Having loved Janice Hallett’s debut The Appeal last year I was very excited to be able to read The Twyford Code. It was my first book of 2022 and what a phenomenal way to start the year. It well and truly blew my mind!

Forty years ago, Steven Smith (known as Steve) found a copy of a famous children's book by disgraced author Edith Twyford, its margins full of strange markings and annotations. This book was taken off of him and kept by his Remedial English teacher Miss Iles, but she still read some of the story to him and his classmates. She also arranged for the class to go on a school trip to the former seaside home of Edith Twyford, but it was on this trip that Miss Iles disappeared.

In the present, when Steve is released from prison after eleven years, he decides to investigate the mystery that has been haunting him for decades; what really happened to Miss Iles that day? Was his teacher correct in her convictions that the book was a key to solving a puzzle and that a message in secret code was hidden by Edith Twyford within its pages? Was the book the reason she disappeared? Desperate to recover his memories and find out the truth, Steve revisits the people and places of his childhood. It soon becomes clear to him that The Twyford Code has great power, and Steve isn't the only one trying to solve it...

I loved the way this story is told through transcripts of audio recordings Steve makes on his phone (an iPhone 4 given to him by his son) on his release from prison. I am glad that Janice Hallett has chosen to use another unique form to tell this story, just like in her debut novel. I was intrigued by Steve from the beginning and keen to learn what happened for him to have been imprisoned for so many years. I was also fascinated by The Twyford Code and the idea that a code could be hidden within the pages of a children’s book.

I was captivated by Steve’s journey to try and solve the code and his belief it would help him to solve the mystery behind his teacher Miss Iles’ disappearance all those years ago. I really enjoyed getting to learn more about Steve and his past as the story progressed (his childhood and the events that led to his imprisonment), and also seeing his relationships with the people who came on board to help him on his quest for the truth.

It is so hard to talk about this story without giving anything away, but it took me well and truly by surprise and absolutely blew my mind with how clever it is! I had to take several moments to pause when details were revealed and things explained, as it was just so incredible! It is like nothing I have read before and I honestly cannot recommend it highly enough!

The Twyford Code (2021) by Janice Hallett

Like many I was a big fan of Hallett’s first book, The Appeal (2020), so I have been eagerly awaiting her second publication, which is released on the 13th January.

Synopsis
‘It's time to solve the murder of the century... Forty years ago, Steven Smith found a copy of a famous children's book by disgraced author Edith Twyford, its margins full of strange markings and annotations. Wanting to know more, he took it to his English teacher Miss Iles, not realising the chain of events that he was setting in motion. Miss Iles became convinced that the book was the key to solving a puzzle, and that a message in secret code ran through all Twyford's novels. Then Miss Iles disappeared on a class field trip, and Steven has no memory of what happened to her. Now, out of prison after a long stretch, Steven decides to investigate the mystery that has haunted him for decades. Was Miss Iles murdered? Was she deluded? Or was she right about the code? And is it still in use today? Desperate to recover his memories and find out what really happened to Miss Iles, Steven revisits the people and places of his childhood. But it soon becomes clear that Edith Twyford wasn't just a writer of forgotten children's stories. The Twyford Code has great power, and he isn't the only one trying to solve it...’

Overall Thoughts

In the last couple of months, I have read more than one book which would count as a bibliomystery. It is a subgenre I find I am particularly enjoying at the moment. So it was pleasing to discover that Hallett’s second offering also falls into this category and I think she brought a creative approach to it. Books are used as evidence in the mystery and not only do they potentially provide secret codes, but texts become repurposed to provide clues in a different way. I liked how the physicality of these texts contrast with the modernness of the way Hallett’s story is composed entirely of audio file transcripts. As with The Appeal, the writer includes many small details which add to the authentic feel to the narrative being audio files. They look and read differently. I also appreciate how Hallett does not just use this unusual typography as a mere novelty but ensures that it delivers an engaging reading experience. For example, the initial audio files between the inspector and a professor are effectively deployed to tantalise the reader and throughout the story the audio files are a good way of creating obfuscation, as they can conceal as much as they reveal about a character or situation. Furthermore, the audio file transcripts enable the protagonist to relay past events to the reader whilst commenting on present moment circumstances which hint at what might have gone on. This leads to periods of heightened tension and give the reader a palpable sense of danger.

