I loved the premise of the book and the author clearly knows her Golden Age crime fiction. It took me quite a while to figure out what was going on which is no bad thing , as it kept me interested. However in the end, I don't think the juxtaposition of the two stories worked and the lack of resolution in 'real life' left me frustrated. Clever, interesting and original but ultimately a little flat.

I was intrigued enough to request this book but I just don't get it.

Abigail and a c group of friends rent an Airbnb for a themed New Year's Eve murder mystery party. Not only is it New Year's Eve but it's also her brother Benjamin's birthday. The guests assemble and the fun begins. This first part, written in the present tense, reads like directions for a theatrical play I've read many books written in the present tense, but this one just didn't sit right with me.

What follows is so strange I just couldn't get into it. I have tried a couple of times but each time I stumble at the same place, so I've had to give up altogether.

I read this in August, almost eight months before it was released and I’m still thinking about it. this is an inventive, clever read that ensures you keep your wits about you. Siblings Abigail and Benjamin are set for another birthday shindig for the latter – and on New Year’s Eve. Abigail’s planned a murder mystery party… but Benjamin ends up being the unlikely (and unwilling) victim. Then everything turns upside down with the arrival of a detective to solve the case. More characters are introduced, timelines are altered, extra pieces of information are included in a wonderful read that will have you smiling and frantically hoping you remembered what was so important about something 50 pages previously.

This is all on me. I admit it. This is a quick read, but I did not get how it subverts the subgenre of whodunnits, and I love many Agatha Christie novels, as well as other whodunnits. I read some pages again, and I still could not experience what I assumed I would experience.
I might need to give it another go again in a couple of months. I liked the exercise of breaking the 4th wall, and some parts were witty. Other than these, I did not know what to make of this book.
I would say, trust the others' who have fully enjoyed it than my review, but I am leaving this here because this was how my authentic experience was.

I was excited to read Fair Play by Louise Hegarty as I’d heard quite a lot of buzz around it.

Abigail is hosting a New Year’s Eve Party and Birthday Party for her brother Benjamin in a country house in rural Ireland. Their childhood friends and other close friends join them for the party. The night begins with an organised Murder Mystery interactive event organised by Abigail, they then all enjoy fine food and drink and have a good time. They see the New Year in and celebrate Benjamin’s Birthday.

And then everyone wakes up on New Year’s Day, except Benjamin…

The book pivots with the arrival of the world renowned detective Auguste Bell arrives with his assistant Sacker to investigate Benjamin’s death - is it a Locked Room Murder Mystery? References to the Golden-Age Mysteries abound.

The book moves between Auguste Bell’s investigation and the Guards investigating and Abigail trying to understand her brother’s death.

It was an interesting read and something a bit different in the murder mystery genre. I look forward to reading what Fiona Hegarty writes next.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, Pan Macmillan / Picador, for making this e-ARC available to me in exchange for a fair and an honest review.

For several years Abigail has arranged a murder mystery weekend to celebrate her brother’s birthday. This year’s theme is Jazz Age Detective, appropriate for the beautifully restored 1920s country house she’s rented. After the crime is solved, their guests take themselves off to bed some drunker than others. Next morning, there’s no sign of Benjamin: his bedroom door is locked with no sound within. The group are horrified to discover that their friend and brother has died in the night aged only thirty-three. The police arrive then, oddly, a celebrated detective turns up called in by Abigail to solve the mystery of her brother’s death.
Louise Hegarty’s novel starts with a straightforward narrative, establishing relationships, scattering a few red herrings before turning into a pastiche locked room mystery interspersed with Abigail’s struggles to accept her brother Benjamin’s death. Quite a risky idea for any novel, let alone a debut, but, on the whole, it worked for me. She has a lot of fun with the genre, laying out sets of rules from T S Eliot, Father Knox and S. S. Van Dine and modelling her detective on Poirot with a dash of Sherlock Holmes. Abigail’s attempts to understand what's happened and her discovery that she knew less than she thought she did about her brother's life provide some depth to the novel. The combination of the two is disconcerting at first but eventually its purpose becomes clear. I enjoyed Hegarty’s playful witty novel; I wonder what she’ll come up with next.

