Nothing is quite as it seems in Victorian high society
– The Queen of Fives
[ About The Queen of Fives ]
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…
[ My Review ]
The Queen of Fives by Alex Hay publishes January 30th with Headline and is described as‘twisty and original’. Last year I reviewed The Housekeepers by Alex Hay where I said that it was an outrageous and entertaining plot and I think it’s safe to say that The Queen of Fives fits the same bill.
In the Author’s Note at the back of the book Alex Hay provides plenty of detail about the inspiration behind his latest novel and his wish to ‘conjure up yet another devious scheme‘. Using the notion of five card movements in a game invented by his imagined Queen of Fives, Alex Hay creates a wonderful character in Quinn Le Blanc. Central to this rather crooked and extremely inventive scheme is a rulebook, one that states, with very strict instructions, how the game is played and the penalties attached if failure ensues. The pure novelty of this idea for a plot appealed to me so I was looking forward to immersing myself in this Victorian escapade.
Quinn Le Blanc is a con-artist but once her history and personality are revealed, one cannot but be drawn into her madcap plans and the world of shadows she inhabits. The latest game that Quinn embarks on is one of a grand scale, unlike any she has participated in the past. Quinn is unafraid of risks and with her experience to date she has the confidence to expect successful results. She sets her sights on an influential family, in particular the bachelor son. The plan is simple, ensnare him, accept his hand in marriage and walk away with a heavy purse. Quinn knows this will be challenging but she has her aides and places complete trust in those loyal to her leadership.
But Quinn is very much unprepared for the scale of duplicity, greed and revenge that soon entraps her, causing her to rethink her plan and take seriously the possibility of a threat to her own life. What follows is a riotous escapade through Victorian society as trick outclasses trick and masquerades become confusing. Who really is the innocent party and who is the puppet-master controlling the strings?
The Queen of Fives is a rollicking romp through Victorian London, plunging the reader into a world of intrigue and danger, where appearances are deceiving and trust is a rare commodity. Alex Hay stated that in writing this novel he ‘deliberately played with some of the tropes of fin de siècle literature, a genre that revels in duality & savagery & repressed desire…’ giving the tale a really tantalising spin. The Queen of Fives is a wholly imaginative and creative story that will appeal to all who look for the fantastical element in their book choices. It’s pure entertainment, a perfectly delightful and beguiling read with plenty of twists and turns to keep most readers guessing.
[ Bio ]
Alex Hay grew up in Cambridge and Cardiff and has been writing as long as he can remember. He studied History at the University of York, and wrote his dissertation on female power at royal courts, combing the archives for every scrap of drama and skulduggery he could find. He has worked in magazine publishing and the charity sector, and is a graduate of the Curtis Brown Write Your Novel course. His debut novel The Housekeepers won the Caledonia Novel Award 2022 and was published to great critical acclaim. Alex lives with his husband in South East London.
Bluesky ~ @alexhaybooks.bsky.social
