Point of View

Joel Dicker tells his novel The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair in the first and third-person limited-omniscient perspective, from the point of view of both Marcus and an unknown narrator. The majority of the novel comprises Marcus’s efforts to clear the name of Harry and to get to the truth behind the murder of Nola. Because the investigation is Marcus’s personal effort and will comprise the subject of his own second book, Marcus serves as narrator. He tells about his experiences and everything he learns from them.

The third-person narrator appears in a variety of places throughout the novel, such as in extracts and flashbacks –particularly when it comes to the events of August 30, 1975. Readers watch objectively with the third-person narrator as events unfold. Given the thirty-three year difference between past and present and given the novel’s nature as a thriller...