Friday Reads: Likeness

It's grey and gloomy today, so it's perfect weather for digging into a murder mystery set in Ireland! Today for Friday Reads, Adam tells us about The Likeness by Tana French.

Adam Pellman with The Likeness by Tana French

The Likeness is the second novel in what is known as the "Dublin Murder Squad" series. I read the first novel in the series, In the Woods, last year, and enjoyed it very much. The series focuses on homicide detectives in Dublin, Ireland, and The Likeness centers on Detective Cassie Maddox, who has left the homicide unit after the events of In the Woods. Despite her new role, Cassie is called to a murder scene early one morning, only to find that the victim looks exactly like her, and was carrying an ID identifying her as Lexie Madison, an alias Cassie used years earlier when she worked undercover. As part of the murder investigation, Cassie agrees to pose as Lexie, pretending that she survived the attack, with the hope that she can find clues to the murderer's identity and motives.

I'm halfway through the book right now, and I have no idea where the story is going to end up, which is refreshing for a murder mystery. The author also does a great job of weaving in elements of Irish culture and history. Much of the novel takes place in a small town outside of Dublin, where the effects of Britain's colonial presence in Ireland have lingered over the decades and manifested into a local hatred of outsiders like Lexie's housemates. Could the murder have been motivated by this bad blood? Was it one of the housemates? I can't wait to find out!