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** WINNER OF THE CRIME & THRILLER BRITISH BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023 **

* THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER*

‘The queen of tricksy crime. Every page is a joy’ – SUNDAY TIMES
‘Even better than The Appeal’ – GUARDIAN
‘Brilliant – a mind-bending, heartwarming mystery not to be missed’ – OBSERVER
‘Wonderful. An ingenious and wholly satisfying final reveal’ – BRIAN MCGILLOWAY
‘It totally foxed me. So clever and totally brilliant’ – LISA HALL

It’s time to solve the murder of the century…

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…

Perfect for fans of Richard Osman, Alex Pavesi and S.J. Bennett, The Twyford Code will keep you up puzzling late into the night.

Publisher Review

Hallett has aced it... Every page is a joy, with laugh-out-loud moments even as the plot becomes more outlandish, and the startling final reveal crowns Hallett as the queen of unreliable narrators * Sunday Times * Even better [than The Appeal]... This fiendishly clever book manages to be both tricksy and surprisingly moving * Guardian * A tour de force - a genuinely complex puzzle with real clues to be solved... A mind-bending, heartwarming mystery that is not to be missed * Observer * A wonderful book, clever and surprisingly compassionate, constantly wrong-footing the reader on its way to an ingenious and wholly satisfying final reveal -- Brian McGilloway The Twyford Code turned my brain inside out. It totally foxed me. So clever and totally brilliant -- Lisa Hall, author of The Party A brilliantly clever, deceptive mystery with a unique twist * Heat * Enid Blyton meets Agatha Christie with a cracking twist. Witty and wonderful -- Marion Todd, author of Lies to Tell Fiendishly clever... Golden Age Christie-esque puzzle meets The Usual Suspects. Outstanding. Unlike anything you'll ever read -- Imran Mahmood, author of I Know What I Saw I thoroughly enjoyed it. It really pulls you in, and makes for addictive reading -- Faith Martin, author of A Fatal Truth If you love a puzzle, you'll enjoy this novel packed full of mystery and intrigue. Perfect for Richard Osman and SJ Bennett fans * Yours * An elegant puzzle of a book, which entombs an exquisite little heart -- Matt Wesolowski, author of Six Stories A multi-layered, multi-voiced mystery unlike anything I've read before. It's packed with tricky clues, red herrings and cunning acrostics, but ultimately it packs an emotional punch you don't see coming -- Kate Griffin, author of Kitty Peck and the Music Hall Murders A highly original, immersive story that draws you in from the very beginning and keeps you thinking. Smithy was a fascinating character with whom it was a pleasure to spend time -- S.V. Leonard, author of The Islanders Packed with perplexing puzzles and linguistic legerdemain, but behind that is a poignant tale of redemption -- D.V. Bishop, author of City of Vengeance I absolutely love it. The Secret Seven for grownups -- Faith Hogan, author of What Happened to Us? An ingenious novel that allows the reader to investigate the case themselves. Full of twists and credible characters, I loved every single word -- Louise Mullins, author of I Know You A superb mystery with true heart at its centre. No one does twists quite like Janice Hallett -- Sophie Flynn, author of All My Lies Janice Hallett is a genius at conjuring a whole world through dialogue, and yet there's so much more to it than that. Pure genius -- Leonora Nattrass, author of Black Drop A stunning book. A fiendishly clever yarn that hooked me from the first line to the final revelation -- Chris McDonald, author of Roses for the Dead Just finished the brilliant The Twyford Code by Janice Hallett. It's twisty, clever and deceptive, with clues dropped along the way - although I missed most of them! Loved it! -- Guy Morpuss, author of Five Minds I read the last fifty pages of The Twyford Code with my mouth hanging open and my brain very close to exploding. There is clever and then there's this. -- Laura Pearson, author of I Wanted You To Know Ingenious * Good Housekeeping * Addictive * Waitrose Weekend * A thoroughly unusual thriller * Daily Mail *