Knowing how clever Hallett was in her first book at pulling the wool over my eyes, I did start this book thinking to myself: ‘I must remember to not accept anything as true, without really thinking about it first!’ Hallett’s style of mystery writing encourages you to keep asking questions about what is seemingly going on or being said and I think with her books I more actively sleuth. You keep asking yourself, ‘Why am I being told this?’ Nevertheless, despite my timely reminder to myself I did trip up a couple of times with her second novel. Not that I minded too much, as it is nice to avoid some red herrings, but be fooled by others. It is all part of the fun!

If you have read the blurb above you will know that the protagonist is interested in a code which might be in some of the children’s books Edith Twyford wrote. Twyford is a “disgraced” author who was particularly prolific during the 40s and 50s and had a Super Six series. The reasons given for the author’s books being viewed negatively in the present day of the story is that her books were criticised for being simplistic and for including many “isms”. Now you don’t need to be Sherlock to twig that this figure in the story echoes the real-life writer Enid Blyton. I felt Hallett’s appropriation of this real person was well-done. She continues to include notes of authenticity such as basing the titles of the stories Edith Twyford wrote on titles Blyton really did publish. For example, Twyford’s Six on Goldtop Hill sounds similar to Blyton’s title Blyton’s Five Go to Billycock Hill. Moreover, Hallett’s novel does not use her book reductively to bash Blyton’s work and has a full gamut of responses to Twyford’s stories voiced by the characters. For instance, Miss Iles explains at one point why she is reading one of Twyford’s books to the class, despite it being deemed inappropriate by the school: ‘Everyone in this room is clever enough to understand that this book belongs to another world. A different time and place [...] the past is a foreign country, They do things differently there.’ I felt moments like this showed a more nuanced handling of the shadows which overcast Blyton’s novels, whilst not for a minute condoning any problematic language those books contain.

One of the questions some readers might be pondering is how similar or different The Twyford Code is, to The Appeal and a natural follow-on question might be is it better? So I thought I would conclude my review with my opinions on these two matters.

To begin with the first question, I would say Hallett does a really good job of showing she is not a one trick pony or only capable of writing one type of story. The use of audio files, the completely different milieu and plot trajectory attest to this. I mentioned earlier in my review that The Twyford Code is part bibliomystery, but as the plot progresses, I think it develops more into a cold case thriller with an adventure/treasure hunt story feel. In some respects, with the code angle and the potential for conspiracies, it reminded me of those escape room experiences you can participate in online, with the need to look things up. Although I say it has a treasure hunt like quality, I would say it is a pretty dark one at that. This change in tone from The Appeal is not a negative, I should add, and the plotting on this one remains tight. It is impressive that Hallett is able to combine so many different styles yet retain control of what is going on.

However, for me, it was not as good as The Appeal, despite these many positives. A reoccurring question I had whilst reading The Twyford Code was: Is the reader given the same level of opportunity to figure out what is going on as in the first book? And looking back at the book I don’t think we are. The audio file transcripts provide less detail at times than the emails do in The Appeal and some of the clues which are there are harder to retain. If you are a whizz at solving or spotting codes then you might have an easier job, but if you are like me then you might find it harder to hold on to the detailed code related information over the 300+ pages. The clues which were people or narrative arc based I was able to pick up on, but the code aspect did give me a bit of a headache at points. I also got the growing feeling in this book that to an extent the narrative has to keep telling you rather than showing you stuff, due to the nature of the narrative threads the book runs with. This contrasted with The Appeal where less specialist knowledge was required, and you were better able to work stuff out independently. In addition, there were times when I felt the pace slowed down too much and I wondered if this loss of momentum was due to the dominance of one voice in the audio files. The first third of the book felt the strongest for me.

