A blend of contemporary grief and classic whodunit that never quite delivers on its promise. Despite polished writing and nods to Christie‑style mysteries, the two threads feel disconnected, and the ending fizzles without the satisfying payoff it seems to be building toward.

I really enjoyed this one, it’s sharp, witty, and had me hooked right from the start. The characters are messy in all the best ways, and I loved how the story dug into ambition, rivalry, and the blurry line between competition and obsession. It’s clever without being too heavy, and I tore through it in just a couple of sittings. My only niggle was that a few moments felt a little over the top, which kept it from being a full five stars.

I’m so sorry, this just didn’t do it for me. I’ve read so many locked room style mysteries that I think I’ve spoiled myself and I find most of them a bit samey. This one didn’t hold my attention - though entirely willing to admit that maybe says more about me than the book.

Dnf'd this at 35%

I really enjoyed the first part, however the writing style changes with part 2 and I found myself completely confused. I tried to push through, but unfortunately had to admit defeat.

I found this difficult to connect with, the characters simplistic, with a heavy narrative reliance on ‘show don’t tell’ which made the writing feel disjointed and overly pared back.

The premise is intriguing, after Abigail hosts a New Year’s Eve murder mystery party with her friends, her brother is found dead in his locked room the following day. What follows is both Abigail’s journey through grief and a detective story as she tries to uncover the truth behind his death.

While I didn’t enjoy the style or pacing, I can see this appealing to dedicated fans of detective fiction who enjoy piecing together mysteries, with an experimental style.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Unfortunately I didn't have a good time with this one like I hoped I would. I was really gutted. It just didn't go the way I hoped it would and I found myself getting quite bored.

I found Fair Play underwhelming. The premise had potential, but the characters felt flat and the pacing dragged. There were glimpses of good ideas, but they never fully developed, leaving the story predictable and lacking emotional impact.

Abigail is throwing a murder mystery birthday/New Year’s Eve celebration party at a grand, rented house. She’s been doing this for a few years now, and the parties are always a big hit. This year’s theme is Jazz Age Detective.

Six people have been invited to the house: Stephen and Declan, Benjamin’s school friends; Cormac & Olivia (Cormac went to uni with Benjamin); Margaret, Benjamin’s ex, but they remained friends; and Barabara, Benjamin’s co-worker.

The party goes well, and everyone is enjoying themselves. The next day, when Benjamin doesn’t come down for breakfast, his door is broken into to reveal his dead body.

The local police quickly deem it a suicide, but Abigail isn’t sure. She calls in a consulting detective, Auguste Bell, who has strange methods, but they seem to work. If Benjamin was murdered, then Bell will find out…

I liked the idea behind the book and its homage to the Golden Age of detective fiction. Auguste Bell reminded me of Hercule Poirot, with his strange habits and quirks.

The execution of the book left me a bit bemused. I felt that maybe the book was too clever for me (as I certainly didn’t understand the ending chapter).

This wasn’t the one for me, but it might be for you!Many thanks to Picador for approving my NetGalley request.

This is a tricky book to review. It started off in an interesting way but didn’t keep up momentum. The author lost me at times and the mixed genres didn’t work for me.
As a Christie fan I enjoyed the references and clues but my interest waned as I continued to read and I thought of giving up which is very rare for me as a reader when I start a book. This book just didn’t work for me.

Not really sure what to make of this book. It has many clever features, although possibly tries to be too clever.

A plethora of characters arrive at a murder mystery / birthday weekend over the New Year, only for one of them to be murdered overnight, and then it converts into a book that tries to follow the conventions of a good crime fiction book.

I really did not take to this book and it was a struggle to get through. It did have some good points and some enjoyable elements, but the multiple endings just seemed repetitive and put simply boring. Then still not sure what the point of part 3 of the book was. Overall I found this book disappointing and felt I wasted my time reading it.

The beginning of this book was intriguing with flowery prose which drew me in. Sadly, it didn't remain the same for the rest of the book and it was a struggle to finish Fair Play. Hope this book finds its audience, but sadly it just wasn't for me.

Started as an Agatha Christie, finished as… Choose your own adventure? Maybe? To be fair, it was a Kindle review copy so lost a little in translation. Bonus points for the Christie name references, but felt like the movie “Clue” (sadly without Tim Curry) by the end.

Grief, friendship and an intense exploration of relationships”
A clever twist on what first appeared to be a standard tale of a murder mystery game. Absolutely not! This is tale of grief, memories, relationships all written in a beautiful and sensitive way. I loved this but I also felt it left a mark that I will come back to. A very sensitive but essential read.

This book was so different to anything I have read before! I thought it was going to be a murder mystery, and whilst there are aspects of that, it’s also something more than that too. It’s hard to review this book as parts I really enjoyed and some parts were repetitive and predictable. This could have been an excellent mix of genres but it just somehow missed the mark.

Whatttt is this? I think it needed more editing to make it more fluent. I just ended up confused. I love books about grief that affirm the trauma, and this was a good concept that just didn't execute well.

Unfortunately, I really did not enjoy Fair Play. I found it to be far too confusing, and I became lost while reading it. I did finish it as I don't like to give up on books, but it took me a very long time, and I really wish I hadn't have bothered.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC.

The book follows a group of friends celebrating the new year and a birthday. Abigail, the sister of the birthday boy is distraught when the birthday boy (Benjamin) is discovered dead in his room. She enlists a detective Bell, who's known for solving difficult mysteries. Each person invited to the gathering had a motive and to identify the culprit is tricky. I feel that the book was written to be like 'Knives Out' with the conclusion but it didn't land for me. The detective kept referring to mysteries that the reader was unfamiliar with, I was left with questions about the culprit and the last chapter made no sense to me. Overall, an okay read.

Disclaimer: I received this book from NetGalley and Pan Macmillan | Picador in exchange for a free and honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

This is a novel that makes you think, although I think it will also be a marmite novel for some people. Hegarty employs a very specific technique to explore the tragedy of suicide and its effects on those left behind, which initially I did find very interesting but I must admit that I got more confused and a little frustrated the more the novel went on, especially when it got repetitive at the end. From a literary standpoint I can appreciate what she was doing, but it didn't quite work for me. Nevertheless, it was a interesting read.

Not bad but this is a closed circle of suspects with some surreal elements. There's no locked room or impossible crime
Not my cup of tea

A play on the classic locked-room mystery (one of my favourite tropes), Fair Play has a strong beginning with interesting and well thought out characters.

The setting is an interesting mix of vintage and murder mystery night (again, favourite topics of mine, especially with the feel of classic vintage-era crime). The story does get a bit repetitive, but has enormous potential. I'll definitely read the next one.