To be honest it took me a few days to get into this story. Initially I felt it was similar to The Housekeepers which put me off a bit. However I soon got into the story and found myself immersed in the world of Quinn Le Blanc.

The story is a real page turner and I loved how the plot developed over the five days. Five days seemed to be a bit far-fetched for a con on such a huge scale, however the Duke had his own issues and didn’t seem to mind too much who he married. Towards the end of the con the story unravels as you realise Quinn is not the only con woman around. Will her plan succeed or will she be thwarted and lose her crown? You’ll have to read the book to find out!

Raucous and riotous dip into Victorian high and low society
—
This is for anyone who says that they don’t read historical fiction. Based on history but deliciously wicked and fiendishly plotted, it’s about what happens when the smartest trickster in the room meets their match. Quinn Le Blanc is the current Queen of Fives, doyenne of a gang of cons who, like Pratchett’s King of Beggars, has to go after the biggest of scores to set things right. Her mark is the Duke of Kendal, fabulously wealthy but whose own secrets are a match to Quinn’s. When the con is on, Quinn needs all to go smoothly, but there’s a fly in the ointment, another game in play that she doesn’t know about, a threat from an unseeable direction.

How bloody good was this! Beautifully written with each chapter dedicated to each of the in-play characters and the twist anticipated but not at all predictable; so well-planned that I can’t wait to read it again to see how the trick was managed. Each character is a perfectly judged meld of dark and light, seen and unseen, and Victorian London—the underworld, the glittering heights, the everyday—thrums with life in a historical novel that breaks the mould.

All the stars: five stars all round.

Everything was too convenient for the main character, which lessened the story’s excitement and unpredictability until its twist at the very end. The characters themselves felt underdeveloped, so I couldn't become invested.

Would I recommend?... Unfortunately I don't think so... it delivered a surprising ending, but by then I already felt disconnected to the story and its characters.

Read for:
- Victorian setting
- hidden identities
- wide cast of characters

The Queen of Fives is the second novel from Alex Hay and very much in the vein of the first.

This time we are with Quinn Le Blanc, the most talented female con women - in fact the Queen. She has five days to capture, convince and marry the most eligibly Duke of Kendal and part him of all his money.

Quinn has to draw on all her strength, disguise, and fellow con men and women to pull of the best con ever and remain the Queen. But she is up against the Duke's stepmother, who is desperate for her son to marry and his younger sister who is very much concerned what will happen to her if her brother gets married.

However as Quinn gets involved further with the Kendall's, she finds they have their own secrets and actually this might be harder than she first thought as she becomes involved deeper and tries to find the way out of the web of which she has seemed to weaved herself into.

This book has many twists and turns and is very much a period piece, of the late Victorian era and really creates an atmosphere which perhaps might not work in other time periods. A historical hustle book which is great fun and deceptively fast paced.

Definitely does not suffer from the second book syndrome. I look forward to see where Alex Hay may take us next.

I loved The Housekeepers so have been eagerly looking forward to The Queen of Fives. And Hay has written another clever and fun read, and one that I very much enjoyed.

It is 1898 and Quinn Le Blanc is a notorious con woman. But things have not been going her way of late, and she therefore decides to pull off her most audacious con, snaring a wealthy aristocrat, marrying him in five days and getting her hands on his fortune. She sets her sights on the Duke of Kendal, but she finds herself dealing with a family with complicated secrets of their own, and at the same time faced with a mysterious individual with a grudge against her.

With an action-packed plot set over the five days, and twists galore that keep the reader guessing, as well as fabulous characterisation and rich historical detail, it all adds up to a thoroughly entertaining read that I commend to all fans of historical drama. I look forward to seeing what Hay writes next.

Quinn Le Blanc was born into a family of tricksters, the rules are very strict for each trick she performs. The one she has decided to pin her fortunes to is called 'False Heiress' where she has to convince her suitor that she is fabulously wealthy and gain a proposal of marriage within five days. Her home, the Chateau, is the lair of many villains but has seen better days so the success of this venture is vital. We are drawn into Quinn's world, admiring her talents and wondering who is actually the villain of this story. Twisty turny throughout the book its a real page turner.

