Fair Play | Litsy

Fair Play | Louise Hegarty

so-so

Abigail is hosting a birthday party for her brother, Benjamin & has invited his circle of close friends. She arrives at the Airbnb to set up the food & drink & also hide the clues for the period murder mystery game they'll be playing later. The party passes without a hitch but the next morning, Benjamin fails to appear for breakfast. His bedroom door is locked & he isn't answering their knocks so they break the door open - Benjamin is dead.

OutsmartYourShelf The story then splits into two, one following the aftermath in the present & the second has the friends appear in a real-life murder mystery. A famous detective arrives to investigate the death & the house suddenly has staff including a butler, a gardener and a housekeeper. This is a golden-age locked-room mystery & everyone is a suspect.

This started off quite well & I was looking forward to the offbeat angle of the mystery. 1d

OutsmartYourShelf There were aspects I liked: the knowing metaphorical 'wink' to the audience by the detective, the nods to the authors (including Conan Doyle & Agatha Christie) of some of the greatest detectives ever written, & the dual narrative, but overall it just didn't work. The main issue for me is that the ending just didn't make sense - I'm not sure if it was due to being an ARC & there was some text missing or not, but it just finished abruptly. 1d

OutsmartYourShelf I'm still not entirely sure who the actual killer was supposed to be in the end.
3.25⭐ as I did enjoy most of it but the ending let it down.

My thanks to #NetGalley & publishers, Pan Macmillan/Picador, for the opportunity to read an ARC.

Full Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6786452819
Read 1st - 3rd Apr 2025

#ReadAway2025 @Andrew65 @DieAReader @GHABI4ROSES 1d

DieAReader 🎉🎉🎉 24m

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