The Likeness by Tana French

[ethan]

The Likeness by Tana French

 

Synopsis

 

A girl is found stabbed to death in an abandoned cottage and is discovered to be the exact likeness of a former undercover agent, Cassie Maddox. The dead girl has been using an invented identity Cassie had adopted in her undercover days, Lexi Madison. Cassie is cajoled by her former boss, Frank Mackey, to assume Lexi's identity and return to Lexi's residence that she shared with four close friends, who have been told that Lexi survived the attack but cannot remember anything about the night it occurred. Cassie's job is to direct the murder detectives, who have no leads or no motive, towards who the killer, and the dead girl, might be.

 

Thoughts

 

About two thirds through The Likeness, one of Lexi's housemates goes on a long monologue bemoaning modern life and the concurrent loss of identity that is being swallowed up by a too fast pace of change and it's inevitable partner- greed. The economy may prosper but perhaps not so the individual. We all may dream, at times, of becoming someone else and escaping our disappointing and unfulfilled existence, drifting off to a seemingly safer and more interesting place. My previous read, Await Your Reply, also confronted this theme, but whereas Reply danced around the edges of genre, The Likeness is a full speed ahead police procedural, and a pretty good one at that.

 

The problem is the premise which is downright incredulous. That Cassie can fool her housemates, who Lexie has lived with for many months on intimate terms, requires a great leap of faith on the part of the reader. One may best approach these fanciful coincidences as fairy tales. French's previous novel, In The Woods, played up a childhood fear of what may happen to you if you venture too far into the deep, dark woods. The Likeness plays the doppleganger angle, a little child becoming aware of the uniqueness of him or herself, wondering if there is someone out there who looks just like them. French's absorption in the fractured lives and sadness of her fictional creations is deeply moving, and therefore I recommend, and look forward to her next.