The Killing Code - Hardcover

Marney, Ellie

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 031633958X ISBN 13: 9780316339582

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2022

Synopsis

A historical mystery about a girl who risks everything to track down a vicious serial killer—for fans of The Enigma Game and Last Night at the Telegraph Club.

Virginia, 1943: World War II is raging in Europe and on the Pacific front when Kit Sutherland is recruited to help the war effort as a codebreaker at Arlington Hall, a former girls’ college now serving as the site of a secret US Signal Intelligence facility. But Kit is soon involved in another kind of fight: government girls are being brutally murdered in Washington DC, and when Kit stumbles onto a bloody homicide scene, she is drawn into the hunt for the killer.
 
To find the man responsible for the gruesome murders and bring him to justice, Kit joins forces with other female codebreakers at Arlington Hall—gossip queen Dottie Crockford, sharp-tongued intelligence maven Moya Kershaw, and cleverly resourceful Violet DuLac from the segregated codebreaking unit. But as the girls begin to work together and develop friendships—and romance—that they never expected, two things begin to come clear: the murderer they’re hunting is closing in on them…and Kit is hiding a dangerous secret.

About this title

About the Author

Ellie Marney is an New York Times bestselling author of crime thrillers. Her titles include the Aurealis-winning None Shall Sleep, White Night, the Every series and the companion novel No Limits, and the Circus Hearts series. Her books are published in ten countries, and have been optioned for television. She’s spent a lifetime researching in mortuaries, talking to autopsy specialists, and asking former spies about how to make explosives from household items, and now she lives quite sedately in southeastern Australia with her family. Her latest book is The Killing Code, an intense mystery about female codebreakers hunting a serial killer against a backdrop of 1940s wartime Washington DC. You can find out more about Ellie and her books at www.elliemarney.com or online @elliemarney.

Reviews

Gr 9 Up—This novel is set during World War II but doesn't rely on the built-in drama of a typical wartime tale. Instead, Marney weaves thrilling drama, assumed identities, queer love, racism, and even murder against the compelling and true backdrop of American female codebreaking units. It comes together seamlessly, with every thread informing the others, a laudable feat. Protagonist Kit once worked as a maid—and perhaps more—for the real Katherine Sutherland. After Katherine, who was ill from infancy, dies at the finishing school where Kit served as her companion, the whip-smart Kit assumes her identity (as Katherine asked and encouraged her to) and stumbles into work as a codebreaker. If the threat of being exposed as a fraud during war wasn't enough, soon Kit and a gang of fascinating fellow codebreakers are sucked into solving the mystery of a serial killer terrorizing the young government-working women of Washington, D.C. While the book contains some phrases and thoughts that feel anachronistic, it overall serves as a gripping and inspiring tale. Quotes from real codebreakers and historical figures open every chapter, ensuring this brisk tale is informative while entertaining. Katherine and Kit are white. VERDICT An intersectional and enthralling story of largely unknown history mixed with engrossing crime mystery.—Cat McCarrey

Edition details

• Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 2022
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 031633958X
• ISBN 13: 9780316339582
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 384