I am not sure how to write this review, for the most of the book I loved it. The last part was awful and while I understand that all publicity is good publicity, I struggle to see why an author would write such a considered novel just to end it in the same way an elementary school child would.

Benjamin and Abigail are siblings that lost their parents a long while ago, they celebrate Benjamin’s birthday every year on New Year’s Eve with friends from childhood. This year Abigail has hired an Air BNB and we first meet them as she is organizing ready for everyone to arrive.

I had some confusion here as they are at hired house, but later in the story when the investigation begins they have moved to their own home. I’ve read and reread but I can’t see how this could possibly happen if the investigation was ongoing?

The characters are hard to get a read on, and this does work well here. Bell and Sacker however are truly some of the best characters I have ever read (which is why this is possible too passionate review). I love when books are self aware and I love injokes with the reader. I would love to see them again and think they have many a series in them.

The book is written with intentional joy for the reader in mind. The use of repetition is sublime

But the ending; I felt like I had wasted my time.

I received this eARC from Netgalley in return for an honest review, which this is.

Starting off like any other cozy ‘who dunnit’, Fair Play changes to a different type of book entirely. With a nod to many writing greats, such as Christie, it was certainly quirky and different.

I haven’t read a locked door thriller before (I didn’t even know they are a thing) but I liked it and was keen to see what happened and how. It’s hidden depth is where it touches on loss, which was well done.

Am I a convert to locked room books? Possibly not. But I think there is definitely an audience for this book which was action packed and certainly different.

I like locked room mystery in general, and I thought I’d enjoy this but I found the writing too dry for my taste, so it was difficult for me to get into it . But then once murder happened, I got more into and I enjoyed it. It’s ingenious and stylish. I am a bit unsure about how I feel about the ending. Is this a murder mystery? I can’t say more to avoid spoilers, but I can imagine the opinions on the ending would be polarized! Still a good read.

I have mixed feelings about this debut novel. It started out as an excellent locked-room murder mystery and was quite entertaining with a unique and clever way of writing. Made me want to re-read some of Agatha Christie's books. But after about 2/3 of the text, it kind of sizzled out for me. The parts where the author explores grief and loss, as well as Part 3 of the novel were quite good on their own, but did not tie well into the other parts of the book. Having said that, I do not regret reading this, mainly for the first part of the book. And, knowing this is a debut, I would still read Hegarty's further work.

📖 𝕊𝕪𝕟𝕠𝕡𝕤𝕚𝕤: Benjamin's birthday is on New Year's day and his sister Abigail, gathers their friends for a murder mystery party. The next morning everyone wakes up except Benjamin. Abigail hires a private detective to find Benjamin's killer, which must be someone who was in the house that night. Abigail tries to deal with her brother's mysterious death and along the way realises that Benjamin's life might not have been what she thought it was.

This dectective story using detective tropes from fictional stories by the likes of Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie toggled back and forward from past and present with the same set of characters to tell the story of a house party and a locked room murder mystery.
This was a clever technique, but it distracted me from the characters, so I couldn't find any real empathy for any of them, and wasn't overly interested in who murdered whom.
It's well written and the plot works, but the narrative just wasn't for me personally.

I just couldn't understand this book. I've studied lots of literature to a high level. This foxed me. I couldn't keep track of the layers of plot. I'm still clueless about how it's concluded.
Not the book for me.

This was one of those meta kind of books that try to challenge the rules of writing a mystery by being more than a straightforward whodunnit. This can always be very tricky and while there have been times when this experiment has been successful, this wasn't one of them. Felt a little forced and not sure what went wrong where but the book felt messy.

Quirky book, part locked room, part traditional whodunit, and part study of grief & loss. This author has an unusual writing style, particularly the way the story switches in part 2, and the way the book ended was unexpected, and non-traditional. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance reader copy.

Lovely unique and clever little murder-mystery book. I thoroughly enjoyed the fast half the book but found it didn’t match the beginning vibes for me. It’s good though, just didn’t quite pull me fully in.