Abigail and her brother, Benjamin, always host a themed “house-party” for a few close friends to celebrate the New Year and Benjamin’s birthday on New Year’s Day. Abigail is in charge, and arrives at the chosen country house venue well-laden with food and wine., and quickly sets, to preparing for the arrival of the guests. She is rather surprised when the first arrival turns out to be one of her brother’s work colleagues - Barbara - and can’t quite figure out why she has been invited, unless Benjamin intends to do some work whilst there. Soon everyone is gathered, Benjamin, Stephen, Declan, Margaret, Cormac and Olivia and the party begins. New Year’s Eve is duly celebrated in style with copious amounts of champagne consumed well into the night. With the exception of Declan, who falls asleep downstairs, everyone eventually makes it to bed and all but Benjamin manage to appear for breakfast. Eventually Abigail decides that she must go and wake him up but finds his bedroom door locked (presumably from the inside) and cannot rouse him. Eventually, with the aid of Cormac and Declan the door is forced and Benjamin is found cold and dead and his balcony door is open.

Police are naturally called and are joined by Auguste Bell a world-renowned detective, who is convinced that he can reveal which of the party is the murderer - but can he??? Confusion reigns!

I found the premise intriguing which is why I requested the book. Not a bad book but not a great book . A bit too slow going for me and I found my mind wandering. If you found this in the hotel bookcase and took it to read by the pool you would likely enjoy it. This author may get better with each subsequent book so worth another go

You might be lucky enough to receive an invitation to a Murder Mystery Night this New Years Eve of 2022 which also celebrates Benjamin’s birthday. Or maybe it’s unlucky, you decide! It’s meticulously well organised by Benjamin’s sister Abigail, dress code is jazz age. Perfect. Where’s the location? That’ll be Yew Tree House, a lovingly restored Palladian not quite mansion but it’s more than enough for the eight guests including the siblings. They’re a diverse group, mainly old friends, all united in their irritation of Declan, other than that all seems convivial. Once the champagne is flowing and the canapés circling, the Murder Mystery games will begin in more ways than one. Who is the victim and who the murderer? Auguste Bell is our esteemed consulting detective who will obviously rapidly solve the case. He’s a combination of Poirot. Holmes and Inspector French (1920’s - 50’s, author Freeman Wills Croft) and Sacker is his Watson.

If you are expecting something run of the mill locked room mystery wise, then think again! In Part 1 the scene is well set with an atmosphere that fits the NYE high spirits but with an occasional moment of chill and tension. That’ll be you Declan. Part II is very witty and clever following (or breaking) the Golden Age Rules such as Van Dines of 1928 and Knox of 1929 and thus it’s in the best spirit of the golden age but funnier. I smile at some of the nods and chuckle at others with the author affectionately sending up situations. There are plenty of references to cozy crime Queen Aggie but you definitely need to pay attention to the clues and watch out for those red herrings and blond alleys. I really enjoy how the author chooses to tell the tale although it takes me a little while to catch on! The characterisation is good as all can be visualised with ease and the Irish setting is excellent.

I am thoroughly entertained by this novel although it does get a bit drawn out towards the end but it is very Poirot like in it’s execution and so makes me smile. The end is a bit enigmatic but I like it.

Overall, this is a clever book and an excellent debut novel. It’s skilfully written with tongue in cheek. It’s different from other books out there at the moment and so will appeal to those looking for something out of the ordinary.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Pan Macmillan for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

Fair Play is a twist on the modern "group of friends at a remote location, one of them dies, everyone is hiding something and one of them is the killer"-trope, which in itself is already beginning to feel like a classic, by transmitting the story into a golden age-style classic whodunit. The eminent detective Bell appears to assemble the clues and find the culprit.

Fair Play not so much breaches the fourth wall as it tears it down. The characters are aware of being characters in a book and keep referencing classic mystery tropes and no-gos, delivering a running commentary into both the ongoing investigation as well as the construction of the novel itself. In the end, who did it is less important than the structure of the novel that set out to find out.

I am the perfect target audience for this book, because I LOVE golden age mysteries and have read most of the big names as well as some of the small. For the aficionado, the book offers a treasure hunt delicious treasure hunt of Easter eggs and references, some easier to spit, others less so.
Unfortunately, I couldn't help feeling that the transition between modern set-up and abrupt switch to golden age mystery was a little jarring and ultimately quite confusing, and I never quite felt like my feet touched ground with this book.
Nonetheless, the reading experience was eminently enjoyable and I would recommend Fair Play to anyone who enjoys the classic detective stories.
I want to thank PanMacmillan and NetGally for providing a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions here expressed are my own.

