The Queen of Fives by Alex Hay

They whisper her name in every corner of town.
The lady with a hundred faces, a thousand lives.
Five moves, five days – for such are the rules of her game.

1898. Quinn Le Blanc, London’s most talented con woman, has five days to pull off the seemingly impossible: trick an eligible duke into marriage and lift a fortune from the richest family in England.

Masquerading as a wealthy debutante, Quinn is the jewel of the season. Her brilliant act opens doors to the grand drawing rooms and lavish balls of high society – and propels her into the inner circle of her target: the corrupt, charismatic Kendals.

But as she spins in and out of their world, Quinn becomes tangled in a dangerous web of love, lies and loyalty. The Kendal family all have secrets of their own, and she may not be the only one playing a game of high deception…

---

I loved Alex Hay’s debut novel, so you can imagine my excitement at being offered an early look at The Queen of Fives via Netgalley.  If you enjoyed The Housekeepers, I think that you’re going to enjoy this one as well.

I love the premise of the novel.  Set in Victorian London, Quinn Le Blanc is the current Queen of Fives – the head of a group of con-artists who use the illustrious-sounding yet ultimately humble Château as their base of operations. We meet Quinn and her right-hand man, Silk, in desperate times.  She and Silk are all that remain of their group, and their recent attempts at filling the coffers have gone awry.  They need to pull a big job, successfully, to get things back on track, and Quinn intends to pull a particularly daring heist – the “false heiress” – in which she will play a wealthy young woman seeking a husband.  Setting her sights on the Duke of Kendle (ludicrously wealthy but seemingly a confirmed bachelor), the game begins.

Quinn is an absolutely fantastic character.  Despite the relatively desperate times we meet her in, I can’t really say that I sympathised with her (she is a con-woman, after all), but I immediately warmed to her and I knew pretty much from the first page that I was in for a treat with this novel.  She is, out of necessity, a bold and charismatic individual, and there’s something refreshing about meeting a woman who goes against convention with complete and utter confidence, never once doubting her abilities to run a con successfully or questioning her choices. I admired her ability to hold her nerve even as things don’t go quite according to plan – it takes real gumption to improvise in those situations and I was cheering her on the whole time. She’s a joy to spend time with, and I wanted her to succeed as she cleverly insinuates herself into the duke’s life.

Each con has rules and a strict process to adhere to, and Hay has structured the novel to mirror the five key steps that Quinn will follow in securing her prize.  It’s simple but effective and pulls the reader into the narrative from the get-go.  At each stage of the con, the entirety of which is to be completed in five days, the reader sees how Quinn and Silk have planned these steps in great detail, and yet also see how things might go wrong as some situations demand a spontaneous reaction as something unexpected occurs.  It adds tension to the narrative, keeping the reader engaged throughout.  And each stage is so brilliantly thought out – I loved seeing Quinn’s daunting and ambitious plans brought to life, and couldn’t wait to see if the overall scheme would be successful. 

To add another layer to the novel, there is also an antagonist – a mysterious figure monitoring Quinn’s actions, although who they are and their ultimate purpose isn’t revealed until later in the novel.  I did work out this individual’s role before the big reveal, but I still thoroughly enjoyed the novel – I couldn’t wait to see how it would be brought to a close and whether Quinn would be successful, and I thought that the denouement was excellent.  The Queen of Fives is a huge amount of fun, and I would love to read another novel featuring Quinn Le Blanc and the Château. Highly recommended.

---

The Queen of Fives will be published by Headline on 30 January in physical, digital, and audio formats.  Huge thanks to the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this novel ahead of publication via Netgalley. 

Disclaimer – I received a copy of this novel from the publisher. This has in no way influenced my review.