I was disappointed with this despite being excited at the premise. After a murder mystery party, there's a body the next day and the novel takes us through clues to work out who the murderer is.
The author appears to be following a set of rules on detective stories. The parallel stories for me didn't work and were difficult to follow. It might have been because I was reading an ebook which had some formatting quirks. I don't feel like we're told who the murderer was in the end. Just like detective fiction, everyone is a suspect and the repetitive way this is presented is funny but not particularly powerful.
I also don't understand the purpose of Part 3 which seemed a very out of place and didn't serve much of a purpose other than to give some insight into the victims personality...albeit as an 8 year old.
Also, the novel is supposedly set in Ireland. I would have expected some dialect to support this because as it's written, it could be anywhere.

This book was nothing like I expected it is like reading two separate books, and while this can work within some novels I felt it didn't quite gel together with this. That being said it's an interesting book.
Told in third POV we hear Abbie's story surrounding the death of her brother at his NYE's birthday party and we are presented with murder mystery book in the style of classic golden age crime which appears to be the same characters but in set in a different time etc. Take a bit of time to get to grips with.
I loved everything about murder mystery part , that part of book it was real treat. It was true classic golden crime with done slap stick humour a cast of mad characters with secrets and questionable police.
If it has been a stand alone cosy crime I would have enjoyed it but probably forgot about. What makes memorable is the other part of the book which is far from cosy crimes. It very much character lead ,that read more like literally fiction, this part of the book was , told with a tender voice and uses real insight in grief it reads deeply and is very moving. But for me the two parts don't work together without being addressed in some way. I think the writer has tried to show how Abbie might have processed the lose of her brother with the cost crime part being her inner thoughts or even a diary but as it's not stated that's the case it's hard to be sure maybe it's just I am not smart enough to get it
Taking all that into account this is a debut that is an interesting one and I really look forward to reading more from this author if this unique novel is anything to go by.

"Fair Play" by Louise Hegarty definitely is a unique book. I enjoyed the way that it very quickly transitioned from a New Year's Eve Murder Mystery party to a real life locked room mystery who dunnit. From thereon, confusion does reign. There are chapters where famous detective Auguste Bell (based on Poirot) rocks up to solve Abigail's brother's death. Suspects are interviewed and clues are given. Then the very next chapter might be Abigail back at work, coping with Benjamin's death. I imagine that the chapters with Auguste Bell link heavily to the Murder Mystery party that Abigail had set up but I can't be 100% certain. The bit I don't get is the very last chapter/epilogue. I do feel as if I need to go back and read this again as based on other reviews, the answers to the rest of the book lie in those ending words. Clever but maybe too clever for me?

This debut is pretty much perfect from start to end. I ended up at the 4.5 mark as I was confused with the outcome until I read other reviews and everything clicked. This is so good for a debut book. For the most part, it reads like a Lemony Snicket book, which I didn't expect, and there are also two stories told throughout, which I didn't realise until embarrassingly late on. It has both a bittersweet ending and a sort of open ending. You'll have to read to find out what that means. I'll definitely be thinking about this one for a while; it's easily one of my favourites of the year. I also am obsessed with the cover!

4.5

This debut book pays tribute to classic early 20th-century detective novels by weaving a modern locked room murder mystery with a poignant exploration of grief and loss.

On New Year's Eve, a group of friends gathers at an Airbnb to celebrate Benjamin's birthday with a jazz-age Murder Mystery party hosted by his sister, Abigail. As the night unfolds, champagne flows, hors d'oeuvres are enjoyed, and relationships shift—some deepen while others unravel. A murder rattles the other guests and makes them question just how close they really are.

A Poirot-esque detective intent on uncovering the truth along with his Watson-like sidekick try solving the case, where everyone becomes a suspect, and appearances are deceiving.

While I loved the quirky take at a locked-room murder mystery, the ending left me a bit confused, and I wanted something more out of the story.

Fair Play is a unique concept on a locked room mystery.
Abigail throws a party every New year and it just coincides with her brother’s Benjamin birthday. This time she hires an Airbnb which is a mansion in the countryside where they stage a Murder mystery evening which includes maid, butler and even and gardener. But the next morning Abaigail wakes up to find her brother Benjamin dead. A detective is called in to find out who killed him. For months after Abigail struggles to get over the death of her brother.
I liked the idea of this storyline and the references to other well known locked room mystery novels throughout the storyline. But I found this quite confusing with the storyline going through the investigation and back story. I was expecting a bit more than it was. 3 stars from me.

