Book Review: The Twyford Code by Janice Hallett

About ⅔rds of the way through reading Janice Hallett's debut novel, The Appeal, I purchased her next book - The Twyford Code.

The schtick is similar to the first. We, the reader, are taken through an epistolary series of audio files - voice notes from a recently released convict. There's intrigue, murder, regret, and redemption. The story isn't as tangled as The Twyford Code - here's it is one main protagonist. While his memories wander back and forth through time, the story is relatively linear. There are some great cliffhangers, but nothing quite as dramatic as the previous book.

The code, such as it is, isn't overly complex:

Spoilers

Zbfgyl whfg npebfgvpf. Bapr V fcbggrq gur svefg gnatyrq fragrapr jvgu bhg bs cynpr jbeqf, V sbhaq vg snveyl rnfl gb svaq zbfg bs gur bguref.

So it is less about working out the murderer but more about detecting the code. If you do begin to work it out, there are some very satisfying pay-offs. There are some good twists and some lovely hidden references to classic children's books.

I felt compelled to scribble a few notes in the margins when I thought I found something, which was rather entertaining. I did go down a couple of slightly weird rabbit holes - which were either expert traps by the author or my imagination running away with me!

It isn't as infuriating as some mystery books (like the justifiably maligned Masquerade) and the coda provides all the answers if you can't be bothered to work them out.

A fun read. Not quite as compelling as The Appeal, but an entertaining enough mystery. Well plotted and rather surprising.