Worlds Unlike Our Own

Hello readers! Welcome to my stop on TBR and Beyond Blog Tours for The Killing Code by Ellie Marney. Thank you to the author, the publisher and TBR & Beyond Tours for giving me the opportunity to be a part of this tour.

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Synopsis: 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 Signals Intelligence facility in Virginia. 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.

Review:

Thank you to the publisher and TBR and Beyond Tours for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The year is 1943, and Arlington Hall in Virginia, once a girls’ college, now serves as a center for codebreaking during the war. Former student Kit Sutherland is recruited to help in the war effort and joins the group of female codebreakers. When a series of murders take place in Washington DC, all government girls, Kit and her friends are determined to find the killer after they stumble onto the latest crime scene. With the police ignoring obvious connections between the murders, the girls begin to piece things together, but the murderer is closer than they know.

I’ve read many WWII historical fiction novels related to codebreaking, but only one so far that is also a thriller – The Rose Code by Kate Quinn, which was one of my favorites from last year – so this premise really stood out to me and I knew I had to try it. A fast-paced read right from page one, there wasn’t a dull moment in this book and I was glued to the pages throughout. Of course, the codebreaking angle was one part of it that I absolutely loved and it was so interesting seeing how it all worked through Kit’s eyes. It was also nice that this book focused not only only on the work surrounding codebreaking but also took the time to explore what the day to day lives would have been like for these girls. Hunting a killer aside, Kit’s secret past added another layer to the story, since it’s revealed to the reader very early on, and wondering if someone was going to find out the truth or if she would be able to keep her new life made it an even more thrilling read. The strong friendship between the four girls was wonderfully depicted and despite all of them not having POVs, each character was well developed and distinct with their own arc.

The romance between Kit and Moya was a little too insta-lovey for my taste and to be honest, there was just so much already going on in the story that there wasn’t enough time for their arc to be properly developed without getting in the way of the plot. I also didn’t see the point of Moya having a POV, because not only were her chapters so few in comparison to Kit’s that they didn’t add much to the story, but also because it was very hard to identify when the POV switched. There was no indication and since the narration was third person, it made it rather confusing for me. The dual perspective was not a bad idea and it could have worked quite nicely for this type of story, but I felt that it wasn’t executed well.

I did find the ending and how Kit figured out who the killer was to be a little rushed, especially given the organized manner in which the rest of the plot unfolded, but the final showdown was well written and everything was wrapped up satisfactorily. Overall, this was a great read and definitely one I would recommend for fans of both historical fiction and thrillers!

The Killing Code released on September 20th, 2022.

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About the Author

Ellie Marney is a New York Times bestselling and multi-award-winning crime author who has gone behind the scenes at the Westminster Mortuary in London and interviewed forensic and technical specialists around the world in pursuit of just the right details for her brand of pulse-pounding thrillers. Her titles include The Killing Code, None Shall Sleep, the Every trilogy, No Limits, White Night and the Circus Hearts series. She has lived in Indonesia, India and Singapore, and is now based in Australia with her partner and their four sons.

Ellie has been involved in the creation of the national campaign called #LoveOzYA to promote and advocate for Australian YA literature. She contributed to the critically-acclaimed Begin End Begin: A #LoveOzYA Anthology, and co-runs the popular #LoveOzYAbookclub online. She also co-coordinates an online info-sharing group for Australian women self-publishers. She teaches writing and publishing through Writers Victoria, advocates for Australian women’s writing as a Stella Ambassador in schools, and is a regular speaker at festivals and events.

Social Media Links: Website | Goodreads | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook

Buy this book at: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Book Depository | Indigo | IndieBound

Follow along with the blog tour – check out the full schedule here!

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Do you plan to read this book? Let me know in the comments below!

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