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. Graham Norton is the award-winning host of The Graham Norton Show, one of the most popular programs on BBC America. He is the author of the bestselling memoirs So Me and The Life and Loves of a He Devil. He lives in London and is the author of the novels Holding and A Keeper.
