I was so excited for this one, but I just couldn't get into the story. With it kinda fitting into the whole meta-mystery concept, I got a bit lost and kept waiting for everything to click or come together while I was reading. The premise was incredibly intriguing, and Hegarty wrote very "human" characters, but it just didn't live up to the hype for me.

Outside of my usual genre but GEEZ was this fun!

I’m typically a romance only reader but I’ve been fighting a bad book slump and wanted a book different than my usual.

I went into this book not knowing what to expect and found myself reading faster just to see what would happen.

Fast paced with fun twists and turns. Convinced me I need to read more murder mysteries in the future.

Somewhat disappointed in this but maybe because my expectations were incorrect. I thought I was just getting a cozy murder mystery. That was true but only to an extent—the cozy mystery was a story within the story. It took me longer than it should have to realize there was a double narrative going on with the cozy murder being told alongside the “real” murder with real feelings of loss and grief. The heavier themes wasn’t what I had wanted to read, and by the end I was dissatisfied with both the narratives. I did enjoy the winks to the genre.

In “Fair Play” (Harper, $28.99), Louise Hegarty turns the classic country house murder mystery inside out — and then back again. When Benjamin is found dead after his New Year’s Eve birthday party, his sister, Abigail, spirals into grief just as an eccentric detective arrives to investigate. But this isn’t just a whodunit. It’s also a playful, poignant metafictional puzzle that melds genre conventions with wit and heart. The story oscillates between reality and a stylized mystery world, complete with live-in staff, locked rooms and fourth-wall-breaking flourishes.

Hegarty’s novel is as much about storytelling and loss as it is about solving a crime. Clever nods to Golden Age mysteries, a delightfully odd detective and vividly drawn characters make this a standout debut. It’s smart, surprising and sneakily emotional; a layered literary game that both satirizes and celebrates the mystery genre while exploring the messier truths it often tries to tidy away.

I don't know whether I loved or hated this, and I almost feel like that is the point. It's part a story filled with complicated grief and part a meta mystery with a bumbling inspector inspired by traditional mysteries, I will be honest that I was really confused by the devices being used at first, and I also don't feel particularly satisfied by the ending. HOWEVER, will I think about this book for some time? Yes. Fondly? Maybe.

3.5 The cover of Louise Hagerty‘s debut novel, Fair Play, definitely caught my eye with the large letters and bright colours. I always think ‘cosy read when I see a manor on the cover.

And I wasn’t far off. Part one introduces us to a group of friends getting ready to celebrate a birthday and Happy New Year’s with food and drink. A murder mystery game is on the menu as well. We easily and quickly get a handle on who’s who and the relationships amongst them. You can it see it right? Yes indeed, one of them is…

Part two threw me and I loved it! There’s a number of documents detailing what should and shouldn’t be in a mystery book. I’m going to let you discover those - they were fun to read. But getting back to the crime…. A very well known detective is brought in to see if he can find the answer to who and why. I loved the style of this part. I’ll let you find out if the detective solves the crime.

And part three is completely different and I wondered why it was written this way. And what was actually written. I had to go back and read that part again and I think I’ve got it. Very unexpected and very clever. 3.5.

3.75 (though I’m torn)


I often don’t know what to think when I finish a book. There are mixed feelings and some surprises and it can be difficult to sum everything up or even put conflicting emotions into words. In this case, I really do not know what to think. Like, I literally don’t know. I hope many people read this book, not because I want to share it with the world, but I want other people who can explain it to me and tell me what’s what.

CAUTION: SOME SPOILERS AHEAD (especially in the next two paragraphs)!

I wanted to loooove this so very, very much. I mean, Irish house party mystery and not just a cozy mystery in a village or police thriller (though I’m not above a good cozy Irish village installment). The book did suck me in right away, but then I was confused with the parallel stories. It isn’t exactly the murder mystery Abigail created at the beginning, but it seems like it’s from the same era. I think. Then, there are flashes to the present day for a page or two covering different elements of life for Abigail since the death. Then back to August Bell and his cunning detection. I don’t know if it’s tongue in cheek or cliché or what. Like I said I really don’t know.

