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 loveable characters, and explore - with searing honesty - the complexities and contradictions that make us human.
I'm a fan of Graham Norton, and so when I saw he had released his debut novel I thought it was worth a read. I have to saw I really enjoyed this book. Set in Duneen, a small Irish Village, the novels centres around a set of bones found on a building site in the village. We meet Sergeant Collins, who at 53, overweight and with having no lasting relationships feels he has become a bit of laughing stock, we follow him as he tries to deal with his first murder case, as well as the arrival of Detective Superintendent Dunne from Cork who has taken control of the case. We follow the story from person to person as more details of the case emerge and the secrets of the villagers are set to be revealed.
It may be a crime novel but I don't feel that is what draws you into this novel, Norton has done a great job at setting up the scene of village life and you get drawn in by the characters and their secrets and more importantly how they react and how they cope when their secrets are revealed. Overall I thought this was a really good debut novel and I hope their are more fiction books from Graham in the future.
If you're interested in reading Holding you can buy it HERE.
Thanks for reading, Sam