I was interested to give this a try after reading great reviews of Alex Hay's debut novel 'The Housekeepers'. 'The Queen of Fives' flows along, effervescent and easy to read, telling a tale of a magnificent scam artist, the "Queen" of a found family of criminals, in Victorian London. It reminded me a bit of 'Bridgerton' in the sense that it felt like a fantasy version of the past, entertaining and escapist.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the advance copy.

When I was thinking about how to describe this book, the word ‘ romp’ kept coming to mind, not so much in a Carry On sense but more in a ‘no holds barred, throw everything you’ve got at it in a madcap high stakes escapade’ .

I really enjoyed ‘The Queen of Fives’; from the outset it was clear that this was historical fiction with a twist, buckle in for the journey.

Quinn le Blanc is the current Queen of Fives, raised to be the greatest confidence trickster the world has ever seen. She lives by the rules of complicated and sometimes unspoken games. She’s currently involved in a five day heist called ‘The Fake Heiress’ where the aim is to ingratiate herself fully into the uppermost ranks of society. She’s helped along the way by trusty sidekick Mr Silk who has been with her from the beginning.

Quinn and Mr Silk start their convoluted game, with countless strands and elements to manage and oversee. She has been preparing for this her whole life, with ready made disguises and costumes, different characters to portray and a catalogue of staff on her payroll. But Quinn isn’t the only one hiding secrets and plotting something huge. Will someone from her past stop her in her tracks?

The year is 1898, and our current Queen of Fives, Quinn Le Blanc, is ready to finish her little game of hearts.

The Game?

Lifting a man’s fortune in five moves in five days before dispearing without a trace.

Challenge accepted, Quinn is ready, and finds the most elegable batchelor in London.

A Duke. The Duke of Kendal.

I do not know what it is about this era. Horses and seasons and ladies and lords. I just seem to disappear into these worlds altogether.

Our main character, Quinn, seems to have most things under control, having played this game many times before.
She chose a mark, and the game started five days before, which is where we come in. 😊

So the games begin. Quinn does her best to get to our Duke and insert herself into his life, to his unmarried sisters horror.

Will the sister be Quinn's downfall? Or will Quinn win her over?
If only that was the only hurdle!
With a catch, such as the Duke, you didn’t think she was the only one who wanted to get to him, did you?😉

The game is so elegant and elaborated with so many players in the game. Who will get what they want out of this?

Well, my dear gentle readers, this book also contains some, oooh, so delicious twists. Enjoy!
It is a delightful read, indeed.😊🩵📚

I feel like this is a 3.5 but could be a 4 if I read it in one sitting. The plot of this is insane It’s just not a book you put down and come back to and because I’m not a dnf girlie I had to finish it. This would make a great film plot but I feel like something was missing to give that excitement to keep picking it up?

Plot twist at the end gagged me tho I won’t lie.

Thank you to NetGalley & Headline for the opportunity to read and review an advance copy!

Loved this book!

From the beginning to the end I was completely hooked by this book. I love historical fiction and this book with all of its twists and turns kept me on my toes, wondering if my guesses would be correct as to how it would end.
Definitely be a book I will remember.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Publisher for an advanced e-book copy. Opinions about the book are entirely my own.

Once more Alex Hays pulls us into the murky underworld of London in 1898. Quinn le Blanc must find a wealthy husband and steal his fortune within five days…her most ambitious con yet. But not is all as it seems and there are other forces working against her and her success. With an extensive cast of characters this book needed my concentration at the beginning but all soon came together and the twists and turns and double crosses came thick and fast. A glorious romp of a novel that kept me turning the pages until late into the night. I was also able to listen to the audio version of the book which was narrated by Polly Edsell who did a fantastic job of bringing both the novel and characters to life. I look forward to the next novel from this author with anticipation. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this novel in return for a honest review.

This fantastical tale follows Quinn Le Blanc attempting to pull off a huge scam. The plot moves from the Victorian East End of Jack the Ripper to the highest end of West End aristocracy.

The plot twists and turns as Quinn follows five stages of the scheme to trap and ensnare a highly eligible duke into marriage.

Well written and picaresque this was an enjoyable tale and a good read.

Blurb

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...

Review

The first few chapters had me concentrating while I got to know the characters - there is quite an extensive cast, but I quickly placed everyone and the pace of the story took off. The scheming and plotting of the confidence trick is exquisite. I loved the rule book and how everyone supported their Queen of Fives. The many secrets and twists had me gasping until the very end as it becomes clear that Quinn is not the only person with a secret agenda. This is a terrific story for fans of historical cosy crime and a superb second book from Alex Hay. To a real page turner! I’ll be eagerly awaiting his next one!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, Headline for a copy in exchange for a review.

