More than I bargained on

 

⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑  The Appeal has been sitting on my shelf waiting to be put forward for bookclub, so I have not read it yet. That makes The Twyford Code, Janice Hallett's second outting, the first novel of her creation I've enjoyed. I loved it! So inventive and fresh, far more complex than it's simple premise would lead you to believe.

Steven Smith is a real dark horse in this novel and a strangely likeable chap. Enduring a rough childhood, getting in with the wrong crowd and ending up in prison, he's more an antihero than anything but the reader warms to him in time and wants him to succeed in his quest for answers regarding the teacher, Miss Isles, who disappeared from his life after an unorthodox school road trip. Why can't he remember what happened and how does children's author Edith Twyford and her mysterious code play a role? To be fair, I don't want to say anything else beyond this for fear of tripping up and giving the game away.

The complexity is rather mind boggling and delightful to unravel. Ingenious and fun, I didn't see the twists and so enjoyed my time in Steven Smith's world. A mystery reader's dream, this.