The Resemblance Review

Author: Lauren Nossett

Genre: Mystery Thriller

Publisher: Flatiron Books

Release Date: Nov. 1, 2022

Purchase Link: Amazon

Thanks to the publisher for a copy of this book.

Review:

THE RESEMBLANCE is a story that focuses on the dark, dangerous, ugly side of university life - fraternities, brotherhood, hazing, bullying, misogyny, injustices against race and religion.  It's a story of privilege, loyalties, friendship and the burning need of humans to belong.  It's a story of accountability and power . . . or the lack thereof.  It's a story of murder.

Detective Marlitt Kaplan is visiting her mother on the campus where she teaches when screams are heard from the street outside.  Rushing out, she finds fraternity brother Jay Kemp lying dead in the crosswalk - a victim of a grinning hit-and-run driver that witnesses swear looked exactly like Jay.  Marlitt is familiar with the university's dark history involving fraternities and hazing and soon follows her investigation alongside partner Teddy White right back to the Greek system and the wealthy students whose parents wield enough power to cover up their indiscretions even when they cross the line into criminal activities.  The things the detectives learn sends chills through Marlitt as they're reminiscent of haunting memories and ghosts from her own dark past.  Soon, she's receiving threats, and it becomes apparent that the tangled roots of brotherhood may extend beyond the campus into the police department and city where she works.  The story that ensues is dark, intense and complex bordering on a commentary on the dark side of university life.

Lauren Nosett has crafted an intense, dark tale with convoluted plot lines and complex characters maneuvering their way through an age-old corrupt university system with its ugly history as ancient as Rome.  I enjoyed the heroine's tenacity, strength and dedication to doing the right thing in spite of the cost to herself, but at the same time she's prone to detouring from procedure to go off on her own with indications of immaturity.  The investigation into the murder case goes in several directions which may cause some readers to lose concentration; however, the author does a great job of weaving it all back together by the end.  I found the commentary on university life and fraternity culture to be eye-opening and compelling.  THE RESEMBLANCE is taut, sinister and educational - a unique blend of psychological thriller and police procedural.  

Synopsis:

Never betray the brotherhood.

On a chilly November morning at the University of Georgia, a fraternity brother steps off a busy crosswalk and is struck dead by an oncoming car. More than a dozen witnesses all agree on two things: The driver looked identical to the victim, and he was smiling.

Detective Marlitt Kaplan is first on the scene. An Athens native and the daughter of a UGA professor, she knows all its shameful histories, from the skull discovered under the foundations of Baldwin Hall to the hushed-up murder-suicide in Waddel. But in the course of investigating this hit-and-run, she will uncover more chilling secrets as she explores the sprawling, interconnected Greek system that entertains and delights the university’s most elite and connected students.

The lines between Marlitt’s policework and her own past increasingly blur as Marlitt seeks to bring to justice an institution that took something precious from her many years ago. When threats against her escalate, and some long-buried secrets threaten to come to the surface, she can’t help but question whether the corruption in Athens has run off campus and into the force and how far these brotherhoods will go to protect their own.