Whisking us back to 1943 and the middle of World War II, Ellie Marney’s The Killing Code plunges us into the lives of Kit, Dottie, Moya and Violet in her YA historical fiction, where four girls work as code-breakers at Arlington Hall in Washington DC.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel as the mystery itself was compelling, adding complexities of security checks and curfews, as well as the racist policies and actions of the time. The tension I came across derived from several sources; Kit’s constant fear of being unmasked as an imposter, the stress and urgency of code-breaking, the war itself, and a string of gruesome murders perpetrated against young, female government workers in DC. I adored the combining features of a murderer on the loose, a sapphic romance, deft incorporation of historical prejudice of the time, and of course, the emphasis on women involvement in war efforts.

The sheer amount of research that Marney has done for this novel, shown from the way she describes the girls’ code-breaking, is amazingly well done. The attention to detail is phenomenal and I found myself amazed by this throughout the entire novel. Additionally, I loved the quotes at the top of each and every chapter, and upon reading the author’s note at the back of the book, seeing the effort that Marney went into to retrieve and gain permission for these quotes, left me in utter awe.

The Killing Code is the first book I’ve ever read by Ellie Marney, and after reading it, I’ve decided that I definitely want to read more. The historical setting felt immersive without being distracting, and the murder mystery had me hooked from the very first chapter.

Reviewed by Christina, Year 11, Cerdon College, Merrylands, NSW
Age Guide 13+