The Twyford Code
A Novel
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- USD 13.99
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- USD 13.99
Publisher Description
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).
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Framed as transcripts of 200 audio files recorded on an iPhone, this ingenious novel from British author Hallett (The Appeal) consists of recovered memories (perhaps false) told in the voice (perhaps unreliable) of Steven "Smithy" Smith, a recently released, now missing ex-con. Forty years earlier, Smithy came across a book by WWII-era children's author Edith Twyford filled with handwritten notes. He showed the book to his remedial English teacher, Miss Alice Isles, who believed the notations were some sort of code. Indeed, Twyford may have hidden treasonous secrets in her books. Miss Isles (often transcribed as Missiles) subsequently disappeared on a school field trip to Bournemouth. Smithy tracks down a handful of other classmates to retrieve their "vanished youth" and solve more than one "explosive secret" from the past. Rumors of the audacious Operation Fish meant to move British gold bullion across the Atlantic during WWII blend with an account of one of Smithy's most daunting heists and converge on a mind-boggling resolution that contains several bombshell revelations. Filled with numerous clues, acrostics, and red herrings, this thrilling scavenger hunt for the truth is delightfully deceptive and thoroughly immersive.
