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Fair Play

'this genre-splicing debut is a treat' Paul Murray

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About this listen

A Book of the Year in THE TIMES, THE GUARDIAN, ELLE and THE IRISH EXAMINER

‘A treat' - Paul Murray, author of The Bee Sting
‘Dazzling' - Colin Walsh, author of Kala
‘Brilliant’ - The Times
‘Ingenious’ - The Telegraph
‘Terrific’ - The New York Times
‘Heartbreaking’ - The Guardian

THE HEART IS A LOCKED ROOM

Abigail’s brother Benjamin is dead, and her world has literally been split in two. In one reality Abigail finds herself back at work, navigating the frustrations of well-wishers and busybodies, desperately wondering why her brother has gone. In the other an eminent detective arrives determined to find Benjamin’s killer among his circle of close friends.

Is this a murder mystery or something more? What secrets do Benjamin’s friends hold? And can Abigail, immersed in her grief, find out the truth of her beloved brother’s life?

 Family Life Genre Fiction International Mystery & Crime Literature & Fiction Mystery World Literature Fiction Exciting Heartfelt Crime Murder

Critic reviews

Louise Hegarty’s genre-splicing debut is a treat – clever, confident, and always surprising, a mystery story that ingeniously escapes the locked room of the genre to take on the biggest questions of life and death (Paul Murray, author of The Bee Sting)
As soon as I finished this fiendishly elegant jigsaw puzzle of a book, I dashed back and scoured its pages trying to find if Hegarty had planted a glinting, hidden clue somewhere to unlock the mystery
A brilliant dissection of the murder mystery format . . . Both funny and moving, it’s a really impressive debut (The Times, 'Best Books of 2025 So Far')
Dazzling, formally subversive, brimming with compassion, Fair Play explodes the conventions of a mystery in order to confront us with the genuinely mysterious. An emotional ambush of a novel, this book will delight readers – then it will haunt them (Colin Walsh, author of Kala)
It takes skill, and even a sense of anarchy, to produce a novel as funny, baffling and occasionally moving as Fair Play (The Irish Times)
A fiendishly designed, intricately layered, psychologically astute tale, and so elegantly written too. I've never read anything like it . . . a story of striking originality. I am full of admiration. (Emma Stonex, author of The Lamplighters)
An ingenious puzzle-box of a novel . . . Sad, funny, clever, engrossing; this is a wonderful debut. (Jon McGregor, author of Reservoir 13 )
Undoubtedly the most original crime novel you’ll read all year
[An] ingenious debut novel (The Telegraph)
A witty, knowing homage to classic detective fiction, but also a deeply sensitive examination of the loneliness and confusion of grief
Fair Play is ambitious and unpredictable and riotous and at the same time full of meaning and compassion. It's a triumph (Lisa McInerney, author of The Glorious Heresies)
With each turn of a page the plot thickens masterfully and the form twists like a wicked game. Get to the Louise Hegarty party early, she’s brilliant (Jodie Harsh, author of You Had To Be There)
Each time you think you’ve got the measure of this clever and immensely readable debut, it turns around at the door, looks you in the eye, and offers up one more twist, one more audacious shattering of genre and convention that you never saw coming (Andrew McMillan, author of Pity)
A smart, intricately plotted novel (iNews)
Acts as both witty deconstruction of a genre and portrait of unbearable grief and loss
I loved it . . . intriguing, smart, fun, and devastatingly poignant . . . I shall now read everything Louise Hegarty ever writes (Effie Black, author of In Defence of the Act)
All stars
Most relevant
Pretty confusing story, but then again it was hard to concentrate as the male narrator’s accents made it painful to listen to. The female narrator was no better, one of the dullest voices / style of reading, not suited to narrating an audio book.

Appalling narration!

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I liked the stage setting at the beginning. I like the theme of old friends getting together. One is found dead, as we expected, and the description of the sister’s grief is moving. But the murder mystery suddenly takes on a satirical tone, as a famous detective, rather Poirot-like, takes over, and a butler, maid and gardener suddenly appear. Instead of a solution we are offered lots of possible scenarios and denied a neat denouement! I felt cheated.

A Murder Mystery …Or is it?

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First paragraph started if very well, then it became very confusing. Repeated a few chapters to see if I could understand it but still found it very confusing. Fast forwarded to the last chapter and was left even more confused

Confusing

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I want an easy listen with not much thinking to it this was not that and I did not understand the 2 different time periods unless you were meant to find the structure enjoyable which I did not. I would describe it as a puzzle story until you understand the overall conclusion which you are given, sort of, at the end. Not a mystery story at all.

Not for me, you have to interpret the story

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Disappointed - despite the great blurb - the book was boring/surprised I finally finished listening to it … but given the price I felt I should.

The end - glad it was over

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