This is Lexie Madison's story, not mine.I'd love to tell you one without getting into the other, but it doesn't work that way. I used to think I sewed us together at the edges with my own hands, pulled the stitches tight and I could unpick them any time I wanted. Now I think it always ran deeper than that and farther, underground; out of sight and way beyond my control.
Description:
I am becoming a big Tana French fan after reading her mystery novels In The Woods and Broken Harbor (which I reviewed previously, so you know I loved it). Recently I found a copy of an earlier novel of hers, The Likeness, and again fell hard for her writing and fascinating plots.
The Likeness opens with a woman's body found in an abandoned cottage not too far from a manor house where she and several graduate students reside. The crime team immediately contact homicide detective Cassie Maddox, the same person who investigated the murder recounted in In The Woods. Cassie, badly shaken by that case, now works in the less-stressful Domestic Violence office, resolving never to return to the Murder Department.
But the victim strongly resembles Cassie as if the dead girl was her twin sister. Even more strangely, the victim carries identification cards identifying her as "Lexie Madison," the name and background created by Cassie for her previous undercover operation. Curiosity aroused, Cassie cannot let this case go.
Using videos found on the victim's cell phone and other information uncovered, the police know the victim Lexie lived with four graduate students in a nearby run-down mansion. They were the ones who discovered the body and were the last to see her alive. Of course, they become the initial suspects in the murder, but all have rock-solid stories of their innocence.
The murder investigators come up with a plan. The cover story is that Lexie was not really dead that night when found by her housemates and that the police arrived in time to take her to a hospital to recover. Cassie will then assume the identity of Lexie, rejoin the students and live in the manor, all the while trying to uncover information about the murder.
Cassie/Lexie is then delivered to her "friends" at the manor wearing a wire transmitter and secretly having access to her service revolver. Should anything go wrong, the murder squad are listening over the wire and will be at her side in moments. Hopefully.
Sounds like a far-fetched but plausible plan if Cassie is able to convince the housemates she is the recovered Lexie. Her entrance to the house is a nerve-wracking scene. Will she make a critical mistake in not remembering a common incident, forget a relationship with a roommate, or simply not sound or act like their former housemate? A difficult situation, especially when one of these people could be a murderer.
Tana French as usual takes plenty of time to set the situation, provide details, and let the actions slowly unfold. The reader is slowly brought into Cassie's world of preparation for her new role as Lexie, her entrance into the household, and her ongoing relationships with the housemates and the community. We follow each step via Cassie's thoughts as she tries to achieve a casual existence with these people, yet we are always conscious of her need to poke around innocently to uncover information that will help investigators to get to the bottom of the murder. If she can last long enough.
Tension, naturally, is high on every page.
The Likeness opens with a woman's body found in an abandoned cottage not too far from a manor house where she and several graduate students reside. The crime team immediately contact homicide detective Cassie Maddox, the same person who investigated the murder recounted in In The Woods. Cassie, badly shaken by that case, now works in the less-stressful Domestic Violence office, resolving never to return to the Murder Department.
But the victim strongly resembles Cassie as if the dead girl was her twin sister. Even more strangely, the victim carries identification cards identifying her as "Lexie Madison," the name and background created by Cassie for her previous undercover operation. Curiosity aroused, Cassie cannot let this case go.
Using videos found on the victim's cell phone and other information uncovered, the police know the victim Lexie lived with four graduate students in a nearby run-down mansion. They were the ones who discovered the body and were the last to see her alive. Of course, they become the initial suspects in the murder, but all have rock-solid stories of their innocence.
The murder investigators come up with a plan. The cover story is that Lexie was not really dead that night when found by her housemates and that the police arrived in time to take her to a hospital to recover. Cassie will then assume the identity of Lexie, rejoin the students and live in the manor, all the while trying to uncover information about the murder.
Cassie/Lexie is then delivered to her "friends" at the manor wearing a wire transmitter and secretly having access to her service revolver. Should anything go wrong, the murder squad are listening over the wire and will be at her side in moments. Hopefully.
Sounds like a far-fetched but plausible plan if Cassie is able to convince the housemates she is the recovered Lexie. Her entrance to the house is a nerve-wracking scene. Will she make a critical mistake in not remembering a common incident, forget a relationship with a roommate, or simply not sound or act like their former housemate? A difficult situation, especially when one of these people could be a murderer.
Tana French as usual takes plenty of time to set the situation, provide details, and let the actions slowly unfold. The reader is slowly brought into Cassie's world of preparation for her new role as Lexie, her entrance into the household, and her ongoing relationships with the housemates and the community. We follow each step via Cassie's thoughts as she tries to achieve a casual existence with these people, yet we are always conscious of her need to poke around innocently to uncover information that will help investigators to get to the bottom of the murder. If she can last long enough.
Tension, naturally, is high on every page.
If this book interests you, be sure to check out:
French, Tana. In The Woods
Twenty years ago, two children did not return from playing in the woods, and the third was found hugging a tree with blood-stained shoes, unable to talk about what he saw. Now that same child is par t of the Dublin Murder Squad, investigating the disappearance of another young girl in the same location. Cassie Maddox is his partner on the case and best friend. Chilling.French, Tana. Broken Harbor
A triple homicide to be investigated by the cop who "always brings in his killer." But this particular crime against a family brings up memories from the past that muddle the facts and suspects in the case. (previously reviewed here)
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