This is a new author for me. A group of friends, Abigail, Declan, Conor, Olivia, Margaret and Stephen gather to hold a Murder Mystery themed birthday party for Benjamin at Yew Tree House. The party does not go to plan.
A whodunnit, with a difference. I enjoyed the 'Agatha Christie' and 'Poroit' references throughout the novel. My favourite characters were the consulting detective, Auguste Bell and his 'Watson', Sacker who brought humour to the story. The plot intrigued me but unfortunately I found it difficult to follow and the writing style was not for me. The reader needs to pay attention and unfortunately did not hold my attention.

I give a 2 star rating as the book was not for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and publisher for advanced reading copy of this book in return for an honest review.
All opinions are my own

I loved everything about this book when I saw and read it thank so much for the ARC I can't wait to get started on it. FULL REVIEW TO FOLLOW

This is an interesting concept for a novel. As the blurb identifies, once the 'murder' has been committed, the scene changes and extra characters are introduced as though they have always been there. Even though I knew this was going to happen, when it did, it was still incredibly confusing and it took me a long time to get back into the world of the book as a result.

The characters are an interesting bunch and seeing each one from other people's perspectives was a nice touch as it rounded them out more. I also liked the little nods to Agatha Christie with the inclusion of the names Westmacott and Mallowan and this tied in with the overall feel of the book, which was that of a deconstructed crime novel. The detective consistently refers back to the famous rules of crime fiction and the fourth wall is broken over and over again. Whilst I don't mind this as a narrative device, it can take something away from the feeling of being completely immersed in the plot.

The author borrows heavily from the Poirot-style of detecting towards the end of the book, where the detective takes each person in turn and explains why they might have committed the 'murder' (I use inverted commas because the police are not convinced it is, so the reader has to keep an open mind.). Some of these were more convincing than others and successfully muddied the waters in identifying the true culprit.

The style reminded me a little of books like 'Cloud Atlas' and 'If On A Winter's Night A Traveller'. All three are incredibly clever books and I admire the skill of the writer, but as a reader I find them quite frustrating. I deliberated over what rating to give the book because whilst it's not one I would necessarily recommend personally, I can definitely see why other people would enjoy it and it is well written, it just wasn't to my personal taste, but that's the beauty of books!

Fair Play is a highly unusual novel that appears to take the form of a traditional 'whodunnit?' but actually, turns the concept undownside in a very enjoyable way. It did take me a little time to settle into Hegarty's style as she plays with the traditional format by providing a list of the 'rules' for murders, and the steps that the novel should follow - and she does indeed, follow these, just in her own style.
Hegarty provides much humour in the story, by allowing the detective (Bell) to address his sidekick with comments such as ".. we will do so in chapter ..." as they must follow a format and there is no point in hurrying ahead! There is also plenty of fun to be add with the names of the neighbours such as Mallowans, Westmacott as fans of Agatha Christie will recognise.
For the storyline, a group of friends have gathered on New Year's Eve to celebrate the birthday of Benjamin and as per usual, they participant in a 'murder mystery game' as devised by Alice, (Benjamin's sister). Once the murder is discovered, the storyline really kicks off, with new characters appearing, discrepancies between ownership of the property, and alibis.
As the tale progresses, we move between scenes where our detective (who is a investigator of international repute), interviewing the suspects and moving forward several weeks to the weeks after the funeral. As a result, the reader does need to keep their attention on the storyline.
Definitely a fun read and one that I would enjoy rereading aswell.

This is a witty, playful novel, exploring the format of the whodunnit. The setting in Ireland is evocative and rich. And, like so many Irish writers contains dream images and a kind of yearning.

She breaks the fourth wall, and the names of the detectives and neighbours are very funny, as are their comments on the plot itself.

The only difficulty with it, is that we are drawn in to the characters’ lives, and then separated by the form of the book and breaking the fourth wall. I think she has not yet settled into her true strength and should just write it in a more simple style.

A book like no other. I don’t know where or how to start with this book. It is a phenomenal page turner. Once I started I did not want it to stop.



Despite being initially hesitated at first - I was confused by the plot but once I got the hang of it. I enjoyed it immensely. A huge thanks to the author, publisher, and #NetGalley #FairPlay #LouiseHegarty