Synopsis
‘Sally Rooney meets The Secret History’ - The Sunday Times
‘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.
‘A treat . . . Takes on the biggest questions of life and death’ - PAUL MURRAY, author of THE BEE STING
Details
03 April 2025
9781035036165Reviews
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
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
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
