Thrillers & Suspense
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The Twyford Code: A Novel
The mysterious connection between a teacher's disappearance and an unsolved code in a children's book is explored in this fresh novel from the author of the "clever and often wryly funny" (PopSugar) novel The Appeal.
Forty years ago, Steven "Smithy" Smith found a copy of a famous children's book by disgraced author Edith Twyford, its margins full of strange markings and annotations. When he showed it to his remedial English teacher Miss Iles, she believed that it was part of a secret code that ran through all of Twyford's novels. And when she disappeared on a class field trip, Smithy became convinced that she had been right.
Now, out of prison after a long stretch, Smithy decides to investigate the mystery that has haunted him for decades. In a series of voice recordings on an old iPhone from his estranged son, Smithy alternates between visiting the people of his childhood and looking back on the events that later landed him in prison.
But it soon becomes clear that Edith Twyford wasn't just a writer of forgotten children's stories. The Twyford Code holds a great secret, and Smithy may just have the key.
"A modern Agatha Christie" (The Sunday Times, London), Janice Hallett has constructed a fiendishly clever, maddeningly original crime novel for lovers of word games, puzzles, and stories of redemption.
Forty years ago, Steven "Smithy" Smith found a copy of a famous children's book by disgraced author Edith Twyford, its margins full of strange markings and annotations. When he showed it to his remedial English teacher Miss Iles, she believed that it was part of a secret code that ran through all of Twyford's novels. And when she disappeared on a class field trip, Smithy became convinced that she had been right.
Now, out of prison after a long stretch, Smithy decides to investigate the mystery that has haunted him for decades. In a series of voice recordings on an old iPhone from his estranged son, Smithy alternates between visiting the people of his childhood and looking back on the events that later landed him in prison.
But it soon becomes clear that Edith Twyford wasn't just a writer of forgotten children's stories. The Twyford Code holds a great secret, and Smithy may just have the key.
"A modern Agatha Christie" (The Sunday Times, London), Janice Hallett has constructed a fiendishly clever, maddeningly original crime novel for lovers of word games, puzzles, and stories of redemption.
Editorial Reviews
"Clever and inventive."-Washington Post
"The Twyford Code is a page-turning mystery that's built for puzzle pundits and literary word nerds. It's also a story about literacy and class, with a hugely endearing ex-con at the center of it all. Clever and refreshing, this book proves yet again that Janice Hallett has a knack for redefining how a mystery is told." -Nita Prose, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Maid
"The Twyford Code is easily one of the cleverest and most original mystery novels in recent memory."
-BookPage (starred review)
"[I]ngenious… Filled with numerous clues, acrostics, and red herrings, this thrilling scavenger hunt for the truth is delightfully deceptive and thoroughly immersive." -Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Hallett continues to pull the rug out from under the reader every time we think we understand what's going on… It's complicated, in the best way, and the reveals over the last section of the book are truly gaspworthy… Code lovers rejoice! This one's for you."-Kirkus Reviews
"Extraordinarily clever, relentlessly fascinating, and sometimes laugh-out-loud funny-but, somehow, this unique mystery has tenderness, heartbreak, philosophy and universality on every page. The Twyford Code is immersive, and inventive, and even interactive. Janice Hallett has combined her brilliant imagination with a groundbreaking storytelling structure, and the result is an unparalleled reading experience. There are not sufficient words to tell you how much I love this book. Standing ovation to an instant classic!" -Hank Phillippi Ryan, USA Today bestselling author of Her Perfect Life
"Brilliantly imagined and stunningly original, The Twyford Code is a nesting doll of mysteries and puzzles, each as alluring as the last. Culminating in a grand f...
"The Twyford Code is a page-turning mystery that's built for puzzle pundits and literary word nerds. It's also a story about literacy and class, with a hugely endearing ex-con at the center of it all. Clever and refreshing, this book proves yet again that Janice Hallett has a knack for redefining how a mystery is told." -Nita Prose, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Maid
"The Twyford Code is easily one of the cleverest and most original mystery novels in recent memory."
