Amsterdam

Amsterdam is the main setting of the novel and is the place where M, Herman, Laura, and Landzaat all live or have lived. The main action takes place in a particular and unnamed neighborhood of Amsterdam, where Herman has lived for the majority of his life and M has become a very recent resident. Amsterdam is the setting for Herman's surveillance of M's final days, and of the events that took place during Herman's high school years. Several book signings and book readings (as well as the Book Ball) take place in Amsterdam in this novel.

Terhofstede

Terhofstede is the small village in Zeeland where Laura Domenech's parents have a summer home. Laura and Herman (along with their friends) make frequent use of the holiday cottage for unsupervised getaways, and Terhofstede is also the last place where Jan Landzaat is seen alive. It is here that Jan intrudes...