One thing I definitely missed from The Appeal, which is not present in The Twyford Code, were the two characters who act as additional “readers”. In The Appeal there are lawyers who are examining the email evidence and we get to read their conclusions as we make our way through the book. Conversely, we don’t get this in The Twyford Code and at the end when there are audio file transcripts of messages between the Inspector and the Professor, I can see why we don’t, but I am not sure the payoff is sufficient. Moreover, the Professor dominates this section, making it a one-sided conversation. Again, there is a reasonable reason for this, but it means that this character has a lot of pulling together to do and in one particular audio file transcript this feels quite forced and clunky, again with this character having to tell us a lot of new information.
I think there will be a lot of different opinions on the ending or the fallout of what has gone and whether certain structural or narrative choices have paid off enough for the reader and I really look forward to finding out what everyone else thinks about this title. Furthermore, I remain enthusiastic for Hallett’s next book, as I think she is taking the modern mystery novel in new and exciting directions.

Rating: 4.25/5
Source: Review Copy (Viper via Netgalley)

What an absolute rollercoaster ride this was! I very recently picked up Janice Hallett's first novel, The Appeal, which I devoured, so was delighted to get a copy of her latest book.

In 'The Appeal' we work through the mystery using emails, texts, Whatsapp conversation and audio transcripts. In 'The Twyford' we're using audio transcripts of recordings made by our protagonist Steven. I did worry at first this may be difficult to follow (especially as some words aren't transcribed properly!) but it was really easy to get used to and I did enjoy the experience of reading this book.

Steven Smith is convinced there's a secret code in one of his childhood books, and that something sinister happened to his teacher when she tried to investigate it. What follows is an intense story of gangsters, heists and conspiracies. I usually don't enjoy books featuring gangsters but the story was so much fun it didn't matter. There were several times when I thought I knew what was happening - but it turns out I was wrong! I did have fun trying to crack the code and work with the characters to figure out what was going on.

Janice Hallett is a really great writer and her books are great fun. I highly recommend her second book (and her first if you haven't read it!).

Well, this was a little brain-twister of a mystery story! The Twyford Code is the second book from Janice Hallett and is a modern take on the epistolary novel – consisting primarily of voice message transcripts. This format did require extra concentration while reading as there are purposeful typos where the transcript software mishears what is said.

Steve Smith has served 11 years in prison and now wants to clear up something that’s been on his mind for 40 years. As a schoolboy, his teacher, Miss Isles took him on a trip, along with his fellow remedial English pupils, Nathan, Shell, Donna and Paul, to the seaside home of legendary author, Edith Twyford.

Miss Isles never returned from the trip, Steve believes she was murdered and he now wants to find out why…

Only learning to read and write properly in prison, Steve feels more comfortable talking, so dictates his findings and thoughts into his iPhone. We learn about both his childhood and the events that sent him to prison, as well as his investigations into what happened to his teacher.

Edith Tywford is at the heart of this book. She’s a fictional author, very much in the Edith Nesbitt / Enid Blyton vein.

Her series of books features The Super Six and Steve’s voice notes reveal ‘accusations of sexism, racism, misogyny and xenophobia have stalked Twyford ever since she began her career in the 1930s.’ This is not unlike the controversy surrounding Enid Blyton.

Janice Hallett uses this Blyton reference in a very clever way here as it soon becomes clear that there is perhaps more to Twyford’s books than first meet the eye. Edith Twyford was writing her books during World War II and had friends in high places. There are rumours that she is sending secret messages through her stories – but was she? Is this why Miss Isles went missing all those years ago?

Could the repercussions be so immense, powerful people want it to stay hidden?

The Twyford Code was so enjoyable as just when you think you know where the story is going, it throws you a curveball. Plus, there are more than a few story threads that all come together beautifully. Once I’d got to grips with the transcript format, I was completely hooked.

I loved its nostalgic feel – evoking the clever plotting of Agatha Christie at her best and a nod to a bygone era of children making their own adventures. I find myself still thinking about it a week later, always a good sign!

Forty years ago, Steven Smith found a book written by the famous author, Edith Twyford. Noticing that the book contained lots of annotations, he took it to his English teacher who was convinced that the book was full of hidden messages. Then one day, while on a school trip, the teacher, Miss Isles, disappeared. Now, after an eventful life which has seen him spending time in prison, Steven has decided to try to find out just what happened to Miss Isles, revisiting the places of his youth and reconnecting with the people he knew back then. He soon realises that maybe Miss Isles was on to something and that the Twyford Code is something real and that he is not the only one trying to find the truth.

