The Secrets Act
It’s wartime England, and two young women meet at top secret codebreaking base Bletchley Park. Pearl is sixteen, local and working as a messenger, taking envelopes between huts. The older Ellen is from Wales, neurodiverse, brilliant at puzzles and employed as a codebreaker.
The two become friends enjoying a freedom they wouldn’t normally have, living more independently, going to the pub and making new friends. They include dispatch rider Richard, who Pearl has a crush on, and his posh friend from London, Dennis, who takes a shine to Ellen.
Then tragedy strikes. One of their friends dies, but is it accidental or could it be murder? And is the killer a spy in the Bletchley camp? Pearl and Ellen decide to investigate but can they unmask the killer before the killer gets to them?
Weatherby’s book was inspired by a visit to Bletchley, where the German Enigma codes were broken by mathematician Alan Turing and his team and helped lead to German defeat. Pearl and Ellen were based on young women who worked at Bletchley, although many of the details have been changed. Weatherby liked the idea of putting spies in Bletchley. and while the baddies are fairly obvious, it doesn’t detract from the whole. An ideal book for YA or middle graders.
