Holding
The Sunday Times Bestseller - AS SEEN ON ITV
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4.0 • 339 Ratings
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- £4.99
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- £4.99
Publisher Description
**NOW A MAJOR TV DRAMA SERIES**
'A gentle comic crime story' The Guardian
'Poised and perceptive' Sunday Times
'a beautiful piece of writing with a great story and fantastic, full bodied characters. All this with glorious West Cork as its setting...irresistible.' Kathy Burke
'... a deftly plotted story as moving as it is compelling' Sunday Mirror
'Deeply accomplished ... brilliantly observed' Good Housekeeping
'... one of the more authentic debuts I've read in recent years ... in such an understated manner, eschewing linguistic eccentricity ... in favour of genuine characters and tender feeling ... this is a fine novel' John Boyne, Irish Times
'It's funny and wonderfully perceptive' Wendy Holden
'It is beautiful and yet devastatingly sad' Daily Express
'Strenuously charming ... surprisingly tender' Metro
'Heartwarming and observant' Stylist
The remote Irish village of Duneen has known little drama; and yet its inhabitants are troubled. Sergeant PJ 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.
Darkly comic, touching and at times profoundly sad. Graham Norton employs his acerbic wit to breathe life into a host of lovable characters, and explore - with searing honesty - the complexities and contradictions that make us human.
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.
Holding
More like a Maeve Binchy chat along than a thrilling thriller but an easy enough read
Definitely recommend
Gentle and yet a real page Turner.