An ancient pact, a scratched message and untimely disappearance set the scene for The Mystery of the Goodfellowes' Code. When Monty and Herbert start their first term at Sevenoke School neither of them can envisage the journey that lies ahead of them decipher a code that has remained a tantalizing secret for two decades. There is a serious message in the story the underlying tone is light hearted and the style and characterization is something of a caricature of the 'Hardy Boys' genre and there is a nod to the current trend of code breaking stories.