Who killed Nola in The Truth about the Harry Quebert Affair?

A still of Nola from The Truth About The Harry Quebert Affair Trailer. (Image Via: Hachette Australia Books, YouTube)
A still of Nola from The Truth About The Harry Quebert Affair Trailer. (Image Via: Hachette Australia Books, YouTube)

The Truth about the Harry Quebert Affair presents to the audience at home an interesting puzzle that only comes to be solved and completed at the very end.

For those who kept asking who killed Nola Kellergan, the answer finally comes in the finale, i.e., in episode 10, when the truth finally comes to the surface on top after three long decades of lies that had been kept deeply buried.

It is finally out in the open and revealed that Chief Gareth Pratt and Officer Travis Dawn were the ones responsible for Nola's death, covering their crime in piles of deception and lies that had once framed Harry Quebert for a murder he never committed.


The layers of secrets behind Nola’s death in The Truth about the Harry Quebert Affair

What makes The Truth about the Harry Quebert Affair so interesting to analyze is that Nola's murder is not a straightforward crime, but rather it is a web of secrets, lies and cover-ups, and false tracks. At first, all five fingers are pointed at Harry Quebert, her mentor and, well, also her secret lover.

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Their letters, their closeness, their relationship, and her sudden vanishing are what gave investigators more than enough reason to treat him as someone who could be guilty. Thirty-three years later, Marcus Goldman, Harry's former student, becomes trapped in the case and begins to peel back the lies piece by piece.

The reveal that Chief Pratt and Travis Dawn killed Nola all those years ago changes everything.

On the night of August 30, 1975, the two officers thought Luther Caleb was a threat to Nola. In a desperate attempt to protect themselves, they killed Luther, only for Nola to be an eyewitness to their crime.

What followed in The Truth about the Harry Quebert Affair was that Nola herself sadly became a target, silenced to keep the truth hidden and buried. Deborah Cooper, the woman who tried to shelter her, was also killed in the process, making the officers' crimes even darker and grimmer.

The haunting part of The Truth about the Harry Quebert Affair is that these men wore the badge of law while committing these atrocities. They weren't just investigating the case; they were the very builders of its tragedy. By burying Nola's body on Harry's property, they were able to twist the narrative and have an innocent man locked up for decades of facing suspicion.


Twists that redefined every character in The Truth about the Harry Quebert Affair

The Truth about the Harry Quebert Affair doesn't stop at only revealing who the killers were. What makes it unforgettable is how every character's mask slowly slips off their faces.

A still from The Truth About The Harry Quebert Affair Trailer. (Image Via: Hachette Australia Books, YouTube)
A still from The Truth About The Harry Quebert Affair Trailer. (Image Via: Hachette Australia Books, YouTube)

Travis Dawn comes off as not just being involved but also deeply involved as someone who is entirely corrupt, eliminating Gareth once the chief was ready to confess.

His actions were not driven by guilt but by the need to protect or safeguard his reputation, even though his past crimes against Nola were clear. In doing so, Travis made sure that the cycle of cover-ups was to be continued, with the blame pinned elsewhere.

Even Harry, though innocent of Nola's murder, carried his own secret. He had stolen Luther Caleb's manuscript, passing it off as his own creative work.

The irony is chilling, is it not? While Harry stood accused of murder, the crime he truly committed was one of theft and betrayal, a choice that haunted his career and reputation.

Nola, on the other hand, was also not the angelic victim she seemed to be. Troubled, self-destructive, and carrying scars from her past, she added yet another complex layer to the story.

By the time Marcus finds out the truth, the entire world of Somerset is turned inside out and upside down.

With The Truth about the Harry Quebert Affair, the authorities are the ones revealed to be the final villains, the innocent carry guilty secrets, and love letters are revealed as imitations that changed lives forever. The twists keep spinning until the final episode, making sure that no one remains exactly who we thought they were.


The Truth about the Harry Quebert Affair leaves us with the truth that Nola was killed by Chief Gareth Pratt and Travis Dawn, i.e., the very men sworn to protect the town.

Yet the murder was only a part of a larger story about lies, ambition, and betrayal. In the end, it wasn't just Nola's life that was taken away, but the illusions around every character, making this mystery as much about human weakness as it was about crime.

Edited by Zainab Shaikh