Holly Gibney was introduced to readers in Stephen King's 'Bill Hodges Trilogy' which begins with 'Mr. Mercedes.' In the trilogy, Bill Hodges is a retired police detective who investigates crimes with the help of an amateur team that includes Holly, a shy computer whiz;
and Jerome Robinson, a bright young man headed for Harvard.
Holly has now come into her own as an investigator, and she and ex-cop Pete Huntley run a private detective agency called 'Finders Keepers.'
Holly also gets some part-time assistance from Jerome Robinson, who's now in college; and Jerome's sister Barbara, a student.
The book 'Holly' is set in the middle of the Covid pandemic, at a time when most people are vaccinated, wear masks, avoid shaking hands, and so on. Holly is very meticulous about evading infection, and is extremely conscious that her business partner Pete is home with the coronavirus; and her mother, who refused to be vaccinated, died from the disease.
Holly is grieving the loss of her mother, and dealing with surprising revelations that followed her mother's death, so she's planning to take a break from work.
Then Holly gets a call from a woman called Penny Dahl. Penny says her daughter Bonnie Dahl, an assistant librarian at nearby Bell College, has disappeared. Penny is distraught, and wants to hire Finders Keepers to look for Bonnie.
Holly accepts the job, and since Pete is sick, has to do the legwork herself. Holly gets some data mining assistance from Jerome and Barbara, but they're both students - and aspiring writers - and are busy with other things.
Holly soon discovers that Bonnie Dahl was last seen in a convenience store, and after Bonnie vanished, her abandoned bike was found with a scrap of paper reading 'I've had enough.'
Holly rightly shrugs off this 'goodbye note' as a plant, and before long, Holly connects Bonnie's disappearance with a string of missing people, one going back almost a decade.
The kidnappings are being perpetrated by a married couple, Emily and Rodney Harris, who are elderly emeritus professors at Bell College. Emily is an English teacher and Rodney is a research biologist who specializes in nutrition and health. The couple, who are still lovebirds after decades of married life, are - to put it bluntly - cannibals. (Not a spoiler; the book starts off with this duo's antics.)
I'm happy to see Holly - who was once so timid she could barely speak above a whisper - take charge as a detective. Holly approaches witnesses; interviews them; puts two and two together; and comes to intelligent conclusions.
I must admit though, that one thing Holly does may have readers yelling, "Don't do it! Don't go there".....as the audience sometimes does in horror movies.
In any case, the book is an exciting suspense thriller, highly recommended.
FYI: Stephen King is not shy about his political leanings, and Holly and other 'good guy' characters are sensible, vaccinated, and knock elbows instead of shaking hands. Conversely, creepy 'bad guy' pro-Trump characters insist Covid is the flu or a hoax and refuse to get vaccinated or wear masks. So it this offends you, you might want to skip this book.
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