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A review by smitchy
Holding by Graham Norton
3.0
This is not the book I expected given Norton's TV persona. Although those of you who follow his advice column may not be as surprised.
A little Irish town is rocked by the discovery of a decades old skeleton on a building site. There has only been one person missing in the town that fits the timeline for the bones. As the local PC investigates three women are shaken by the discovery - a former fiance: now unhappily married mother of 2 Brid; Mrs Meany: a housekeeper for his mother when he was born and finally; Miss Ross: a spinster who once helped with housekeeping for the missing man.
But the DNA throws up a new mystery the bones are not related to the missing man's parents. The case hits a dead end. Building resumes only to discover an even older body; this time of a baby.
This story is not so much a mystery as a study on contemporary life, regret, isolation, guilt and the past shaping the character's future.
It is both thoughtful and has insightful character development. The mystery is secondary to the character development. To be honest I had most of it worked out by half way through but I was curious about the motivation of the killer.
A little Irish town is rocked by the discovery of a decades old skeleton on a building site. There has only been one person missing in the town that fits the timeline for the bones. As the local PC investigates three women are shaken by the discovery - a former fiance: now unhappily married mother of 2 Brid; Mrs Meany: a housekeeper for his mother when he was born and finally; Miss Ross: a spinster who once helped with housekeeping for the missing man.
But the DNA throws up a new mystery the bones are not related to the missing man's parents. The case hits a dead end. Building resumes only to discover an even older body; this time of a baby.
This story is not so much a mystery as a study on contemporary life, regret, isolation, guilt and the past shaping the character's future.
It is both thoughtful and has insightful character development. The mystery is secondary to the character development. To be honest I had most of it worked out by half way through but I was curious about the motivation of the killer.