By Cameron Woodhead
Holding
Graham Norton
Holding. By Graham Norton.
Hodder & Stoughton, $32.99
Popular British comedian and chat show host Graham Norton adds another string to his bow with this debut detective novel. If you were expecting the flamboyant persona and outbursts of wit he brings to the small screen, you're in for a surprise. Holding has a more recessed, relaxed appeal. Set in a rural Irish town where everyone seems a bit lost and melancholy, the book focuses on PJ, a policeman who keeps boredom and insecurity at bay by comfort eating. His job becomes suddenly less dull when a body is discovered near the local school, and a disturbing cold case is reopened. Suspects, including a house full of spinster sisters, are everywhere, and PJ must work around a patronising city cop to solve the mystery. It's measured, readable and blarney-free small-town crime.