If you’d like to escape the 21st Century for a romp in late-Victorian London, one in which you don’t really have to take anything too seriously, this entertaining historical crime novel might be just the thing to conquer those January blues. Quinn le Blanc is the Queen of Fives, head of a once-large and notorious group of female con women, now reduced to her, her major domo, Mr Silk, and a few loosely connected paid confederates of dubious loyalty.
Quinn’s actions are guided by a rulebook created by her predecessor queens, which lays out the rules for any number of confidence schemes. She’s about to embark on the one called The False Heiress. However they might differ in strategy, all these cons have in common the goal of obtaining something of value. Preferably a lot of value. They take five days to accomplish, and they all proceed along a prescribed path, which corresponds to the sections of the novel.
First, the Mark is identified and studied; the Intrusion, when the Queen makes herself known to the Mark in whatever guise fits; the Ballyhoo, wherein the Mark is tempted; the Knot, when the Mark and Queen ally; and, finally ‘all in,’ in which the business is happily concluded. Happily for the Queen, of course.
Quinn has selected an aloof young duke from the richest family in England as her quarry, and through an elaborate set of stratagems and disguises, sets out to trick him into marriage. It isn’t only his money she’s after; she’d like to derail his do-gooder step-mother whose charities are bent on tearing down the old houses of the poor and building new ones. One of the targeted neighbourhoods is Quinn’s own, the traditional seat of the Queen of Fives.
But if the course of true love never did run smooth, neither in this case does the course of false love. A mysterious man in a blue silk waistcoat seems also to be a mysterious woman in a cream silk gown; in either guise, their eye is on Quinn. The duke’s sister, Lady Victoria, sizes Quinn up, concludes she’s a sham and is determined to out her. And the duke has a secret love that Quinn does not realise holds his first allegiance. You may figure this part out rather quickly, as I did, but in 1898, the secrets of the rich were secrets for a reason.
What’s most fun is the clever plots and quick-change artistry of the characters. The book isn’t an accurate sociological study of London in that era or any sort of deep character study; it’s meant to be pure fun and mischief. I did admire Quinn’s ability to bounce back from the most appalling setbacks.
The story moves almost as quickly as Quinn changes her costumes, as each new problem is tackled by her, Mr Silk, and her putative guardian, Mrs Airlie. Perhaps because author Hay has studied history, he avoids any wildly distracting anachronisms, and moves the story along so deftly, you don’t have a chance to over-analyse it. He’s the author of the bestselling 2024 book, The Housekeepers.
Also see The Innocents by Bridget Walsh.
Review
Print/Kindle/iBook
£8.99
CFL Rating: 3 Stars
