Point of View

The novel is written in third-person from the limited perspective of Mariana. The limited perspective is necessary in murder mysteries in order to preserve the author's ability to provide the twist at the end, revealing the real murderer. The reader knows only what Mariana knows. Information is revealed when Mariana makes observations and when other characters talk to her. Mariana is a psychologist which means she has greater insight into the other characters. This helps her evaluate other people and situations, and she tries to be open and honest with that information, giving the reader the advantage of her insight. That becomes a major failure, however, because Mariana loves Zoe and is deeply grieving Sebastian's death. That results in her inability to accept what she knows to be true when she reads Sebastian's letter to Zoe. She goes with Zoe because she is too shocked...