It was my absolute pleasure to meet lovely Claire Wilson at Harrogate International Crime Festival earlier this year and my huge thanks go to Claire for ensuring I received a copy of her debut crime novel Five by Five.

I’d heard Claire read from the beginning of Five by Five at Noir at the Bar and was completely hooked. It’s my pleasure to share my review of Five by Five today.

Five by Five is published by Penguin’s Michael Joseph on 29th August 2024 and is available for purchase through the links here.

Five by Five

Just because the most dangerous criminals in society are caught and locked up, doesn’t mean they stop committing crime.

That’s where Kennedy Allardyce comes in – working in one of Scotland’s toughest prisons, monitoring not just the prisoners, but also the staff.

And she’s just stumbled across her most dangerous foe yet – rumours of a corrupt guard, nicknamed Scout, with lethal influence. And what’s worst, it seems they’ve already realised Kennedy is on their tail.

Despite her growing fear, there is one thing going right for Kennedy. The enigmatic new prison officer Molly is beautiful and ready to sweep her off her feet.

But Kennedy can’t afford to let her guard down. Because with Scout hiding very close by, her next mistake might just be her last . . .

My Review of Five by Five

Kennedy Allardyce has criminals to catch.

What a cracking debut thriller. Claire Wilson writes with a fast paced authority that immediately gains and holds the reader’s attention. I loved Five by Five because it provides a completely fresh perspective. Whilst other police procedural stories might concentrate on catching criminals and putting them behind bars, here they are already in prison and not all the criminals are conscripts. It’s as if Claire Wilson lifts the skin of the justice system and invites the reader right to its beating heart. 

I had no idea that the role Kennedy fulfils actually exists so that Five by Five not only entertained me completely, it gave me real insight that felt authentic and fascinating. The depiction of prison life is hugely unsettling and there’s a creeping sense of tension and menace underpinning the narrative that I found highly effective. There’s violence and a considerable number of expletives in the story, but they all feel placed naturally and realistically in the prison setting. With Kennedy in danger so cleverly depicted, I found myself viewing those I encountered in the street with great suspicion and wariness!

Kennedy is a really interesting  character. She’s dogged to the point of stubbornness. She’s flawed and believable. She’s also self-aware and vulnerable so that I finished Five by Five feeling as if I’d been in the presence of a real person, not just a character in a story. Her developing relationship with Molly and her life with Ellie both add a softness to Kennedy’s character belied by her public persona at work and give a real sense of same sex attraction that is completely convincing. I’m so glad that the end of Five by Five suggests there’s more to come about her.

But for me, the absolute success of Five by Five is the sense of corruption and betrayal that is depicted on so many levels. I loathe unfairness and corruption with a passion so that Claire Wilson made me rage and fume. I found the story made me livid. The nepotistic, self-serving attitude of so many in all layers of society who are prepared to betray and hurt others for their own gains makes Five by Five a book that seeps into the reader’s brain until they can’t stop wondering how the narrative will end and how far retribution might be served. It makes for a fascinating book. 

With its fast pace, vivid characters and dramatic plot, Five by Five is gritty, compelling and surprisingly affecting. I thoroughly enjoy it and have a feeling Claire Wilson is going to be an author to watch! 

About Claire Wilson

Claire Wilson is from central Scotland. Her debut novel, Five by Five, was the inaugural winner of the Penguin Michael Joseph Undiscovered Writers’ Prize. The book is based on her day job as an Intelligence Analyst in a Scottish Prison.

For further information follow Claire on Twitter/X @ByClaireWilson, find her on Instagram.