Point of View

The point of view of A Dangerous Business is exclusively third-person. However, the narrator has a view into main character Eliza's mind, often elucidating her thoughts and feelings. This is unique to Eliza, as the narrator doesn't offer the same insights into other characters' minds. The narrator is reliable, but the fact that the reader gains insight into Eliza's mind allows Smiley to portray some of the fear and paranoia that Eliza experiences while keeping things mostly objective and not going too far away from reality. All the same, there are moments where it is unclear whether we should trust Eliza's perspective entirely. As more murders take place in Monterey, coupled with Eliza herself encountering evidence of the murders and occasionally even stumbling across the bodies, she becomes much more (justifiably) hyper-vigilant, occasionally suspecting men she encounters who have nothing to do with the crimes...