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

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

'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

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?

‘Dazzling' - Colin Walsh, author of Kala
‘Brilliant’ - The Times
‘Ingenious’ - The Telegraph
‘Terrific’ - The New York Times
‘Heartbreaking’ - The Guardian

"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" - The Sunday Times

"Undoubtedly the most original crime novel you’ll read all year" - The Guardian

"A witty, knowing homage to classic detective fiction, but also a deeply sensitive examination of the loneliness and confusion of grief " - The New York Times

"Acts as both witty deconstruction of a genre and portrait of unbearable grief and loss" - Financial Times

"In crime novels, a death is often merely the inciting incident. Murder gets the party started, so to speak. Grief, the monster in the shadows that keeps you awake at night, rarely features. That Louise Hegarty has not only upended the genre, but combined this with a moving exploration of loss, makes this inventive debut all the more impressive" - Irish Independent

"Fair Play shows how the true mysteries of death and life can elude the consolations of genre fiction . . . Fair play, indeed" - The Wall street Journal

"Amazing . . . a really modern, interesting, bizarre take on the murder mystery . . . It’s brilliant" - LA Times