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A best-selling author takes readers to the dangerous world of London’s Soho in the 1950s in her latest novel.

But instead of being filled with the traditional male gangsters of the day, Queen of Clubs by Beezy Marsh, from Hartlepool, is a tale about the colourful women living on the wrong side of the law.

The follow up to 2021’s Queen of Thieves and is a fictionalised story inspired by real criminals who were part of the all female Forty Thieves gang.

Author and journalist Beezy, who grew up in Hartlepool and who now lives in Oxfordshire, said: “In the same way Peaky Blinders is fiction but inspired by gangland, Queen of Clubs is inspired by true events and real people.

Queen of Clubs features characters based on and inspired by real life women Alice Diamond (top right) and Eva Fraser (below).

"It looks at how these women built up their little crime empires and getting into nightclub and spielers – illegal gambling dens.

"Some owned and ran clubs which is quite unusual. I thought it would make a gripping plot.”

Set in London 1957, Queen of Clubs’s two principal characters are Alice Diamond, who was a real person, and Soho club owner Nell Kane, based on a combination of real women including Eva Fraser, sister of the notorious Frankie Fraser.

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Best-selling author Beezy Marsh grew up in Hartlepool.

Another character is Zoe, a dancer, who is based on real thief Zoe Progl, who was the first woman to escape from Holloway jail.

Beezy added: “I’m not celebrating them but I think we’re fascinated by women who are on the wrong side of the law and thought I would bring them to life.

"This is a kind of social history and now is the time for their story to be told.”

Queen of Clubs has earned rave reviews with The Sun calling it “a gripping tale of betrayal, revenge and survival” and the Mail on Sunday calling it “a fast, atmospheric read”.

It is the second in a planned trilogy and Beezy would love to see it follow in the footsteps of Peaky Blinders by being turned into a TV series or even a film.

She put her love of writing down to her education and teachers in Hartlepool.

Beezy added: “My English teachers really inspired me as a writer and I will always be grateful for that.”

Queen of Clubs published by Orion is out now priced £8.99 and as in e-book.

Hartlepool author Beezy Marsh delves into world of the real 'female Peaky Blinders' for second gripping novel set in 1950s Soho