Point of View

The novel is written with two separate points of view. The bulk of the novel is written in the third person point of view. These chapters are seen through the narration of multiple characters, including Inspector Lynley, his partner, Sergeant Havers, and Jean Cooper Fleming. These chapters follow the investigation and explore not only the evidence related to the case, but the relationships between the various characters. Along with the regular, numbered chapters there are chapters in the novel titled Olivia. These sections are first person narrations of the life of Olivia Whitelaw that includes the confession of Kenneth Fleming's killer.

The point of view of the regular chapters is third person omniscient, allowing the reader to build a relationship with the various characters of the novel and to know certain events that the reader might not otherwise know. The sections of the novel titled Olivia...