This is a review of the audiobook.

An original story that is action packed though it only covers a period of five days!
A book set in Victorian England with a range of wonderful characters from Le Blanc a con artist, to Max all are well developed and bring something to the book.
This is an entertaining read.

Queen of Fives was an interesting take on a confidence woman heist story, set in late Victorian London. I really enjoyed the world building - the sights and sounds of Spitalfields were brought to life, which belies the huge amount of research Hay undertook as explained in their author’s note.

Central to the novel is conwoman Quinn’s adherence to a rule book passed down to her from the last principle con artist that ruled the house, which has been in slow decline due to several cons not coming off.

This adds an urgency to proceedings as a massive scheme to marry the elusive Duke of Kendal seems to be the only way to reverse their house’s fortunes.

The resulting tale is intricate and twisty, as plans go awry and become more and more complicated. I really enjoyed the author’s exploration of family, duty and identity that twines through the story and adds a depth to the main characters as we’re thrown along the storyline to its dramatic final scenes.

Thanks to the author and @Headline for an advanced copy of the book as part of a @randomthingstour - Queen of Fives is out now!

I will post on instagram @charlottereadshistory tomorrow.

I really enjoyed reading Alex Hay’s first book The Housekeepers so was very interested in reading this. The first thing I have to say is that this is a novel where you really need to concentrate, there are a few different narrators, all who have a big role in this novel. Not one of them wanted the same outcome and I didn’t trust a single one of them.
A wealthy family and a handful of people who want some of their fortune, all any of them seemed interested in was the money. I felt that the Duke and his sister, Tor, were close but I had a feeling that they would betray each other if it benefited them.
Quinn is the outsider who has made it her mission to get her hands on some of their money and the way she will do that is to marry the duke within a deadline of five days. She has help from a few that she trusts, in particular Mr Silk who I have to admit is one of my favourite characters in the novel. If only for the reason that he is probably the only one who has a conscience.
This author shows the Victorian era in a completely different way to what you would expect from a historical novel. The women aren’t silent, invisible and incapable of making a decision. They are vocal, brave and can run rings around most of the men. They know exactly what they want and how to get it. The men, especially the Duke and Mr Silk. aren’t ignorant of the women in their lives. They appeared to be more respectful and somewhat fearful. It made very entertaining reading.
Whilst these were characters I loved reading about they weren’t easy to like, they were con artists. But I knew that before I started. I was however taken aback by how duplicitous some were. There was a lot I didn’t see as I read and I feel I now need to reread.
This was a wonderfully entertaining second novel by Alex Hay. I have no idea what he will do next.

I did manage to plug through about a third of this book before giving up. It just didn't grab me at all

A gripping thriller featuring Quinn Le Blanc a con artist known as the Lady, infamous throughout the city, from the genteel drawing rooms of the ton to the the less than salubrious corners of Victorian London. But what they don’t know is the chatelaine of the chateau is down on her luck and needs a big score to refill her coffers and return her to the heady heights she’s used to. Her chosen mark is the Duke of Kendal, supposedly one of the wealthiest peers of the land, her aim to trick him into marriage with a five day deadline to land her whale but in the words of Walter Scott 'Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive, Quinn is about to find out there may be more players in the game than she knows and one who knows the game as well as if not better than she does.

The overall story was absorbing and atmospheric, albeit one that was slow to begin with, however it did pick up its pace as event began to unfold and secrets were revealed. I want so much to love this book and while I enjoyed the premise of the plot, I really didn’t take to the character of Quinn. I did however enjoy the Kendal brother and sister, Max and Victoria who had my sympathy as a victim of the era, born first but dependent on her brother on whether she could stay in their family home. It pains me to say this as someone who generally prefers books to television, but I think with The Queen of Fives the opposite may be true, and this is one book I would love to see a TV adaptation of. I honestly think I might prefer it.

It was a great mystery/thriller novel what I liked the most was the originality of the story and the setting.
It was slow at the beginning and then I was so invested in the story which made me want to know what was going to happen next.
I highly recommend to give it a shot.
Thank you NetGalley for this early E-ARC .