The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair
by Joel Dicker (Swiss)
2012 (US 2014) – 656 pages
read by Pierce Cravens – 17h 54m
rating 9.25 / literary crime
It’s a rare book which can come off as both a murder- mystery crime novel and literary fiction with some great satire in it. The book was a hit in Europe where it was originally published but, unsurprisingly, not so much in the US . Well, the US is satirized a bit – but not in any kind of mean-spirited way -and it is a huge leap from James Patterson to Joël Dicker.
The story: Back in the 1975 the eponymous Harry Quebert, a published author and professor then 35 years old, had some kind of love affair with Nola Kellergan, a part-time waitress, age 15. She then went missing and now, 33 years later (2008) , her dead body has been found buried in Harry’s yard along with a copy of Harry’s most famous book, The Origin of Evil.
Meanwhile, Harry’s s former student and long-time friend Marcus Goldman, our first person narrator, has written a best seller and is being pressured by his agent and publisher, but can’t come up with a second. Then he finds out that Harry has been arrested for Nola’s murder and goes to New Hampshire to help him. Maybe he could write a book on the situation? >>>>MORE (no spoilers) >>>>
