Holly

Holly (2023), a novel by prolific author Stephen King, is a standalone crime thriller featuring recurring character Holly Gibney, a private investigator who previously appeared in King’s Bill Hodges series, the 2018 novel The Outsider, and the 2020 novella collection If It Bleeds. In the novel, Holly, now working as a private investigator, takes on the case of a missing woman named Bonnie Dahl. As Holly narrows in on her unlikely murderers, King tackles themes of Perception Versus Reality, The Complexity of Parent-Child Relationships, Resilience Against Hardships, and The Inevitability of Aging and Death. The novel also touches on timely socio-political themes: Set in America during the COVID-19 pandemic, Holly has been lauded by critics as King’s political novel to date.

This guide refers to the 2023 Scribner print edition of Holly.

Content Warning: This novel contains brief mentions of suicidal ideation and incidents of graphic violence, sexual assault, and racism and intolerance toward gay people. Racial and homophobic slurs which appear in the source text are obscured in this guide.

Plot Summary

Holly is divided into unnumbered chapters, each titled with the date at which the chapter’s events take place.