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 . . .

Claire Wilson is a crime writer from central Scotland. Her crime books are based on her day job as an Intelligence Analyst in a Scottish Prison. She loves gritty crime and grew up reading Martina Cole and Stephen King. Her debut novel, Five by Five was previously a finalist in the Capital Crime / Amazon Publishing New Voices Award in 2021 and Adventures in Fiction New Voices in 2022. 
 
Claire was picked to pitch her novel at the Pitch Perfect event at the Bloody Scotland Crime Writing Festival in 2022.
 
In 2023, Claire won the Penguin Michael Jospeh Undiscovered Writers Prize. Five by Five will be published by Penguin Michael Joseph in 2024.