The Twyford Code

[Trisha]

It's time to solve the murder of the century...

Forty years ago, Steven Smith found a copy of a famous children's book, its margins full of strange markings and annotations. He took it to his remedial English teacher, Miss Isles, who became convinced it was the key to solving a puzzle. That a message in secret code ran through all Edith Twyford's novels. Then Miss Isles disappeared on a class field trip, and Steven's memory won't allow him to remember what happened. Now, out of prison after a long stretch, Steven decides to investigate the mystery that has haunted him for decades. Was Miss Isles 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 Isles, 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.

[Trisha]

Theresa and I are starting this one today! 1/4

[Trisha]

I think we said around 100 pages, so we'll stop at audio batch 5

[Shruti morethanmylupus]

I really liked this one! Happy reading!

[Elyse]

I'll have to come back to this once the Shrink the Shelf challenge is over as I do have this from NG that I never read! But STS is physical books only and goes until Feb 28!

[Trisha]

oooh! I wish you happy reading with that challenge!!
We'll be here when you get here, to chat!

[Trisha]

I bet this one is a great audio book.

I feel like we might need these as we read:

DecipherIt : Key

() - indecipherable verbal content, either unheard or unclear
(.) - a small pause in speach, e.g. one-tenth of a second
(. . .) - a longer pause in speech, e.g., three-tenths of a second
= - overspeak, the speaker is interrupted by another
Y:::es - prolongation. the number of colons denotes length of prolongation
LOUDER - capitalization, louder speech (may also denote emphasis)
Quieter - italic text, quieter or whispered speech
.hhhhhh - inbreath detected. Relative to length of breath
hhhhhh - outbreath detected. Relative to length of breath
(perhaps) - indecipherable verbal content, with suggested word based on audible sentence
s{EXPLICIT]t - offensive or vulgar word, in clean mode only
[background noise] - verbal or nonverbal background noise detected. May or may not obscure speech.
(00:01:00) - longer, timed reference detected. Automatic diary sync with paid-for upgrades only.
[language: french] - foreign language detected. Automatic translation with paid-for upgrades only.

[Trisha]

Audio Batch File One

Ooooh I'm already hooked!
(view spoiler)[ I love this idea of type to text
and that the system is struggling to get the words right

it's not missiles - it's Miss Isles, right?

and I wonder which author is missing? Alice? whoever wrote the first book?
and I don't know much about buses so it being green or red doesn't mean anything to me! lol (hide spoiler)]

[Trisha]

Audio Batch File Two

(view spoiler)[ ha! I'm still loving it

now he's talked to Paul AND Shelly
and neither of them are willing to remember it. I wonder what happened!! (hide spoiler)]

[Trisha]

Audio Batch File Three

(view spoiler)[
Okay, so to note:

kids in book: Sophie, Rose, Iris, Edward, Piers, Horation
Kids on field trip: Nathan, Donna, Shell (Michelle), Steven, Paul & Miss Alice Isles

I have no idea if it means anything, but both had the same number - 6 - and same number of boys and girls

okay, so what did he take? and what really happened that night? and how can no one have heard of the code and yet he gets two visitors a week

and did you catch that Shell said she read the books to her kids when they were young and yet there are so many objections to these books?? lol so much here. I'm enjoying the mystery (hide spoiler)]

[Trisha]

Audio batch file Four

(view spoiler)[ okay, so there's no way we, as the reader, could have put the map together lol

but I love that he found the clue after he moved the fish. I guess that's the fish clue on the one cover?

anyway I feel bad he's losing it a bit. . .poor Steve (hide spoiler)]

[Trisha]

Audio Batch file five

(view spoiler)[ holy crap, they found the fish
I figured there was a code in the text but interesting that it's between the CATS and the single CATS are red herrings

oh and holy crap, that was not at all what I thought the brother would say!! (hide spoiler)]

[Trisha]

Audio batch File Six

(view spoiler)[ Okay, I definitely was able to see the code this time. I went through and did the second set of the book he gave us
but I liked that he'd already solved part of it before all it.

Sad what he's doing now - showering in the gym and sleeping the corners. no job or Maxine anymore.

I guess we can see now why this ends with him going missing. He's already off grid now. . .

and I really hope Lucy is a good person but I'm a little worried she's pushing him to do more

and I don't think it was a huge shock that Shell was into the code. She DID say she read the books to her kids (probably not true) but that she knew them well before he got there! (hide spoiler)]

[Trisha]

Audio Batch File Seven

(view spoiler)[ oh NOW I see why you mentioned the time travel thing and why you thought that was where this was going. hmm... I think so too!

and OH NO! I hightlighted a the plaque at the park because the first letter spelled out

"LUCY IS WHO I MIGHT HAVE BEEN"

How weird is that?? is that why Lucy reminds him of Miss Isles?

and I wonder who jumped him in the bathroom (they knew his name!) and who is beating up his brother. What is going on here. I'm still worried about Lucy. . . (hide spoiler)]

[Trisha]

Audio Batch File Eight

(view spoiler)[ hmmm. . .See still dicey about Lucy
I'm glad she's seeing patterns but the getting him drunk was a little weird
but interesting he was able to decipher that weird code!

and OMG about Colin 😮😲 (hide spoiler)]

[Trisha]

and OMG
I'm finally done! lol

(view spoiler)[ wow! so a lot of it was made up! that was great, it totally had me although I wondered about things a few times
and I did decipher the lucy statement - I just didn't know what it meant

so glad it wasn't time travel!! Lol (hide spoiler)]

[Theresa]

I'm done also. What an amazing book. I have to say I loved it!!!

[Trisha]

YAY!! I love that you loved it too!! lol We'll chat tomorrow!!

[Tasha]

I'm so glad to hear you guys enjoyed this one. Did either of you read The Appeal? I'm wondering bc I enjoyed that one a lot but heard that her newest wasn't as good as that one. I am glad to hear you guys loved it though, I'm going to add to my tbr.

[Shruti morethanmylupus]

Tasha wrote: "I'm so glad to hear you guys enjoyed this one. Did either of you read The Appeal? I'm wondering bc I enjoyed that one a lot but heard that her newest wasn't as good as that one. I a..."

I ended up liking this one more than the appeal.

[Trisha]

I did read the appeal and I loved it! The mystery of maneuvering through all the interviews and emails was so fun! I loved knowing we were supposed to find!

The Twyford Code, for me, was just on another level of hunting and searching for clues! it was so fun and I never saw the twist, even though I'd sleuthed out some things ahead of time! it was so good!

[Theresa]

I also read the appeal. I liked The Twyford Code better than the appeal. I think the appeal was just harder for me to follow.

[Tasha]

Great to hear, definitely keeping this on my radar for maybe 2023!