The Twyford Code

by Janice Hallett

• ISBN10: 1668003228
• ISBN13: 9781668003220
• Publish Date: 24 January 2023 (first published 13 January 2022)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Atria Books
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 336
• Language: English

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

The Twyford Code is an odd standalone literary mystery full of wordplay and misdirection written by Janice Hallett. Released 24th Jan 2023 by Simon & Schuster on their Atria imprint, it's 336 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. Paperback format due out from the same publisher in mid-third quarter 2023. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout.

The pacing here is very very odd. The first third of the book is a mish-mash of transcribed audio files, interviews, and snippets. It seems to get under its own feet and it's not before about a third of the way through that the narrative sorts itself out and seems to become more linear and readable. The author is both experienced and prolific, so it's clearly a completely intentional choice, but seems to be of limited effectiveness in this case.

The mystery is very well constructed; a very cold case disappearance, a literary mystery and a treasure hunt wrapped in one. The setup of the puzzle, the painstaking clue-gathering, the climax and denouement, are all satisfying but off-kilter throughout. 

Four stars. A pleasantly confusing and intellectual puzzle. It's quite cleverly constructed and worth the effort to get to the solution.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

[pamela]

The beginning of The Twyford Code was as boring as the end was riveting, which makes this an incredibly difficult book to rate. The structure (transcriptions of audio logs), and a meandering first third meant I very nearly DNF'd this one. But I'm glad I persevered because the last two-thirds more than made up for the lacklustre beginning with a delightfully twisty narrative that, while not entirely impossible to guess, still left me with a few surprises along the way.

The Twyford Code's 'found footage' style narrative is what let it down the most. While the reason for it became clear toward the end, the reading experience definitely wasn't served by it. Because of the structure, the (albeit deliberate) inconsistencies in tone stood out, the characters were difficult to connect with, and the constant jumps in narrative theme took me out of the book. It makes reading this book a commitment, and you'll either want to stick with it or you won't. I obviously recommend that you do, because I personally think the payoff is worth it, but it definitely isn't the most engaging way to present information. The entire time I was reading, I just keep thinking, why wasn't this a podcast?

The Twyford Code is a delightfully twisty story that brings a lot of different threads together in a satisfying way. Every time I thought the story was going to just be a boring version of X, it introduced something else that made me curious enough to keep reading. If you're a fan of puzzle books like Byron Priess' The Secret or Kit Williams' Masquerade, then you'll probably love this book. While it may have a three-star beginning, it has a four-star end.