The Twyford Code: Winner of the Crime and Thriller British Book of the Year

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By the time Sunday morning rolled around, I had 48-minutes of the audio left. I sat on my couch and just listened. A schoolteacher, Miss Iles, vanishes while on a field trip in 1983. Years later, one of her former pupils, Steven, an ex-convict, tries to make sense of her disappearance. This is no straightforward crime caper dredging up an unsolved mystery, however. Instead, Janice Hallett ( The Appeal) cleverly deploys clues in transcriptions of 200 audio files recorded by Steven on his phone. This innovative approach adds heartbreak to the thrill of the chase as he digresses into his life in and out of prison. The Twyford Code is a lot of fun, but Hallett also writes with care and empathy. Is This Love? The son pieces together the story from the transcripts bit by bit until you finally understand what has happened. It's all a muddled mess in Steven's hazy memories, but after being released from a stint in prison, he is determined to discover what the truth is about that day. What happened to Miss Isles? I am sure in the minority for this one, but unfortunately, The Twyford Code didn't work for me. At all.

My partner bought this book for me because of my frustration with the ‘old friends meet in an isolated location and a murder happens’ trend of the moment, and it does deliver something really different. The Twyford Code offers three main mysteries – what happened to Miss Isles? What happened to Steven Smith, or what did he do, that sent him to prison? And what is the Twyford Code, and what does it lead to? The solutions to some of these puzzles are far more engaging than others, and one left me distinctly underwhelmed. You must have felt like a detective yourself when planning the plot – your book is so meticulously detailed… I hope Ms Hallett writes something a little less annoying next time. Replicating The Appeal would not work but there is no need for the bells and whistles if you have a good story. 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. 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.

Comments (4)

fulfilling my 2022 goal to read one book each month that was not published in my country that i wanted badly enough to have a copy shipped to me from abroad and then...never read. This book uses transcripts of messages recorded by the main protagonist, Steven Smith. He is a man with a shady past who is working to solve a mystery that has haunted him since his schooldays when his teacher, Miss Iles, disappeared on a school trip. The key to uncovering the truth seems to lie with his remedial English class and a children’s novel by now-disgraced writer Edith Twyford that holds a code. As Steven visits the people and places from his past, it becomes obvious that the Twyford Code is bigger than he could have imagined… Now, out of prison after a long stretch, Steven decides to investigate the mystery that has haunted him for decades. Was Miss Isles 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 Isles, 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... I loved The Appeal last year, but I do think that it and this book had one thing in common which was that it got pretty bogged down in the middle, although the payoff was great.

I thought the style of the book was excellent, using audio recordings which are phonetically sounded out. For example, “must have” comes out as mustard. A] wonderful novel, which may start like James Joyce rewriting Agatha Christie with anagrams and acrostics, but ends up being a moving, multistory mystery about the power of books and paternal/parental love." - The Times (UK)The story is told in transcripts, so instead of chapter headings you are given dates and times. The story is recorded on a phone and then transcribed by a computer program. This causes some anomalies but there are reasons for these. By listening to the story it felt like actually listening to the recordings rather than reading the transcripts.

There are 200 files in total. We utilised specialist software and processed them in batches to speed up the transcription process. A key to this follows, along with the text. You will notice the transcription is phonetic, so spelling and grammar are quirky to say the least. On a number of occasions the software "mishears" or simply approximates words and phrases, especially when speech is in the vernacular. For instance, the phrase "must have" is frequently transcribed as "mustard." "Going to" becomes "gun a" and the town of Bournemouth is referred to variously as "bore mouth," "Bormuth," "bore moth" and "boar mouth." You will soon become accustomed to this and it should not interfere with your understanding of the material. And far more importantly, it was a great read! I did miss some of the variety of voices Hallett gave us in The Appeal: the format here obviously centred on Smithy with occasional ‘guest’ voices. However, those guests were lovely, whether they were his former classmates Paul, Donna, Michelle, Nate or the very obliging librarian, Lucy, who helps him with his phone, his housing, his research and becomes embroiled in his quest.

Forty years ago, Steven Smith found a copy of a famous children's book, its margins full of strange markings and annotations. He took it to his remedial English teacher, Miss Isles, who became convinced it was the key to solving a puzzle. That a message in secret code ran through all Edith Twyford's novels. Then Miss Isles disappeared on a class field trip, and Steven's memory won't allow him to remember what happened. The unique format of this book makes it very original. Initially, I thought the audio files would lend itself to a fast read, but instead, i found it difficult to get through. The transcription includes many awkward breaks and frequently jumps around from topic to topic. Ultimately, the reader is led on a journey into the mind of an ex-con, whose ultimate goal may not be what it seems. If you enjoy books that present puzzles inside of puzzles, ones that carve out a subtle and affecting mystery, this is the book for you. Just remember to have patience and see it through to the conclusion because you need to see the big picture of the puzzle. This is a prime example of how a slow burn turns into a delightful surprise. We all remember things in our own way, she smiles, and we’re all correct…it’s emotional truth that matters.

He took it to his remedial English teacher, Miss Isles, who became convinced that it was the key to solving a puzzle-that a message in secret code ran through all of Edith Twyford's novels. She began reading the “banned book” to her class-convinced that the book was meant to find its way to her. Recommended for the intricate plotting tied together in an amazing conclusion. The author has proven that she can devise intriguing puzzles in original formats. This is a book I will reread in the future for a better understanding of how the author fits the clues together. 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. I also loved the fact that the mystery centres on a writer and the clues hidden in her novels – a kind of Enid Blyton figure whose books have now been abandoned by the new generation as being outdated and containing some very dubious racial and gender ideas. As a life-long bookworm who was raised on Blyton’s books, there was something very relatable and vivid in this idea.The Twyford Code is a tour de force.... a mind-bending, heartwarming mystery that is not to be missed." - The Observer (UK) Overall, a very entertaining, gilded, lustrous tale that will have you angling or desperately trawling for clues and having huge fun along the way.