The Likeness

In the sequel to French's Edgar Award-winning debut, IN THE WOODS, Detective Cassie Maddox attempts to track down the killer of a woman who assumed the persona of a fictional character created to assist in drug busts in Dublin. Maddox must now go undercover as the mystery woman to find the killer. Narrator Heather O'Neill is a perfect choice for narrator. She commands her audience as she steps into Maddox's shoes with ease. O'Neill's Irish accent is pitch-perfect, and the story's emotions come through her words. The novel's climax is frightening and intense, but O'Neill guides listeners through the darkness. L.B. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

Starred review from May 19, 2008
Edgar-winner French blurs the boundaries between victim and cop, memory and fantasy, in this stunning sequel to her debut, In the Woods
. Det. Cassie Maddox, a dead ringer for Lexie Madison, whose body has been found on the outskirts of the Irish village of Glenskehy, agrees to masquerade as Lexie in a police effort to identify her murderer. Cassie journeys to Whitethorn House, the rambling mansion Lexie shared with four fellow Ph.D. students and tells the friends that she survived the attack. As she probes deeper into the close-knit group, Cassie finds herself becoming emotionally attached to the stoic Daniel, sensitive Justin, gadabout Rafe and dependable Abby. But as tensions rise in the house and in Glenskehy, Cassie must decide if the biggest threat comes from without or lurks within. French cleverly subverts the conventions of the locked room mystery, ratcheting up the tension at every turn with her multidimensional characters. Readers looking for a new name in psychological suspense need look no further than this powerful new Irish voice.