Holding
The instant bestseller from the author of FRANKIE
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4.0 • 384 Ratings
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- £2.99
Publisher Description
⭐ Graham Norton's debut novel: a beloved Sunday Times bestseller ⭐
'Deeply accomplished, with brilliantly observed, entertaining characters and an atmospheric setting'
GOOD HOUSEKEEPING
'One of the more authentic debuts I've read in recent years... A fine novel'
IRISH TIMES
'Charming... highly enjoyable... A gentle comic crime story'
GUARDIAN
'A beautiful piece of writing'
KATHY BURKE
'Heartwarming and observant'
STYLIST
'As moving as it is compelling'
SUNDAY MIRROR
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; mother of two BRID RIORDAN 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 are discovered on an old farm, suspected to be that of TOMMY BURKE - a former love of both Brid and Evelyn - the village's dark past begins to unravel.
As the frustrated PJ struggles to solve a genuine case for the first time in his life, he unearths a community's worth of anger and resentments, secrets and regret.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
British TV personality Norton (So Me, a memoir) makes his fiction debut with a wistful, atmospheric mystery starring Sgt. Patrick James "PJ" Collins, the solitary, overweight keeper of the peace in the backwater town of Duneen, Ireland. Nothing exciting ever happens in Duneen until the day the crew at a housing development under construction unearths human bones. The forensic team from Cork confirms the remains are of a young adult male who died of a blow to the head. Could the bones belong to Tommy Burke, who disappeared from Duneen 20 years earlier, after his romantic triangle with two local girls came to a bad end? The story around town is that someone saw Tommy board a bus to head for London, but no one has seen or heard from him since. As the investigation unfolds, nothing is as it first appears. For some, hearts broken long ago have not healed, while other lonely, forgotten people have carried on as best they can. PJ doesn't believe in happy endings, but, as this winning tale shows, sometimes things work themselves out in ways no one could have imagined.
Customer Reviews
Great
Nicely written , had a real Irish feeling which Graham Norton made seem very authentic. Gently story with a great ending unexpected.Would read another.
Lovely easy read
This book gripped me from the first page, well written and easy to read. Will read more by this author.
Poor
Very basic story telling ability, the plot and characters were described on a superficial level only and powerful themes were hastily skimmed over. It was difficult to engage with characters as none had any real substance to them, their presence throughout consisted of a very simple set of actions and mundane conversations and no personality whatsoever, the only thing which distinguished the characters from one another was their names. All in all a quite tiresome read despite a half decent plot buried deep beneath the stagnant prose.