Book #9: The Likeness

Title: The Likeness
Author: Tana French

I loved Tana French's debut novel, In the Woods, so the bar was raised high for The Likeness. The premise is a bit improbable, Irish Detective Cassie Maddox goes undercover to try to solve a murder-- by posing as the deceased, to whom she bears a striking resemblance. She moves into her house, lives with her uncommonly close roommates, and tries to figure out who killed Lexi Madison (itself an assumed identity that Maddox created years earlier-- it's complicated), while trying not to fall too deeply into Madison's life.

French gets it just right-- there's enough action to make the book a page turner, a thriller, a mystery, but it's more than that. I've always loved PD James because James has the ability to turn mystery stories into art by developing great characters. I feel like Cassie Maddox may be the heir apparent to Cordelia Gray and Adam Dalgliesh.