…Cassie, as Lexie, shows up alive at Whitethorn House and into the loving arms of Lexie’s roommates: Rafe, Daniel, Justin, and Abby. But is all well here in this home of the temperamental literature majors? Is one of them, or perhaps all of them, responsible for Lexie’s death? Or did Lexie die at the hands of one of the local townsfolk bent on revenge for a hundred year old grudge? Or an angry relative wanting part of Whitethorn House? And who is the woman behind the Lexie Madison alias? Who? Who? Who? And why? Why? Why?
That is French’s strength. The who? The Why? And it is all built on characterization. While The Likeness is a mystery, its strength comes from its characters. The inhabitants of Whitethorn House… I loved them all. What lit nerd wouldn’t? They are witty, sarcastic, and smart enough to realize their own social oddities which are part of the reason they have chosen a life together. A seemingly perfect life built around an old house, friendship, wine filled dinners, and conversation. It is a world very opposite from Cassie’s own and she soon wonders if it is not here, in Whitethorn House, that she belongs. Cassie’s journey leads her on a quest not only to find the murderer, discover who Lexie Madison really was, but also on a quest to find herself.
On of the early lines in the book seems to capture the mood of most of the characters in the book:
Being easily freaked out comes with its own special skill set: you develop subtle tricks to work around it, make sure people don’t notice. Pretty soon, if you’re a fast learner, you can get through the day looking almost exactly like a normal human being. (8)
Cassie, the inhabitants of Whitethorn House, and Lexie Madison what this: to hold to a perfect moment or situation in the hopes of creating the perfect self. However, time and human nature rarely play fair; sometimes all that is left are memories, good and bad, and the necessity to move forward. French is excellent at displaying, through her characters, the human desire for security, happiness, acceptance and the ramifications of holding too tightly to a changing situation.
I am not generally a mystery fan as I tend to find myself rooting for the bad guy and this book was no different. My friend, Mary, has numerous theories about my love of bad guys but I have to argue that with The Likeness I am justified. I am. I am. French’s characters are very human and as such own traits of good and bad and I found myself empathizing on numerous levels. I look forward to French’s future work.
OHHHH….JOYYYYYYYY…I just learned that Frank Mackey will be the narrator in French’s next novel! Did I mention that I have a character crush on him? Oh yes, sickness!
4.5 out of 5—excellent book!
