Never Flinch

Holly Gibney is a private detective working in Buckeye City for Finders Keepers, an agency she inherited from her friend Bill Hodges. Holly is a Sherlock Holmes type of detective with superior recall, observational skills, and intelligence. When the novel opens, Holly is working to locate stolen jewelry for an insurance company, which she finds tedious and antithetical to her interests. She becomes involved in the Surrogate Juror Murder investigation simply because it is more interesting to her than her current case. Similarly, she takes the job as Kate’s bodyguard out of interest in Kate’s work and an investment in keeping Kate and Corrie safe. Holly’s readiness to choose exciting and interesting jobs over the mundane work on Finders Keepers highlights her curiosity and ambition, though she is not always sure of her own abilities.

Holly’s defining characteristic is her self-doubt, which could also be seen as humility. She is careful not to suggest that she is smarter than others, especially her friends, like Izzy, but this modesty often manifests as the voice of her mother, Charlotte Gibney, disparaging Holly. In some instances, Holly is literally paralyzed by self-doubt, such as in her pursuit of Kate and the moments she spends outside Holman Rink, unsure of what to do.