Synopsis
‘A treat . . . Takes on the biggest questions of life and death’ - 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
‘SALLY ROONEY MEETS THE SECRET HISTORY’ - The Sunday Times
This is a murder mystery.
This is a story about love.
Or is it? . . .
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 else? What secrets do Benjamin’s friends hold? And can Abigail, immersed in her grief, find out the truth of her beloved brother’s life?
Details
02 April 2026
9781035036158Reviews
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
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
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.
An ingenious puzzle-box of a novel . . . Sad, funny, clever, engrossing; this is a wonderful debut.