-BookPage (starred review)
"[I]ngenious… Filled with numerous clues, acrostics, and red herrings, this thrilling scavenger hunt for the truth is delightfully deceptive and thoroughly immersive." -Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Hallett continues to pull the rug out from under the reader every time we think we understand what's going on… It's complicated, in the best way, and the reveals over the last section of the book are truly gaspworthy… Code lovers rejoice! This one's for you."-Kirkus Reviews
"Extraordinarily clever, relentlessly fascinating, and sometimes laugh-out-loud funny-but, somehow, this unique mystery has tenderness, heartbreak, philosophy and universality on every page. The Twyford Code is immersive, and inventive, and even interactive. Janice Hallett has combined her brilliant imagination with a groundbreaking storytelling structure, and the result is an unparalleled reading experience. There are not sufficient words to tell you how much I love this book. Standing ovation to an instant classic!" -Hank Phillippi Ryan, USA Today bestselling author of Her Perfect Life
"Brilliantly imagined and stunningly original, The Twyford Code is a nesting doll of mysteries and puzzles, each as alluring as the last. Culminating in a grand f...
Readers Top Reviews
L. YoungMike Griffit
I really enjoyed The Appeal and looking forward to Janice Hallett's second book. I finished it but it was a relief to do so, more than anything else. The story wasn't very interesting and just seemed to get more ridiculous as it went on. I found the whole thing to be really disappointing.
ParisV. O'Regan
A great deal of hype around this book and it proved to me beyond all doubt that I should know better than to believe it! I found this very strange: it confirmed for me that I much prefer my literature with at least a smidgeon of exactly that- some degree of style and well-chosen words. I accept that the idiosyncratic nature of “transcribed” phone records is not literary in any way and that this was a large part of the purpose of the novel but for me it quickly grated. I found myself speed reading through a great deal as I was not at all caught up in solving the code, such as it was and the transcriptions were tedious. Throughout, the only element that held my interest was the life story of the main protagonist and I would have much rather had that expanded as there seemed the basis of some genuine insights into how people make the choices in life that they do. I did read to the end, hence two rather than one stars in my rating and I do concede that the ending was interesting. Unfortunately, I felt its method of getting there did not engage me in the slightest. I realise that so many others have thoroughly enjoyed this and found it very clever. I do enjoy crime fiction as a form of escapism(very useful over the past two years!) but I think I will give “mysteries” a miss. When I saw a review mentioning Agatha Christie meeting Enid Blyton, I should have known; neither would be my choice. I also find the concept of the unreliable narrator somewhat overdone currently; it seems a bit of a fad and I hope it doesn’t last. I will not bother with this author’s other book.
pages.and.journeysZo
Janice Hallet is a genuis! From page 1 it is. clear how much thought and effort went into crafting this book. Steven Smith is an ex convict who was a part of the famous FSBC heist in London. Now he's chasing down the mystery from his childhood, what happened to Miss Isle and how did she end up missing? Told through audio files, this was a well paced book. I appreciated how the audio transcripts were split into different sections. There were quite a few twists I did not see coming. The ending left me stunned. I do think this is one of those books that needs to be read physically. The way this is written makes it truly feel like audio transcriptions and I love how I had to solve what some words on the page meant -ie missiles = Miss Isle's. There are a couple of extra inserts, time references pauses etc that I wish I would have able to flip to the beginning and read the key again. - so read this one physically for sure. While the final twist was not my favourite, I did enjoy this book. I just beileve I would have adored it if I had read it in a different format so I could tab clues and solve the mystery while reading. Overall this was such a fun, clever, and intriguing mystery.
JNMEgan
Embedded codes and clues are spread throughout Janice Hallett’s latest puzzler, The Twyford Code. The novel is comprised of a series of voice recordings (often erroneously transcribed) by a man seeking to relate his story to his parole officer. After attempting unsuccessfully to reunite with his estranged son after his eleven years of imprisonment, Steven Smith is compelled to explore his past and solve a personal mystery. He recalls a field trip from his youth that resulted in the mysterious disappearance of his teacher. Steven hunts down his fellow classmates to obtain a more complete picture of that day and enlists their help in locating the missing woman. Steven suspects that the chain of events may be linked to an old children’s book containing cryptic notes about a lost treasure. Accounting his constantly evolving theories and discoveries about his lost teacher’s fate, Smith diverges into confessions of his past crimes and reveals how he became convicted. The Twyford Code rewards the perseverant and those willing to re-examine earlier chapters to fully appreciate the novel’s intent. The casual reader may become easily overwhelmed, and at times the clues are so clever as to appear random. Hallett uses the unusual narrative form to misdirect the reader in a meticulously calculated way. Grammatical mistakes in the transcripts and the narrator’s abrupt switches between two intersecting timelines create an interrupted flow that slows the pace. This results in a virtual mandate for deeper scrutiny of the plot and acceptance of uncertainty about some unexplained quirks. Fans of The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle (Stuart Turton) and The Cartographers (Peng Shepherd) would be most likely to successfully untangle and enjoy Hallett’s new knotty mystery.
