Louise Hegarty

Are you ready to play? Have you ever found yourself doom-scrolling, worrying about that weird pain in your leg, only to have your plans for the day completely trashed by the appearance of a literal axe-wielding troll? What about that time you came across a perfect double of yourself in the street? Or the gorilla suit you put on one day only for it to fuse with your skin? When those children went missing from your village, did you know for sure it was the electricity that took them? And down in the basement of your ancestral family home, what is it that’s making that THUMP . . . THUMP . . . THUMP . . . Bold, funny, and wild, Louise Hegarty’s debut collection will turn you upside down and inside out, if it doesn’t take you apart completely.

"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 For fans of Anthony Horowitz and Lucy Foley, a wonderfully original, genre-breaking literary debut from Ireland that's an homage to the brilliant detective novels of the early twentieth century, a twisty modern murder mystery, and a searing exploration of grief and loss. A group of friends gather at an Airbnb on New Year's Eve. It is Benjamin's birthday, and his sister Abigail is throwing him a jazz-age Murder Mystery themed party. As the night plays out, champagne is drunk, hors d'oeuvres consumed, and relationships forged, consolidated or frayed. Someone kisses the wrong person; someone else's heart is broken. In the morning, all of them wake up--except Benjamin. As Abigail attempts to wrap her mind around her brother's death, an eminent detective arrives determined to find Benjamin's killer. In this mansion, suddenly complete with a butler, gardener and housekeeper, everyone is a suspect, and nothing is quite as it seems. Will the culprit be revealed? And how can Abigail, now alone, piece herself back together in the wake of this loss? Gripping and playful, sharp and profoundly moving, Fair Play plumbs the depths of the human heart while subverting one of our most popular genres.

'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 TimesThis is a murder mystery. This is a story about love. Or is it? . . . Abigail and her brother Benjamin have always been close. To celebrate his birthday, Abigail hires a grand old house and gathers their friends together for a murder mystery party. As the night goes on, they drink too much and play games. Relationships are forged, consolidated or frayed. Someone kisses someone they shouldn’t, someone else’s heart is broken. In the morning, everyone wakes up – except Benjamin. Suddenly everything is not quite what it seems. An eminent detective arrives determined to find Benjamin’s killer. The house now has a butler, a gardener and a housekeeper. This is a locked-room mystery, and everyone is a suspect. As Abigail attempts to fathom her brother’s unexpected death in a world that has been turned upside down, she begins to wonder whether perhaps the true mystery might have been his life . . . Louise Hegarty's Fair Play is the puzzle-box story that brilliantly lays bare the real truth of life - the terrifying mystery of grief.

'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 TimesThis is a murder mystery. This is a story about love. Or is it? . . . Abigail and her brother Benjamin have always been close. To celebrate his birthday, Abigail hires a grand old house and gathers their friends together for a murder mystery party. As the night goes on, they drink too much and play games. Relationships are forged, consolidated or frayed. Someone kisses someone they shouldn’t, someone else’s heart is broken. In the morning, everyone wakes up – except Benjamin. Suddenly everything is not quite what it seems. An eminent detective arrives determined to find Benjamin’s killer. The house now has a butler, a gardener and a housekeeper. This is a locked-room mystery, and everyone is a suspect. As Abigail attempts to fathom her brother’s unexpected death in a world that has been turned upside down, she begins to wonder whether perhaps the true mystery might have been his life . . . Louise Hegarty's Fair Play is the puzzle-box story that brilliantly lays bare the real truth of life - the terrifying mystery of grief.

"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 StingFor fans of Anthony Horowitz and Lucy Foley, a wonderfully original, genre-breaking literary debut from Ireland that's an homage to the brilliant detective novels of the early twentieth century, a twisty modern murder mystery, and a searing exploration of grief and loss. A group of friends gather at an Airbnb on New Year's Eve. It is Benjamin's birthday, and his sister Abigail is throwing him a jazz-age Murder Mystery themed party. As the night plays out, champagne is drunk, hors d'oeuvres consumed, and relationships forged, consolidated or frayed. Someone kisses the wrong person; someone else's heart is broken. In the morning, all of them wake up--except Benjamin. As Abigail attempts to wrap her mind around her brother's death, an eminent detective arrives determined to find Benjamin's killer. In this mansion, suddenly complete with a butler, gardener and housekeeper, everyone is a suspect, and nothing is quite as it seems. Will the culprit be revealed? And how can Abigail, now alone, piece herself back together in the wake of this loss? Gripping and playful, sharp and profoundly moving, Fair Play plumbs the depths of the human heart while subverting one of our most popular genres.

A detective calls on a shell-shocked group of friends in this thrillingly inventive novel of love and grief with a murder-mystery twist.