Janice Hallett’s previous book, The Appeal, was one of my favourite books of last year and I couldn’t wait to see if The Twyford Code lived up to my expectations. The selling point of The Appeal for me was the fact that it was told via a series of emails and messages, providing the reader with the means to solve the case themselves. In The Twyford Code, the author has, again, shunned the traditional way of writing, as this time the story is told in the form of voice recordings that Steven has made on his phone. This led to some funny moments at times due to the spelling mistakes made by the voice recognition system!

The plot is a clever one and one that took me back to my childhood reading of the mystery stories of Enid Blyton due to the search for clues and the group of people investigating. There are some aspects of the plot that I predicted but, on the whole, the numerous twists and red herrings kept me on my toes as I tried to solve the Twyford Code along with Steven. One of the places that features prominently in the plot is a location I know well and this really captured my imagination and gave the book an element of realism for me.

I read the ebook version but I do feel that this would be better to read as a physical book as, throughout reading, I constantly wanted to go back and reread sections to look for things that I might have missed. I think this will be a book that I will revisit at a later date to look for all the things I missed first time around. Janice Hallett is definitely becoming a force to be reckoned with and I can’t wait to see what she brings us next!

Janice Hallett’s debut novel, “The Appeal,” was recommended to me highly, but I hadn’t got around to it yet when her second novel appeared for review. Eager to give her a try, I was keen to read this one and found it a satisfying, involved and meandering read.

Our main character is Steven Smith, recently released from prison and having made contact with an adult son he was unaware he had fathered. With his son not denying him, but not keen to have a close relationship, Steven finds himself in a hostel, with a dead-end job and one of his son’s old phones, on which he makes voice recordings. At school, Steven had literacy problems and only learnt to read while in prison. However, he is haunted by a strange experience that happened while he was at school, when he had remedial English classes with his teacher, Miss Isles.

After finding a children’s book on a bus, Miss Isles confiscated it and later took the class on a trip to the house of the author, Edith Twyford, after which she vanished. Steven comes from a background where life could be suddenly changed, and family lines shifted. Both his mother, then father, left home and he fell in with a criminal family, which led him on a path of illegal activity and prison stretches. However, the mysterious disappearance of Miss Isles has haunted him and in messages to his probation officer, Maxine, Steven vows to get to the bottom of his teacher’s strange reaction to the book he found and her sudden departure from his life.

Edith Twyford seems to be based on Enid Blyton, an author I loved as a child and who is now out of favour. In the same way, Twyford is criticised by many people that Steven questions about her. However, he finds an ally in a sympathetic librarian, called Lucy, as well as hunting out his old classmates, Michelle, Nate, Donna and Paul. The book he found, all those years ago, was, “Six on Goldtop Hill,” the first in the; Super Six’ series. Steven believes that Miss Iles found clues, or a code, in the book, which led her onto a dangerous investigation.

As Steven recreates his footsteps, all those years ago, he finds that he is not the only one who has believed Edith Twyford to have left clues in her books – or become obsessed by them. This is an interesting literary mystery, which manages to mix traditional children’s mysteries with the real – and very modern – concerns of Steven’s life. His dysfunctional childhood, long prison record and alcohol problems jar with the snippets from Twyford’s books, full of secret islands, adventures and country life. An interesting and involved mystery which I enjoyed greatly. I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.

Steve Smith has just been released from prison after an eleven year spell for murder. Illiterate when he went in, he’s learnt to read and write and is determined not to return to his former life of crime. Known as Little Smithy to his friends (as opposed to his father, Smithy, and his brother, big Smithy), he also wants to solve the mystery of what happened to his favourite high school Remedial English teacher, Alice Isles, who disappeared on a day trip to Cornwall with his class.

