Fair Game by Charlotte Mills | ARC Review

Fair Game (Payback #2) by Charlotte Mills

• Publisher: Ylva Publishing, September 2nd 2020
• Genre: Mystery, LGBTQ+
• Format: eARC
• Page Count: 252 pages
• My Rating: ★★★★ (4/5)

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Content warnings: stalking, poisoning, murder, attempted murder, death, self-harm in antagonist, blood, alcoholism, suspected cheating of minor character

This book takes place about two months after the epilogue of Payback.

Lexi Ryan (~34) now works at internet firm Shield Securities while her girlfriend ex-DCI Helen Taylor (~40) is settling down as a civilian. When Lexi feels like she is being stalked, Helen makes it her job to protect her and find out what is going on.

Like Payback, a lot of things are happening at the same time: poisoning, murder, stalking. The poisoning in question is Legionella. Infected individuals suffer from symptoms similar to COVID-19, making me wonder if it was referencing the pandemic. Along with the multiple crimes going on, Fair Game is not only told in Lexi’s and Helen’s third-person points of view, but also another unnamed voice.

The final reveal was not very surprising. There are multiple clues throughout the story and seemingly throwaway sentences that foreshadow major events, so the angst was relatively low. But I was still on edge while reading, desperate to make sure Lexi and Helen are safe.

I love how we can see past events affect characters’ psyches. Lexi and Helen are both suspicious about ongoing events because of the former’s dangerous experience with the law and the latter’s police instincts. Their insecurities are strongly connected to their own pasts. For best enjoyment, I highly recommend reading Payback beforehand to get all the references and understand Lexi and Helen better.

Mills chose to have both Payback and Fair Game feature somewhat incompetent police force. Neither books has its main crime completely solved by active police personnel despite the prominent roles they play in the investigation. I find this very refreshing.

Judging by the epilogue, which is cliffhanger-free, there will be a next book. I am hoping to see more drama in Shield Securities and learn more about Lexi’s mother Valeri and Maggie-from-downstairs. At some point during reading, geeky me want a full book where Helen investigates bad guys while Lexi illegally hacks their computer systems. It will be so much fun and I have a feeling this might happen in the future.

[Helen] hated not knowing things. Maybe Lexi was right. Maybe she should become a PI; at least then she’d get paid for being nosey.

Fair Game is an exciting mystery with sapphic power couple Lexi and Helen in horrible situations. This series is the kind of mystery we all need, a morally gray hacker and a righteous ex-cop in love and fighting crimes. I cannot wait to see what Mills have in-store for us in the future. [23 Aug 2020]

I received an eARC from Ylva Publishing in exchange for an honest review.