Point of View

This novel is written in the first person point of view. The narrator is Tempe Brennan, an anthropologist who works with the coroner's office in Montreal and professor at the University of North Carolina in Charlotte, North Carolina. When in Montreal, Tempe works on a case involving a house fire that requires her assistance in excavating a badly burned corpse. Back in Charlotte, Tempe helps track down a connection to this house fire in Beaufort, North Carolina. The point of view remains with Tempe throughout the novel, never straying into the mind of another character, allowing a tight narration that adds to the suspense of the novel.

The point of view of the novel works well because it keeps the narration tight, removing all confusion that might occur in a novel written through the point of view of multiple characters. This point of view also allows...