The Likeness by Tana French

Why is it that I don't find these books? I guess I'm not looking in the right places. On the other hand, maybe it is just as well that I am not out there scouting for new stuff, as it is my friends generally tell me what I should be reading - and I don't have to do the screening - and goodness knows that I have little enough time as it is. So, why exactly have I joined another book club?

This one is our book club book for next month. I'm glad I ordered her first one, too. Should be here tomorrow - maybe. Now that I am actually participating in two book clubs I wish we actually had settled on some sort of name for the club of long standing. I'll have to figure out some way to distinguish between them besides the "old" book club and the "new" book club.

This is not a formula mystery novel. Like the Moning novels it is set in Ireland, however, French is Irish. She is writing on her home turf. There are occasional linguistic issues, but it is one of those "don't worry about it, just keep reading" things. Like the last of the Gerritsen books that I read, the entire plot hinges on the uncanny physical likeness of two women. But where Gerritsen makes her character one of identical twins adopted by different families, French doesn't bother to explain it. Cassie is able to pass for "Lexie" even to her nearest and dearest by some cosmic coincidence. That should be a weakness, but somehow I just accepted it because the rest of the story is so compelling.

One of my favorite bits is Lexie's thesis (or I think we would call it a dissertation). Her topic has to do with women writing under men's names. Could indeed make a fascinating subject for research.

I really didn't expect/intend to finish this today. I had plenty of work to do - and I did spend a large chunk of the day yesterday redoing the task that I lost when I closed an unsaved file. But today every time I started to do some work, I thought - this would be so much easier at my desk at school - and - I'll just read one more chapter - until I just gave it up and read.