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...
It's the first Monday of March, which means that March's First Monday Crime panel will be live on their Facebook page at 7:30pm this evening. This month's fabulous line-up of authors are Stuart Neville (The House of Ashes), Janice Hallett (The Twyford Code), Catherine Ryan Howard (56 Days) and Robert Gold (Twelve Secrets), with Joy Kluver moderating.
Many thanks to Viper for sending me a copy of The Twyford Code and to Joy Kluver for inviting me to review for First Monday.
There aren't many books that I want to re-read immediately after finishing them but when I reached the end of The Twyford Code, I could easily have turned back to the start and read the novel very differently and yet still enjoyed it just as much. I love it when authors take risks and the unique style of narration here won't be to everybody's taste but I quickly settled into the rhythm and had soon read the first two-thirds of the book.
We are told at the start that an iPhone 4 was retrieved among the items of a recently reported missing person and that it was found to contain a number of audio files spanning eleven weeks in 2019. Most of the story is then told through the transcription of these files but given that technology can't always distinguish dialects and speech patterns, there are instances throughout where the software approximated the word used. It means, for example that "must've" becomes "mustard" and that the name of the narrator, Steven Smith's teacher, Miss Iles is transcribed rather more explosively... There is also a handy key which explains how pauses, intakes of breath, expletives and so on are recorded. The phonetic reproduction is further complicated by the fractured nature of Steven's recordings which often feels like a stream of consciousness.
We learn that he has recently been released from prison and believes that his troubles stem from the disappearance of his remedial English teacher when he was fourteen. He only has hazy memories of what happened but is convinced the truth lies within the series of Super Six books by out-of-favour children's author, Edith Twyford. The joyfully purposeful similarities to Enid Blyton's Famous Five are unmistakeable – from the accusations of racism and sexism to the plots which always seemed to feature the children discovering some sort of smuggling – but these stories are also rumoured to contain what has become known as 'The Twyford Code'.
What follows is a wonderfully addictive read that combines a classic mystery tale where the gradual cracking of the code seems to eventually reveal long hidden secrets with national implications and a contemporary, rather poignant exploration of child poverty, illiteracy and how the need for the support of a family network can be both destructive and comforting. As the book progresses, Steven's memories and his understanding of what occurred in the past, together with his guilt over the mistakes he has made and the very nature of the audio recordings means suspicions are raised as to his reliability as a narrator. What is true, what is imagined and what is something that has been twisted – purposefully or otherwise – is only really revealed during the final third of the novel and it's here that I found I wasn't turning the pages at the same rate as I had been previously.
This is far from a criticism however, as the revelations and gradual sense of the penny dropping ensured I kept flicking back to re-read passages with a different perspective. The unusual way The Twyford Code is written; the short nature of the audio files and Steven's colloquial vernacular means the novel feels almost deceptively simple but this is actually a cleverly multi-layered book that is as much about finding the truth within oneself as it is discovering the solution to long-held puzzles and mysteries.
I'm loathe to mention too much about the plot or even the characterisation, other than to say that my early concerns that using transcriptions to almost tell the entire story would result in my feeling detached from the characters were soon dispelled and the emotional complexity of The Twyford Code proved to be as compelling as the solving of any clues.
The Twyford Code is an ingenious, original read that surprised me throughout, both in terms of the red herrings and twists contained within the plot and the touching emotional impact of the book. I enjoyed it immensely and highly recommend it.
The Twyford Code is published in the UK by Viper, purchasing links can be found here but please consider supporting independent bookshops whenever possible.
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