With thanks to NetGalley, Pan MacMillan and Picador for the ARC.

I can appreciate this book is trying to do something completely different but to me it just felt a little messy.

I found it really hard to follow - one minute the characters are in an AirBnB, the next it’s their private residence with staff. The formatting was confusing, and i just really didn’t engage with the majority of the book.

I did enjoy the first part which was the setup of the murder, however! And i can definitely appreciate that this will be a bit of a polarising book - some will love, some won’t!

I finished this book last night and had a "Ohhhhhh" moment of realisation when I got to the final pages. Maybe I am slow on the uptake!

This is a really interesting approach to a novel and a particularly brave one for a debut novelist, fair play to the author. ( I will resist more puns from here on in).


This is a really unique take on a locked room mystery. The first part of the book is ominous if normal, Abigail has arranged a murder mystery NYE birthday party for her brother Benjamin with a circle of their friends. The game is played, drinks are drunk and in the morning everyone wakes up, except Benjamin. Then the book completely switches, elements of the first part remain but their new characters, a different setting and a detective has been hired by Abigail to find out who killed her brother. This section is a homage to the classic locked room mysteries of old. It is entertaining and if are a fan of this genre, this section will delight you with nods to some of the great writers of classic mysteries. I found it confusing at first as I was ripped from one story and plunged into another but once I got to grips with the change, I was entertained if perplexed at times. Once I was finally in the grip of the story once more , everything again changes in part three , the conclusion of the book.

I am really torn on this one. I applaud the originality but for me as a reader, it did not always work for me. although the pay off was absolutely worth it and I did love the ending. I think reading this book in this arc format didn't do it the justice it deserved and I expect the finished final copy to be a much more accessible read. I will return to this in paperback, it deserves a second read. I am looking forward to how this is received, there is lots to mull over and discuss and would be a super choice for a book club.

I am settling on a entertaining then thought provoking three stars. I may revise this as my thoughts settle.
Absolutely recommend though, I think this book will have some detractors but a lot more fans.

I'm still not sure how I feel about this book. It isn't like anything I've read before though.
Spoiler but It took me quite a while to work out there were more than one story going on at the same time, and what the story splitting was about.
It's an interesting premise, and I do love an old detective drama. It's a sort of locked room mystery/ Cluedo style story which to begin with is quite upbeat (despite the murder bit) but I did get a bit lost. I found two of the versions of events/ stories too similar (I get that is the point) and a bit hard to follow in places and quite a lot of the characters are a bit similar (could have cut the cast down a little). I did however enjoy reading it. And have been thinking about it which is usually a sign it's not a bad book!
Thank you to netgalley for the opportunity.

Thanks to the publishers and Net Galley for an advanced ecopy in exchange for my review. I was a bit confused about the story lines as at first they are renting an air b and b and then its their old family home, but both Abigail and Benjamin both have their own homes too towards the end. We begin by meeting Abigail who has organised a New Years Eve/30th birthday party for her brother. Its a murder mystery night with selected guests when there is a real murder. A detective and his sidekick appear and start to try and work out who is the murderer but seem to have a motive and means for almost everyone. I liked the writing and premise for this book however I don't think I fully understood parts and as to whether I worked out or realised who the actual murderer was in the end....I couldn't tell you. A good idea was there but I'm not sure if the story felt completed and felt a bit jumbled and all over the place. It just didn't leave me satisfied!

I loved the premise of this novel because it reads like a modern take on the classic locked room/ murder mystery plot line. I really enjoyed the interplay between the tropes of what makes a good detective novel and the story itself. I felt like Hegarty put together a really nice ensemble of characters but I did feel like momentum did start to lack about half way through the novel.
The writing was of good quality and the way in which the story played out felt fresh and very tongue-in-cheek as it manipulates the conventions of the cosy murder mystery. Although in the end the quirkiness could not keep the story engaging enough for me and the sheer number of unresolved leads and red herrings became to muddied for me to enjoy the ending. I really love the author's style and cannot wait to see what they write next but this mystery sadly didn't;'t keep me hooked.