Hallett's The Appeal was told in the form of emails and texts. The Twyford Code is a transcription of some 200 audio files recovered from an old iPhone.
In this case, Inspector Waliso asks Professor Mansfield, a mathematics professor, to read through the files and to get back to the Inspector with any insights when he has finished.
Software called DeciperIt has been used to transcribe the recordings, but it is often inaccurate in the words it uses, giving an awkward sense of what's meant by the speaker.
Steven Smith, newly released from a long prison sentence, is the teller of the tale. He has recently learned to read, he says, but writing is difficult. He wants to tell his story for the benefit of his son, whose old phone he's using. His son has asked him not to contact him, and told Smith he doesn't want to see him.
There's something simple about Smith, and it's difficult to tell if he just has trouble expressing himself or how much of it is the transcription software. He seems to have memory issues as well, particularly relating to an incident when he was young.
On a bus, he found a book. He wasn't able to read it, but found the illustrations to be intriguing. While in class, his teacher noticed he was not paying attention and took the book away. Not only would she not give it back at the end of class, she declared the book had been banned. Nevertheless, over a period of days she read the book aloud to the class.
She seemed obsessed with it, and took the kids to the beach one day, and to the house of Edith Twyford, author of Six on Goldtop Hill.
Steven cannot remember how they got home from the trip, but the teacher disappeared and he can't remember what happened that day.
Contacting the other students in the class, he tries to piece together what happened. He enlists the help of a librarian who is all in for helping him do research into the author Edith Twyford, and the code that appears to be sprinkled throughout her books.
We also learn how Steven got involved with a crime family, the life lessons he learned from them, and how he ended up in prison.
It's all done for his son, who now has a puzzle of his own to solve.
Though the recordings seem straightforward, they're fantastically plotted. Shadowy figures close in on Steven as his story nears its end.
Hallett is so great with her characters, revealing them essentially through dialog. Despite it being audio recordings, I wonder if it wouldn't be a disservice to make an audio recording of this one, as it might reveal too much.
In the front of this book is list for 2023 publication: The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels. Can't wait!
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