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The Twyford Code
Reader Score
73%
73% of readers
recommend this book
The mysterious connection between a teacher's disappearance and an unsolved code in a children's book is explored in this new novel from the "modern Agatha Christie" (The Sunday Times, London) and author of 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 later disappeared on a class field trip, Smithy becomes 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, 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. "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).
Book Details
- Publisher: Atria Books
- Publish Date: Aug 1st, 2023
- Pages: 352
- Language: English
- Edition: undefined - undefined
- Dimensions: 8.30in - 5.40in - 0.93in - 0.65lb
- EAN: 9781668003237
- Categories: • Thrillers - Crime• Mystery & Detective - Amateur Sleuth• Thrillers - Suspense
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About the Author
Hallett, Janice: - Janice Hallett is a former magazine editor, award-winning journalist, and government communications writer. She wrote articles and speeches for, among others, the Cabinet Office, Home Office, and Department for International Development. Her enthusiasm for travel has taken her around the world several times, from Madagascar to the Galapagos, Guatemala to Zimbabwe, Japan, Russia, and South Korea. A playwright and screenwriter, she penned the feminist Shakespearean stage comedy NetherBard and cowrote the feature film Retreat. She lives in London and is the author of The Examiner, The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels, The Appeal, The Christmas Appeal, and The Twyford Code.
More books by Janice Hallett
What people are saying
BookRiot
2 years
"This one is for lovers of mystery who want a bit of a different experience ... The complex mystery is nicely woven, and the ending is actually surprising."
– Erica Ezeifedi is a writer and editor.
The New York Times
2 years
"Reading the transcriptions takes some getting used to... Be patient. Hallett swoops in with a bravura final section that sheds new light on everything you’ve read before and will leave you amazed at her ingenuity. It’s all right there in the code."
– Sarah Lyall is a journalist.
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Praise for this book
"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
What people are saying
BookRiot
2 years
"This one is for lovers of mystery who want a bit of a different experience ... The complex mystery is nicely woven, and the ending is actually surprising."
– Erica Ezeifedi is a writer and editor.
The New York Times
2 years
"Reading the transcriptions takes some getting used to... Be patient. Hallett swoops in with a bravura final section that sheds new light on everything you’ve read before and will leave you amazed at her ingenuity. It’s all right there in the code."
– Sarah Lyall is a journalist.