Holding: A Novel

By: Graham Norton

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Synopsis: A New York Times bestseller From Graham Norton—the BAFTA Award–winning and hugely popular BBC America television host—comes a charming debut novel set in an idyllic Irish village where a bumbling investigator has to sort through decades of gossip and secrets to solve a mysterious crime. &“With its tale of provincial life, gimlet-eyed spinsters, and thwarted love…it feels almost like a Miss Marple mystery written by Colm Tóibín&” (The New York Times).The remote Irish village of Duneen has known little drama, and yet its inhabitants are troubled: Sergeant P.J. Collins hasn&’t always been this overweight; Brid Riordan, a mother of two, hasn&’t always been an alcoholic; and elegant Evelyn Ross hasn&’t always felt that her life was a total waste. So when human remains—suspected to be those of Tommy Burke, a former lover of both Brid and Evelyn—are discovered on an old farm, the village&’s dark past begins to unravel. As a frustrated P.J. struggles to solve a genuine case for the first time in his professional life, he unearths a community&’s worth of anger and resentments, secrets and regrets. Darkly comic, at times profoundly sad, and &“especially inviting because of its tongue-in-cheek wit&” (Kirkus Reviews), Holding is a masterful debut. Graham Norton employs his acerbic humor to breathe life into a host of lovable characters, and explore—with searing honesty—the complexities and contradictions that make us human.