I was fascinated to get to part two and read all of those rules for mysteries. I was familiar with one list and often think about it whenever an unsporting turn —primarily introducing a murderer too late—is made by some mystery author. I had no idea there were so many variations. The investigation is different enough that I know they aren’t the same thing, but I don’t know what is really going on in the real present–day story. An inquest? They never mentioned that before. Did he die in both timelines? Are we really here? Who shot JR (you may be too young for that one)? And what’s with the Clue ending? Let me adjust and only hate one person. Don’t get me started on Part III.

Like I said, I can’t wait for more of you to read this, but promise me you will write something about it online so that I can read it and figure out what I think happened because I really don’t know. Apologies if you did already, but since I don’t read anything beforehand to make sure my review isn’t influenced, then I am the first one—in my head—to write anything. Therefore, I can’t write anything to help you, but you can help me.

Thank you to Louise Hegarty, NetGalley, and Harper for providing me with a free advanced copy of this book for my unbiased review.

A quirky new take on the classic locked room whodunnit genre, this book won’t be for everyone but if you like tongue in cheek literary takes, it will be an interesting read.

The story starts out predictably enough; it’s New Year’s Eve, a group of friends meet at a large manor to play a Clue type game, and lo and behold, a main character (Benjamin) doesn’t make it through the night. Sherlock Holmes-like detectives arrive on the scene shortly after the body is buried and boom - off they go in search of the truth.

The book takes a twist from there, often breaking the 4th wall and speaking directly to the reader, referencing mystery tropes, and even openly foreshadowing future plot points. The blurred lines between the reader and story are fun at first, but towards the end I did get a bit tired of what felt like vamping to the reader.

This was still a clever read and fans of parody and mysteries will enjoy it!

A meta-murder mystery that tries to be clever but did not work for me. Maybe I could have appreciated this book more if I weren't so confused about a few things: didn't they rent the house where the murder occurred for the weekend? But they own land and have gardeners, etc.? Didn't Benjamin work at his family-owned business? I assumed that meant he was very high up, but he had a desk out in the open, and in general, it felt like he was just a normal worker there. What did I miss? I'm too lazy and turned off by the book to re-read the beginning.

Louise Hegarty has written a sharp, clever locked room mystery in Fair Play. Filled with all of the things we know and love from classic mysteries, Hegarty gives them a modern edge in this tightly paced story with well developed characters.

An interesting idea coupled with a profoundly muddled execution. Two points gor trying, honestly, because what it's going for really could be a whole thing...but isn't, in this case.

This book was quite experimental in the best way possible! Using classic literary devices and tropes from old school detective novels, Hegarty explores grief and loss in a way that can only be described as a tragicomedy.

A murder mystery party turns into a real murder...or does it? I don't know what the last chapter had to do with the book at all.

After finishing, I still don't know how I feel about this book. It's a must read for fans of the detective fiction genre, and a powerful statement on grief. The way Hegarty takes the tropes and rules and bends them to her story is fascinating, and I highly recommend reading and making up your own mind. You won't get a neat and cozy plot like the genre typically promises here, but you will get something literary and form bending.

What a fun book in the vein of Anthony Horowitz. I saw other reviewers had difficulty w/the style but if you enjoy the Magpie Murder, et al then you’ll definitely enjoy this tale of a locked room murder. Or ? Highly enjoyable and entertaining.

Fair Play is described as “genre-bending”, an homage to early twentieth-century detective novels, as well as a “searing exploration of grief and loss”. Abigail gathers a cast of characters at an AirBnB on New Year's Eve to celebrate her brother’s birthday with a murder mystery party, as is their tradition. But her brother, Benjamin, doesn’t survive the night, and the esteemed Detective Bell is called in to solve the case.

