From Graham Norton, the BAFTA-award-winning Irish television host and author of the “sparkling and impish” (Daily Mail) memoirs The Life and Loves of a He Devil and So Me, 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. The remote Irish village of Duneen has known little drama … village of Duneen has known little drama but when human remains are discovered on an old farm, suspected to be that of Tommy Burke–a former lover of two different inhabitants–the village’s dark past begins to unravel. As the frustrated sergeant PJ Collins 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.
In this darkly comic, touching, and at times heartbreaking novel, perfect for fans of J.K. Rowling’s The Casual Vacancy, Graham Norton employs his acerbic wit to breathe life into a host of loveable characters, and explore–with searing honesty–the complexities and contradictions that make us human.more
I happened upon this book when I was looking for my next audio listen.
I love Graham’s talk show and accent, so when I discovered the man himself was voicing Holding, I quickly downloaded it.
Quirky characters. A small Irish village where everyone knows everybody else. A murder or two. Fun, chatty, and endearing. Impressive.
I wanted a sequel but sadly there isn’t one yet!
A cosy crime story set in a small Irish village, where the matters of the past have impact on the present. A love triangle, skeletal remains and an overweight garda combine to make for a folksy tale, filled with enjoyable characters and an easy read. The first novel by well know television personality Graham Norton with a rating of three-stars.
Quaint, charming story set in a quaint, charming Irish Village.
If you’ve watched Graham Norton’s talk show, you’ll read this book with his voice in your head.
Good plot with subplots that are intertwined and have lots of twists and turns until they wind themselves into a satisfying conclusion.
One warning/spoiler: though this is marketed as a cozy mystery, there are some swear words and one graphic scene involving sexual assault.
I got so absorbed by this story and characters I was transported to this village.
If Maeve Binchy had ever written a murder mystery, this would have been it. And what a fresh take on a tired genre it is. We have the suspense of the police investigation with a very endearing lead police officer, but also an array of villagers whose lives are passing them by. It takes the unearthing of old bones to remind them of the thrills and secrets of their long-gone youth.
It’s told in a pleasingly old-fashioned style with a universal narration that slips into all the characters’ viewpoints, even in the same scene, and gives us plenty of backstory. It was only references to the internet and mobile phones that reminded me it was set in the present day. A bit clunky when trying to get into the head of a teenage girl, but a lovely read nonetheless. Hope Mr Norton writes another.
A surprisingly well written book (to me, at least) by Graham Norton. The author has a great ability to provide realistic characters in a story that takes place in a small village in Ireland. The story revolves around a skeleton that is found in the land where a new building is being erected. The story turns into a cold-case mystery when the identity of the skeleton is being investigated. Is this skeleton the remains of a young man who mysteriously left the village twenty years ago? If so, how did his body end up buried in this land? If the skeleton is not the young man in question, the damage to the skeletal remains lead investigators to assume a murder was involved.
This book is an easy read with well rounded characters. The characters in this novel are as important as the mystery. I left this book satisfied with a resolved mystery, but I also left the book with wanting to know more about the characters and the village that they live in.
If you are an Agatha Christie or PD James fan, this book might seem very light but if you like stories that are character-driven then this book will be fulfilling.