Point of View

This novel is written from the point of view of a third-person narrator. This narrator is not omniscient. He knows only what is in each character’s thought or what characters reveal to one another in their conversations. For instance, the narrator does not know that Amelia is working in cooperation with Gamache to locate the drugs when she is kicked out of the Sûreté Academy. The narrator also does not know how deeply Benedict is involved in Katie’s plan to get her family and the Baumgartners to follow the Baroness’ wishes and split any money that might be left in the inheritance between the two families. The narrator only records as Benedict lies to Gamache and Beauvoir again and again.

The use of a third-person point of view is ideal since the action of the novel switches between scenes with Gamache, scenes...