The Slow Reader
As much as I enjoy epistolary novels, the audio files did not interest me. Bored. In the end the novel was just not for this reader.
Short Excerpt Teaser
Audio Files Batch 1 [Start Transcript]
Audio File 1
Date: April 12, 2019, 2:20 PM
Audio quality: Poor
.hhhhh Ready? This is to show Maxine I meant what I said.
Audio File 2
Date: April 12, 2019, 2:24 PM
Audio quality: Good
That's better. So. I'm speaking into my son's old phone and will explain why in a little bit. I'm not used to it, so (…) When he first gave it to me I was convinced I'd never use it for anything other than speaking to Maxine and calling in sick. But that night I sat up till two o'clock [DecipherItTM time ref 52781277-0988837]
I've played every record in his iTunes. His idea. It was only the second time we'd met. He didn't grow up with me, see. I never knew he existed till an acquaintance mentioned his mum'd had a kid. I put two and two together and made nine months. He would a been ten then. There's so much to say, but I look at him across that table in Costa, his hair about to turn grey at the edges and tiny lines on his forehead. I think: How could my boy be so grown up? Everything slides clean out me head and we sit there in silence.
Finally, I mention how much I'm looking forward to meeting his wife and kids, seeing his house in Surrey and the posh university where he works. That's when he gets a panicked look and bursts out he doesn't want us to meet again. Perhaps the odd phone call. Keep in touch but not (…) So, he goes quiet and says we can FaceTime instead. I says isn't this FaceTime? He asks to see the phone they gave me on release and when I show him he laughs and says it's a burner, can't do much with that. I say yeah, that's the idea. He thinks for a bit and says have my old one. He gets it out his car and in a few minutes his old phone was my new phone.
Audio File 3
Date: April 12, 2019, 3:04 PM
Audio quality: Good
If I wanted to carry on as I had, there are lots of people I could have gone to. Even now, after all that went on, with the old crowd dead or inside, if I put the word out, I could be set up somewhere, doing something, in no time. But I won't. Those days are over. Trouble is, on this side a the fence I don't know a soul. Only Maxine and (…) only you, Maxine. A lot changed for me in the last few years. And do you know what triggered it? I learned to read.
Two youngsters come in. A boy and a girl. Just in their twenties. Claimed to have a whole new way to teach adults with literacy problems. Not easy. Most in that place had so many problems literacy was the least of 'em. But these youngsters were so enthusiastic you couldn't help but get carried along. Even the tough old fellows. And the young fellows who thought they were tough.
They took our chairs away. Made us move round the room. Not like being slumped in front of a teacher, staring, trying to listen. They got us to play with big alphabet letters. It was nothing but strange at first. Big gnarly old fellows playing like kids. Then a change happened. Words appeared. I could link them to sounds, meanings, in a way I never had at school. It was like I'd cracked a secret code.
We all made progress thanks to them youngsters. I say progress, Kos of course, ignorance is bliss. Spanners realized one of his oldest tattoos was spelt wrong. Smelly Bob finally understood the graffiti on his cell nameplate. But for me it opened a door where there'd always been a wall (…) That sounds like I escaped, but (…) suppose I did escape, in my head. Suddenly the library cart weren't just where I bought me contraband. It were stacked with treasure waiting to be found.
I read sentence after sentence. Couldn't get enough of words. Well, I had a lot of time to make up for. Before long I read a whole book from start to finish. Lord of the Flies. I was on top of the world. It meant I could read. Finally. I was. I could suddenly (. .) That's when I started thinking I'd do THIS when I got out. And it got me through the last few years.
