The town of Hemlock Falls is in the midst of preparations for History Days when several unexpected guests arrive at the Hemlock Falls Inn. Mrs.Hallenback and her companion asked for a specific room but were given another and Keith Baumer arrived without a reservation.
Problems continue with the portrayer of the central character of the history play falling ill, a suspected food critics arrival, the death of one of the townsfolk during play rehearsal, and the disappearance of the inn manager.
Sarah Quiliam the owner needs to get to the bottom of the problems before her property is shut down and she loses her investment.
The details of the history play as well as the "Holy Rollers" arrival added a touch of humor and kept the story moving to an interesting conclusion. I had to look closely at the publication date because I was wondering where the tech items until I realized when this was written.
THANKS LINDA P! Now I have 17 more books to add to my wishlist!
★★★
GENRE: Cozy Mystery
CHARACTERS: Sarah Quilliam, Meg Quilliam, Marge Schmidt, John Raintree, Amelia Hallenback, Mavis Collinworth, Keith Baumer
Series/ Progress: Hemlock Falls Mystery 1/18
DATE READ: August 27 - August 31
NO. OF PAGES: 240
Challenges: 75, Category, TIOLI , AlphaKit
SOURCE: Gift from Linda P.
★★★★¾
The second book in a series is usually dedicated to revealing more of a character than what we saw in the first book, however in "THE LIKENESS" Cassie Maddox has to go back to the undercover role that she played in the first book because that identity has been stolen and used by the victim in this book.
The case dubbed Operation Mirror is unusual because one would think that if the identity had been stolen, then Cassie would be unable to physically reclaim it, however, the victim is the spitting image of Cassie.
Frank Mackey, Cassie's undercover boss, borrows her from her everyday Domestic Violence team, and sets to work preparing her to undertake the impersonation of the victim to try and find the murderer. Frank drills her for a week on all the details hat he can find out about the dead Lexie and then reveals to her housemates that she will be coming home with memory loss of the attack and some of the time around then.
Frank sends her into Whitethorn House which Lexie had shared with 4 other students. Cassie/Lexie is bandaged as if she had survived the attack and underneath the bandage she is wired. But certain details were not in Cassie/Lexie's training and she has to tread lightly so as to not give up her secret.
Cassie/Lexie's appearance has the others rattled believing that she had been fatally wounded. But slowly Cassie becomes the friend that they lost and she works to undercover what really happened the night of Lexie Madison's murder.
Cassie is changed by the experience, at times wishing that she was Lexie because of the camaraderie of the group, and finding that times she wants to protect her "friends" from the police. The contrast of their closeness to her real life where she has few friends and currently a boyfriend who doesn't agree with her assignment, have Cassie putting herself in danger.
By the time I had read 12 pages, I was hooked. The story was so engaging that I literally couldn't put it down. It had to fall out of my hand before I would turn out the light to sleep. Yes, the book could have been edited down to fewer pages and still told the story, but then the reader would have missed out on the growth of the character and the complex interactions between all of the characters. A great follow-up on the first from the series!
GENRE: Mystery
SUBJECT: identity theft, friendship
Setting: Glenskehy, Ireland
CHARACTERS: Cassandra Maddox, Lexie Madison, Frank Mackey, Sam O'Neill, Daniel March, Justin Mannering, Rafe Hyland, Abby Stone
DATE READ: July 17 - July 30
NO. OF PAGES: 887
Challenges: 75, Category, TIOLI,
SOURCE: Whisper1 gift
PLOT:....................................................................5.00
CHARACTERIZATION:.......................................5.00
TOPICS: ...............................................................5.00
STYLE:..................................................................4.50
ORIGINALITY:.......................................................4.50
ADDICTIVENESS:..............................................5.00
OWNERSHIP:......................................................4.50
Threshold Quality.................................................4.50
Average..............................................................................................4.75
