Fair Play by Louise Hegarty

I can see that lots of people have really loved this book, and think it's a wonderful observation of grief, and also a clever play on cosy crime.  But I also, thankfully, saw one review describing it as a hot mess which was a response that chimed with my own.  I finished the book last night and immediately said 'What?!' out loud.  I was frustrated, and mystified.  What had I just finished, and what did it all mean?  This isn't to say that it was all bad - there were aspects I liked, the beginning of the book is good and I was intrigued and wanted to know what had happened.  But then it seems to turn into something else entirely, and honestly for me, it didn't work.

If those separate moments of Abigail's grief had been standalone I would have enjoyed them much more, because it is heart-breaking to watch her trying to make sense of what has happened.  But intertwined with the slightly bizarre golden age of crime murder mystery felt jarring.  And had that detective story been by itself I might have forgiven it - even if the detective seemed like a dolt who was just wildly guessing at every possible suspect.

But the repetition was frustrating, of quite long passages where pretty much all the text is the same until there is some small change.  It felt like a literary device, and I had bad flashbacks to trying to read James Joyce's Ulysses.  Perhaps that was the point, the interruption of the story, the unsettling nature of the two plot lines twisting against each other.  But I didn't like it.  I didn't understand where the book was going, or what the point of the new detective was and the change in setting and scene, and so at the end I felt worn out by the stupid detective who had guessed everyone did it, and whilst I understand the humour of that because in a Christie novel there is an element of it could possibly be any one of the characters.  But at the same time, it sad strangely, for me, with Abigail's grief.  I kept wondering if the whole thing was part of it being a murder mystery game and we would find that the suicide wasn't a suicide and was interwoven in the party game - that would have made a little sense with the title and the cover of the book perhaps?  But no.  The title doesn't seem to make much sense, and I really don't know why the cover looks like that, which also bothered me!

Anyway, lots of other people really like this book, so give it a try if you're intrigued.  But for me, it didn't work.

Title: Fair Play

Author: Louise Hegarty

ISBN: 9781035036134

To be published on: 3 April 2025

Hope Street by Mike Gayle

This is a gentle, sweet story with a bit of a mystery, some moments of peril, and a central character I became very fond of.  It encompasses quite a lot of storylines, and I wasn't always sure that everything worked or was necessary, but the central story of Connor and his missing mum, and the threat to their home, is engaging and I enjoyed seeing Lila trying to help him.  I enjoyed the way it slowly unfurled Connor's mum's story...I hadn't guessed at all what had happened.  And of course I was rooting for Connor the whole way through.

With thanks to Net Galley for my copy.

Title: Hope Street

Author: Mike Gayle

ISBN: 9781399724494

To be published on: 6 Feb 2025

Death comes to Pemberley by PD James

I really wanted to like this.  P&P is fresh in my mind as my daughter spent several months watching the BBC series on repeat, but from the moment I started the book I kept almost squawking out loud 'what?!'  Did PD James actually read P&P before starting?  I certainly don't think she enjoyed it, because she didn't seem to know who anyone was, or what they were like.  And the mystery within the book was really quite dull, and oh, the court drags on and on.

I was so desperate for Darcy and Elizabeth to be smart.  And funny.  And to just have a nice husband and wife conversation even.  But they felt stilted, and the tone was all wrong and ugh.

I'm glad I read it, because I've thought about reading it for several years now.  But I'm also glad that I am very good at forgetting about books, because it was pretty terrible!

Title: Death Comes to Pemberley

Author: PD James

ISBN: 9780571379699

Death and the penguin by Andrey Kurkov

What a strange little book!  I enjoyed it, and found it quite readable until just perhaps the last quarter, which I felt wasn't as good as the earlier parts.  The penguin is, obviously, the best bit.  I was slightly disappointed that the penguin and the writer were not an unlikely detective duo.  That's what I'd initially hoped for on seeing the title.  Instead this seems to be about communism, the mafia, and the oddities of life.  Still, it was quirky, and an interesting read, so I'm glad I gave it a go.

(This was the second book I received from my subscription to Mr B's Emporium Bookshop).

Title: Death and the penguin

Author: Andrey Kurkov

ISBN: 9781860469459

Water Moon by Samantha Sotto Yambao

I was lured into reading this with the Japanese setting, and as I started it I thought it might be a bit of an interesting sci fi type story.  Had I known it was magical realism, I might not have bothered (do we call this speculative fiction now?  I don't really know...) but anyway, suddenly people are jumping through puddles into an alternate world (I think) and I got nervous.

It actually wasn't as bad as I'd thought...I decided to let the whole thing wash over me and not worry about what was going on.  Even when someone got folded into origami to travel somewhere else I just la la la'd my way through.  Mainly because of the physicist character, who I liked, and who I wanted to know more about.  I like Kei more and more, and Hana less and less.

It's a strange, magical fantasy romance.  I'm not sure about the ending.  I wasn't sure about some of the middle.  Some of it is great, and some of it was dull, but it kept me reading.

Title: Water Moon

Author: Samantha Sotto Yambao

ISBN: 9780857505330

To be published 16th January 2025