When he was 14, Steve found an old children’s book on a bus. He showed it to the teacher who recognised it as one written by Edith Twyford, a popular writer in the 1930s who wrote about a group of six children and their adventures. Despite Twyford’s books now being banned from school libraries because of their inherent racism and sexism, she read it to the class and later took them to Cornwall to visit the locations in the book as well as Edith Twyford’s cottage, before suddenly disappearing and leaving the bewildered children to find their own way home.

Now reconnecting with his four friends from that class, Nate, Michelle, Paul and Donna, he discovers that many of Twyford’s readers, including Miss Isles, believed a secret code was embedded in the book which would lead to a hidden treasure. With Lucy, a young librarian he met at the library, making up a gang of six, he sets out to crack the code and solve the mystery of Miss Isles’ disappearance.

This is a very original mystery, meticulously planned and written in an unusual style. In her debut novel ‘The Appeal’, Hallett presented readers with a narrative composed of emails, letters, social media postings, newspaper articles and police reports and invited them to act as sleuths and form their own deductions. Here, she has followed up with another unusual novel composed of transcripts of recordings made on an old iPhone.

When he was still in prison Steve discovered he had a son he never knew about. Although the son, now a University lecturer in Maths came to meet him, he decided he wasn’t ready for Steve to meet his family, but gave his an old iPhone to keep in touch. Once Steve worked out how to use it, he recorded all his conversations and thoughts. The transcripts lead to some phonetic spellings and at first hard to recognisable words, making for an unusual format but one you soon get used to. Steve also relates details of his earlier life and upbringing, including how he came to become involved with the notorious criminal Harrison family, who in the end betrayed him, despite his loyalty to them.

This unusual format works brilliantly in narrating this mystery and becomes addictive reading, especially as Steve’s obsession about finding Miss Isles, morphs into something deeper. His irrepressible character shines through his recordings and his revelations about his life and times with the Harrisons. He shows himself to be much smarter than people give him credit for as he carries out a plan, he has had eleven years to perfect. The echoes of the adventures Edith Twyford (and her ilk) wrote about are delightful stuff with clues and codes, secret tunnels and signs, danger, shadowy characters in black, false trails and enough twists to keep any mystery reader happy. There is also a lot of subtle humour in the recordings and the twisty ending is sure to delight, which all adds up to a hugely engrossing and intriguing, fun read.

With a mind-blowing twist, this book really pulls you in and keeps you gripped to the very last page.

Told entirely through transcripts of recordings found on a mobile phone, the book follows ex-con Steve as he tries to understand what happened to a beloved school teacher who disappeared on a class day out. After discovering a book by the Enid Blyton-alike author Edith Twyford on a bus, Steve learns about the supposed existence of ‘The Twyford Code’ - a series of clues dotted through Twyford’s works which it’s believed lead to Second World War bullion. In a parallel narrative we also learn about Steve’s past as a member of a notorious criminal gang, and how this is linked to his current journey to uncover the truth about Miss Isles and her mysterious vanishing,

This is such a clever book, but I wonder if it’s just a touch too clever. I really enjoy Agatha Christie - and she has been referenced in relation to this book - and the beauty of Christie for me is that you’re left shaking your head about how you didn’t spot the mystery before it was revealed. With The Twyford Code I was left thinking that there was no way I’d have spotted all of the clues! That’s obviously a reflection on me and my limited powers of deduction but I do like to feel like I’d at least have had a chance to work everything out.

I’m keen to read The Appeal which is obviously a good sign, and I’d recommend this book to anyone looking for a very clever and absorbing mystery.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved THE APPEAL and was stoked to get this e-arc!

This one is full of transcripts from over 200 audio files - I feel like this would have more impact as an audiobook as it would be as though you are listening to the actual files.

It took me 3 days to get through this because of the way the transcripts are set out and the amount of detail in the story.

I didn’t enjoy it as much as THE APPEAL but I found it to be very fascinating. The ending was a complete curveball - completely unexpected!

Overall, I love the variations in formats that Hallett uses to tell her stories. This one could’ve done with being quicker in pace but I also think it’s hard to do that with audio transcripts.

If this got made into a podcast i’d love to listen to it! It would add a whole new dimension to the story.

Although I did read this book it was not really for me.
I can see how thriller genre fans would enjoy this story but I found the writing format quite confusing and disjointed.
The story does move along with twists and turns with well drawn characters.