This book almost felt like a collaboration between two authors or two books patched together. I had a lot of fun with the locked-room mystery part. There was a lot of metalepsis and playing with the “rules” of locked room mysteries, which brought a lot of humor to the story. As with all detective stories, I had fun trying to puzzle out who the killer was, but there were some twists in the form which made this an interesting take on a detective tale. Ultimately, I kind of wish there was a bit more depth to the clues and such, but I had fun regardless.

But the tone of the present-day narrative that deals with Abigail’s grief (and that of the other characters) is quite the tone shift, and it didn’t work for me to have them interwoven together because of that tone shift. I think both portions of the book are compelling, but I have a feeling that readers will gravitate to one storyline over another. (Though I think both storylines will have their fans!)

Still, Fair Play is a unique and engaging read and I am definitely going to be on the lookout for future works by this author. I would recommend it for fans of murder mysteries and/or those who like genre-bending works.

*Thank you to NetGalley and Harper for the complimentary eARC for the purpose of an honest review!*

Hmm. I suppose playful is the right adjective for this author’s mix and match version of a
Country house mystery complete with 4th wall-piercing asides and a multiplicity of murderers. Was I engaged by the genre knowingness and mucking about? Not especially. More memorable was the grief experienced by Abigail, the surviving sister. This aspect had some nice depiction and detail.
Did I feel the two dimensions meshed , or needed to sit adjacent? No. In fact I couldn’t see the point of all the meta stuff. Maybe if I were a crime aficionado the book would chime louder.

Abigail is at her organizational hostess best when preparing for the annual New Year's Eve murder mystery party. This year she has rented a large country house for the festivities. It's always extra special because the next day is the birthday of her brother Benjamin. Abigail arrives early at the house and begins preparations for the party. Throughout the day, the rest of the guests arrive. Most of them are friends of Benjamin's as well as his former fiancée and, for the first time, one of his female co-workers. The friends gather, eat, play games, and perform their parts as written by Abigail in the murder mystery. Once it is solved, everyone continues to party until one-by-one they fall asleep. In the morning, one guest doesn't come down for breakfast, and when their locked bedroom door is forced open, it's discovered that person is dead. At this point, the reader is given three different version of the Golden Age "Fair Play" rules for mysteries. Mostly these consist of the reader getting all the clues at the same time as the detective, and the directive that no supernatural or other strange forces be responsible for the crime. Also, the murderer must be one of the main characters who's already been introduced -- no passing vagrants or "foreigners." Or staff, for that matter. After the rules, the detective arrives in the form of Auguste Bell and his sidekick, the perpetually puzzled Sacker. It soon becomes apparent that things have changed. Abigail and her brother now own the stately mansion where the gathering took place, and they also employee a few staff members. It seems we have been transported back 100 years into the "golden age." Bell is firmly aware that he is a character in a mystery, often referring to the fact as well as what he's going to be doing in upcoming chapters. The main characters in this mystery are the same ones with the same relationships as the ones in the beginning chapters of the book. Occasionally, alternating with Bell's questioning of suspects, a chapter from the modern-day characters grappling with the death that occurred during the New Year's Eve party is included.

I'm not really sure why the present-day people are included in the story if the main bulk of it was to write a tongue-in-cheek Golden Age detective mystery. The modern "crime" is not really touched on or explained very well, and the present-day action all seems to revolve around the grief of everyone after one of their own dies. It really seems as if two different books were written with the same characters, 100 years apart, and just stitched together. The question remains: why? The mystery parts of the book are funny and the different explanations for the crime show how all of the clues can be interpreted to show guilt from many different directions. I'm just not sure how the modern action fit into the story. There was also a weird flashback story tacked on at the end that added nothing to the rest of the book. I'm not sure what the book was trying to accomplish, but it didn't really succeed, in my opinion.