This is a murder mystery.
This is a story about love.
Or is it? . . .

Fair Play is the puzzle-box story of two competing tales that brilliantly lay bare the real truth of life - the terrifying mystery of grief.

'A treat – clever, confident, and always surprising' - Paul Murray, author of THE BEE STING

'Sally Rooney meets The Secret History' - The Sunday Times

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 . . .

'Dazzling, formally subversive, brimming with compassion' - Colin Walsh, author of KALA

'A dark, twisting, dismantling work . . . I've never read anything like it' - Emma Stonex, author of THE LAMPLIGHTERS

'A triumph' - Lisa McInerney, author of THE GLORIOUS HERESIES

"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