What fun this book is. Not only is it a fantastic ibook which was written in an unusual format but enjoyed this book and it’s format much more .The way the story is told as if dictated onto automatic typing software was great and allowed the ambiguities which make a great detective story
The plot twist was great I had predicted some but not all of it which really shows the cleverness of the author .
On top of the detective story element there is a tenderly told story of a life that has not always gone the right way and of a young person getting in with the wrong people
I loved the end particularly the final puzzle
I would recommend this book to anyone wanting a good exciting intelligent read ,it is not a difficult book to read and sometimes this is just what you need

The story:
Forty years ago, something happened on a class trip to Dorset that Steven Smith can't remember and can't explain. Events are triggered when Steve finds a children's book by wartime children's author Edith Twyford on the bus, and brings it into school. His unconventional English teacher Miss Isles reads it to the class, and becomes fixated on the idea that it contains a hidden code — a message from the past. Could Edith Twyford have been more than the old-fashioned, outdated author she is now known as?

Deciding to take her charges to the author's home in search of clues, the day trip ends in mystery and Miss Isle's disappearance. Steve has spent his whole adult life on the wrong side of the law, and having just been released from a long sentence in prison, he is determined to get to the bottom of what happened to his teacher on that fateful day. Could the Twyford Code really exist, and could it lead to the explanation Steve is hoping for before it's too late?

My thoughts:
Many people will be familiar with Janice Hallett as the author of the phenomenally successful "The Appeal", which deservedly received wide acclaim in 2021. Given how original that book was in style, I thought perhaps I might not enjoy this new book as much — how could she top that?! But I needn't have worried... While the bulk of "The Appeal" consists of emails and text messages between the major characters, "The Twyford Code" is almost entirely made up of transcripts of voice memos, recorded and recovered from the iPhone of main character Steven Smith. Steve (or "Little Smithy", as he's known to his nearest and dearest), struggles with literacy, and so finds this an effective way of documenting his mission to find out what happened to his teacher Miss Isles. As an added quirk, because software has been used to transcribe to 200 audio files, there are some amusing typos throughout — "missiles" instead of "Miss Isles", "mustard" instead of "must've", to give two examples.

Hearing the story in Steve's own words is a great way to get to know him, and he's a very likable character (despite his criminal past!) that I was rooting for throughout. Although, as readers of Hallett's previous book will know, things aren't always what they seem and the author does a great job pulling the rug out from under you...

The novel consists of two parallel stories — Steve's quest to find our what happened to Miss Isles all those years ago, alongside a general history of his life and, in particular, the final 'job' that saw him sent to prison for over a decade. His aim in recording this is to pass on to his estranged son, in the hopes that sharing his story might bring them closer.

The reveals come thick and fast in the end section of the book, and on finishing my reaction was to go back and start again from the beginning immediately!

With influences from Enid Blyton to the Da Vinci Code, by way of a wartime thriller, this is a brilliantly unique book that appealed to just about all of my reading likes! Hallett has written another great, unique story for all mystery fans, especially if you like having a go for yourself!

I’m really sorry but I couldn’t finish this book. The format made it difficult to follow & after hitting 22% I found myself not wanting to pick the book up or read on. Very little is being given away & the pace is very slow.

I absolutely loved this book from the very start. It’s unusual style wise in that at the start we are told that this is an audio transcript from a mobile phone and that the automatic translator hasn’t picked up all of the spoken words correctly. It’s really easy to pick up though - there’s only a few words like this and it adds a huge amount to the story/character, and makes it a very different read!

I fell right into this story, it’s just absolutely fantastic, and pretty believable as well even if it is fiction - or did I get too into it….

It really is excellent…

I received a free review copy from the publisher in exchange for my honest unedited feedback. My thanks to Netgalley and Serpent's Tail / Viper / Profile Books for this.

I approached ‘The Twyford Code’ with high expectations. Janice Hallett’s ‘The Appeal’ was my favourite book of 2021, and I was desperate to see if she could equal its brilliance. I was not disappointed.

