Q&A with Louise Hegarty

 

Photo by Celeste Burdon

 

 

Louise Hegarty is the author of the new novel Fair Play. Her work has appeared in a variety of publications, including Banshee. She lives in Cork, Ireland.

 

Q: What inspired you to write Fair Play, and how did you create your cast of characters? 

 

A: I have always been a fan of murder mysteries and thrillers. I grew up with murder mystery-loving parents and would watch episodes on Poirot and Miss Marple on the television.

 

I started thinking about a Golden Age-style detective novel that grapples with the aftermath of a sudden death on an emotional level. As I started to explore this idea a little more, I realised that the familiar structure of a whodunnit together with the fair play doctrine created the perfect environment to explore the emotions around death and grief.

 

I worked out who I wanted in my closed circle of suspects by thinking about the different types of friends you gather during different stages of your life: the childhood friend, the school friend, friends you meet at college and at work.

 

Q: The writer Colin Walsh said of the novel, “Dazzling, formally subversive, brimming with compassion, Fair Play explodes the conventions of a mystery in order to confront us with the genuinely mysterious.” What do you think of that description? 

 

A: My aim is always to write something that only I could write, and I enjoy exploring structure and form and genre in my writing. So I want my writing to be new and experimental but also just a good read. 

Q: How was the novel’s title chosen, and what does it signify for you? 

 

A: The title of the book comes from the fair play doctrine - one of the defining principles of Golden Age detective fiction: the concept that the reader should have “a sporting chance to solve the mystery.”

 

Life is very simple in a whodunnit. Everything feels safer – even when people are being murdered all around you – because the rules keep you tightly grasped. There is always a solution, a reveal, a simple narrative that helps everything make sense. But of course, real life isn’t merely a puzzle to be solved.

 

Q: What do you hope readers take away from the book?

 

A: Just to enjoy it. 

 

Q: What are you working on now? 

 

A: I am currently working on another novel which will be very different from Fair Play but will still play with form and genre.

 

Q: Anything else we should know? 

 

A: I have a short story collection coming out in 2026 which will be published by Picador.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb