August 30, 1975: the day fifteen-year-old Nola Kellerman is glimpsed fleeing through the woods, never to be heard from again; the day Somerset, New Hampshire, lost its innocence. Thirty-three years later, Marcus Goldman, a successful young novelist, visits Somerset to see his mentor, Harry Qu Ebert, one of the country's most respected writers, and to find a cure for his writer's block as his publisher's deadline looms.

But Marcus's plans are violently upended when Harry is suddenly and sensationally implicated in the cold-case murder of Nola Kellerman whom, he admits, he had an affair with. As the national media convicts Harry, Marcus launches his own investigation, following a trail of clues through his mentor's books, the backwoods and isolated beaches of New Hampshire, and the hidden history of Somerset's citizens and the man they hold most dear.

To save Harry, his own writing career, and eventually even himself, Marcus must answer three questions, all of which are mysteriously connected: Who killed Nola Kellerman? What happened one misty morning in Somerset in the summer of 1975? And how do you write a book to save someone's life? Joël Dicker's masterful novel about a struggling writer who resolves to clear the name of an old friend accused of murder is one of the most sought after literary properties of recent times.

Set in New England, and hailed as a great American novel despite its Swiss authorship, The Truth About the Harry Qu Ebert Affair has drawn comparison with the works of Philip Roth and John Steinbeck. Steeped in the heady atmosphere of classic Americana, it signals the emergence of a writer of monumental talent.

Dicker is a terrific storyteller who has written an absolutely gripping mystery, a narrative that continuously surprises its readers as it unravels. It looks fair set to repeat in the Anglo-Saxon world the exceptional success it has enjoyed in Europe.