All them kids running around wild on that island. Took me back, I suppose. Something nagged at me about missiles and what happened all those years ago. I read Animal Farm too, but it was all talking animals. Didn't get to me like piggy and Ralph. Afterward I still had that feeling. I've got it now. It's always there. Nagging. Unfinished.
Audio File 4
Date: April 12, 2019, 6:44 PM
Audio quality: Good
It's a nuisance I don't know how to listen back to these recordings after I've done 'em. Maybe they can help at the library (. . . . .) So I can read now much better, but writ...
Audio File 1
Date: April 12, 2019, 2:20 PM
Audio quality: Poor
.hhhhh Ready? This is to show Maxine I meant what I said.
Audio File 2
Date: April 12, 2019, 2:24 PM
Audio quality: Good
That's better. So. I'm speaking into my son's old phone and will explain why in a little bit. I'm not used to it, so (…) When he first gave it to me I was convinced I'd never use it for anything other than speaking to Maxine and calling in sick. But that night I sat up till two o'clock [DecipherItTM time ref 52781277-0988837]
I've played every record in his iTunes. His idea. It was only the second time we'd met. He didn't grow up with me, see. I never knew he existed till an acquaintance mentioned his mum'd had a kid. I put two and two together and made nine months. He would a been ten then. There's so much to say, but I look at him across that table in Costa, his hair about to turn grey at the edges and tiny lines on his forehead. I think: How could my boy be so grown up? Everything slides clean out me head and we sit there in silence.
Finally, I mention how much I'm looking forward to meeting his wife and kids, seeing his house in Surrey and the posh university where he works. That's when he gets a panicked look and bursts out he doesn't want us to meet again. Perhaps the odd phone call. Keep in touch but not (…) So, he goes quiet and says we can FaceTime instead. I says isn't this FaceTime? He asks to see the phone they gave me on release and when I show him he laughs and says it's a burner, can't do much with that. I say yeah, that's the idea. He thinks for a bit and says have my old one. He gets it out his car and in a few minutes his old phone was my new phone.
Audio File 3
Date: April 12, 2019, 3:04 PM
Audio quality: Good
If I wanted to carry on as I had, there are lots of people I could have gone to. Even now, after all that went on, with the old crowd dead or inside, if I put the word out, I could be set up somewhere, doing something, in no time. But I won't. Those days are over. Trouble is, on this side a the fence I don't know a soul. Only Maxine and (…) only you, Maxine. A lot changed for me in the last few years. And do you know what triggered it? I learned to read.
Two youngsters come in. A boy and a girl. Just in their twenties. Claimed to have a whole new way to teach adults with literacy problems. Not easy. Most in that place had so many problems literacy was the least of 'em. But these youngsters were so enthusiastic you couldn't help but get carried along. Even the tough old fellows. And the young fellows who thought they were tough.
They took our chairs away. Made us move round the room. Not like being slumped in front of a teacher, staring, trying to listen. They got us to play with big alphabet letters. It was nothing but strange at first. Big gnarly old fellows playing like kids. Then a change happened. Words appeared. I could link them to sounds, meanings, in a way I never had at school. It was like I'd cracked a secret code.
We all made progress thanks to them youngsters. I say progress, Kos of course, ignorance is bliss. Spanners realized one of his oldest tattoos was spelt wrong. Smelly Bob finally understood the graffiti on his cell nameplate. But for me it opened a door where there'd always been a wall (…) That sounds like I escaped, but (…) suppose I did escape, in my head. Suddenly the library cart weren't just where I bought me contraband. It were stacked with treasure waiting to be found.
I read sentence after sentence. Couldn't get enough of words. Well, I had a lot of time to make up for. Before long I read a whole book from start to finish. Lord of the Flies. I was on top of the world. It meant I could read. Finally. I was. I could suddenly (. .) That's when I started thinking I'd do THIS when I got out. And it got me through the last few years.
All them kids running around wild on that island. Took me back, I suppose. Something nagged at me about missiles and what happened all those years ago. I read Animal Farm too, but it was all talking animals. Didn't get to me like piggy and Ralph. Afterward I still had that feeling. I've got it now. It's always there. Nagging. Unfinished.
Audio File 4
Date: April 12, 2019, 6:44 PM
Audio quality: Good
It's a nuisance I don't know how to listen back to these recordings after I've done 'em. Maybe they can help at the library (. . . . .) So I can read now much better, but writ...
