It looks as though Graham Norton's debut novel Holding will be made into a television show.
The bestselling book about a murder in the fictional Co. Cork town, Duneen, will be produced for television by the former boss of EastEnders, Dominic Treadwell-Collins.
Collins, served as executive producer of the soap for almost three years, and is head of production at Blueprint Pictures - the company behind The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and In Bruges.
Norton confirmed that it has bought the rights to the novel to turn it into a TV series.
The launch was held on Wednesday night at the London department store Liberty and during his speech the chat-show host joked that had sold the rights for enough money to buy the shop saying the novel had been sold "for millions and millions of pounds. It was a bidding war and I bought Liberty . . .".
Afterwards a source told the London Evening Standard that the novel's engaging storyline made it an easy-sell saying "There’s a level of quality that we thought we could turn into proper international television".
The reviews for his fiction debut have so far been impressive and the book is currently nestling at the top of the bestseller list. The Guardian said the novel was "a solidly written piece of popular fiction...", while the Irish Independent said it was "a rather fine novel" and suggested that he was "wasted on television".
Meanwhile, Norton will be in Dublin on Monday next for a public talk about Holding at The Mansion House in Dublin.