‘The Twyford Code’ is a stunningly clever mystery; a mixture of crime and old world charm. Steven Smith is an ex-con trying to piece together events from his troubled childhood. Finding a strange book , full of markings and handwritten notes changed his life back then. Showing it to an inspirational teacher led to an investigation into clues apparently hidden within the book. The author of that book, now sidelined for old-fashioned and offensive views, was a firm favourite with children for decades. Could she have left clues within the pages of her books? As we become privy to the investigation, the readers join in this mind-bending and exciting mystery.

The story is teased out bit by bit and there are some ‘oh my god!’ moments. The author mixes Smithy’s past life tales of crime with the present. It is clever, with a myriad of twists and turns. At times it is shocking, mysterious and thrilling, and went places I didn’t see coming. It is beyond me how someone can craft such an astounding story. Highly recommended.

I was given this ARC for review.

The Twyford Code tells the story of Steven Smith and his connection to a somewhat questionable children’s author Edith Twyford. She is questionable as are her books. Told in the form of voice note transcripts from Steven’s recovered phone that have been sent to his grown up estranged son by the police after Steven disappears, we learn about how Steven’s life has been changed by one seemingly insignificant event. He found a children’s story book on the bus as a child. From there Steven narrates his own life story on filling in the gaps as he goes and his quest to solve the mystery of the Twyford Code.
This book is clever and aware of its own cleverness. Steven is the ultimate flawed narrator, and has the reader at his mercy due to the one sided nature of the narrative, can we believe anything he tells us about anything as not only his own story unravels but so too does Edith’s and we are left with an imperfect view of the truth. But what Is truth anyway. I liked this a lot. It’s clever and it made me feel clever as I tried to fill in the gaps left by the form of narration. I also got the smug feelings as I managed to read the code without having to write it out. And everyone knows smugness if the best emotion.

Gave up at 30% after struggling through to there. Just wasn’t for me and couldn’t make head or tail of what was going on.

When Steve Smith finds a book when he is a child he takes it to school. His teacher reads the book out and tells the pupils it’s actually a code book to solving puzzles. On a day trip the teacher disappears and now years later Steve wants to solve the mystery. I so wanted to love this as I enjoyed the previous book so much but this fell a little short for me but this could be more to the format on kindle and I expect in print it translates better.
Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

Not a book I would normally go for, I couldn't resist picking up the Twyford Code as a Christmas break-lets-try-a-mystery type of thing. And, though it's still not changed my mind about the genre, I did enjoy it.

Written in the style of audio transcripts from voice recordings on an iPhone 4, we follow our protagonist as he is released from prison and tries to find out what happened to his remedial teacher Miss Isles, who disappeared decades before on a class outing to visit the home of Edith Twyford.

Cue secret codes, London gangsters and much more as Steve slowly begins to unravel the secrets of his youth.

A great, quick read. But not one I'd necessarily need to read again.

I don’t really know where to start with this review or what to say other than the fact that the author is an absolute genius! I have never read a book that was so cleverly written and made me go back over previous pages to see what I had missed.

The whole book is written as a series of audio files spoken by ex con Steve Smith (Smithy) to his probation officer Maxine. Some readers may find this format really difficult to read but I would urge them to persevere. Once you get used to how some of the words are translated from audio to paper it becomes much easier to read. For example, Steve’s old teacher Miss Isles is actually written ‘Missiles’.

The story is based around a young Steve finding a book written by Edith Twyford on a bus on his way to school one morning. He can’t read, so when he gives the book to his favourite English teacher (Miss Isles) it leads him on a quest to search for a secret code written in Twyford’s books. Fast forward to present day and this is where the story begins.

The whole book is a skilfully written masterpiece of hidden code which has taken me a day to process and recover from having read it in two sittings! I will say that it is a book you have to devote time and concentrate on rather than dipping in and out of it. You really need to keep focused on reading as there are no actual chapters, just numbered audio logs.

If I could rate this higher than 5 stars I would, just for the unique way this is written. I had previously read The Appeal by Janice, which I also enjoyed and I know for sure whenever she releases another book it will be on my tbr list immediately.

Many thanks to netgalley, the publishers and the author for an arc.

Publication date 13th January.