Death of a Hollow Man is a work of detective fiction

Detective fiction

Detective fiction is a sub-genre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator , either professional or amateur, investigates a crime, often murder.-In ancient literature:...

 by Caroline Graham

Caroline Graham

Caroline Graham is an English playwright, screenwriter and novelist.Graham was born in Nuneaton, studied with the Open University, and received a degree in writing for the theatre from the University of Birmingham. Her first published book was Fire Dance, a romance novel...

, the second in her Chief Inspector

Chief inspector

Chief inspector is a rank used in police forces which follow the British model. In countries outside Britain, it is sometimes referred to as chief inspector of police .-Australia:...

 Barnaby

Tom Barnaby

Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Geoffrey "Tom" Barnaby is a fictional detective created by Caroline Graham. DCI Barnaby is featured in the Chief Inspector Barnaby book series which began with The Killing at Badger's Drift in 1987. Barnaby is also the main detective in Midsomer Murders, a popular...

 series, which has been adapted into the successful ITV

ITV

ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...

 drama

Drama

Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...

 Midsomer Murders

Midsomer Murders

Midsomer Murders is a British television detective drama that has aired on ITV since 1997. The show is based on the books by Caroline Graham, as originally adapted by Anthony Horowitz. The lead character is DCI Tom Barnaby who works for Causton CID. When Nettles left the show in 2011 he was...

.

Plot summary

While attending an amateur production of Amadeus

Amadeus

Amadeus is a play by Peter Shaffer.It is based on the lives of the composers Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri, highly fictionalized.Amadeus was first performed in 1979...

with his wife, Joyce, Chief Inspector Barnaby witnesses the gruesome, all-too realistic murder of an actor on stage, after the fake prop knife used to slit his character's throat is replaced with a real one.

As he investigates the shocking crime, Barnaby unearths a whole host of dark passions and resentments nestling beneath the surviving cast's genial facade...

Publication history

• United Kingdom
  United Kingdom
  The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
  
  : 1989, Century (imprint of Random House), London, 1989, Hardback, 272 p., ISBN 0712629114.
• United States
  United States
  The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
  
  : 1989, Morrow, New York City, 1989, Hardback, 268 p., ISBN 0688091164.

T.V adaptation

The novel was adapted into the third episode of Midsomer Murders, starring (alongside regulars John Nettles

John Nettles

John Vivian Drummond Nettles, OBE is an English actor, historian and writer who is best known for playing the lead roles in Bergerac and Midsomer Murders.-Early life:...

 and Daniel Casey

Daniel Casey

-Early life:The son of journalist and television presenter Luke Casey, he grew up in Stockton-on-Tees and attended Grey College, Durham, graduating with a BA in English Literature before pursuing a career in acting.-Career:...

) Bernard Hepton

Bernard Hepton

Bernard Hepton is a British actor of stage, film and television.Hepton is known as a particularly versatile character actor. He trained at Bradford Civic Theatre school under Esme Church along with actors such as Robert Stephens...

, Debra Stephenson

Debra Stephenson

Debra Stephenson is an English actress, comedian, impressionist and singer.-Career:At the age of fourteen Stephenson appeared on BBC TV's Opportunity Knocks, winning her way through to the All-Winners' Final, broadcast live from the London Palladium...

, Janine Duvitski

Janine Duvitski

Janine Duvitski is an English actress, known for her roles as Jane Edwards in Waiting for God and Pippa Trench in One Foot in the Grave. She also created and played the role of Angela in Mike Leigh's play Abigail's Party.-Personal life:Duvitski was born in Nottingham. Her father was Polish...

, Angela Pleasence

Angela Pleasence

Angela Pleasence is an English actress. She is the daughter of actor Donald Pleasence and his first wife, Miriam Raymond. The surname for both daughter and father has occasionally been miscredited as "Pleasance"...

, Nicholas Le Prevost

Nicholas Le Prevost

Nicholas Le Prevost is an English actor. He was educated at Shaftesbury Grammar School, Shaftesbury, Dorset from 1957 to 1961 and at Kingswood School, Bath from 1961 to 1964...

 and John Cater

John Cater

John Edward Cater was an English actor.His television credits include: Danger Man, Z Cars, The Avengers, The Baron, Doctor Who , Follyfoot, Softly, Softly, Department S, Up Pompeii!, Dad's Army, The Naked Civil Servant, I, Claudius, Alcock and Gander, The Duchess of...

.