For over a year now, the identity of the true author behind Argylle has been a mystery, sparking numerous fan theories. However, on the day of the Argylle movie premiere, the identity of the real Elly Conway was finally revealed.
When Matthew Vaughn’s spy comedy was first confirmed to be in development, it was reported that the movie was based on the book of the same by debut author Conway. The only problem was that the book hadn’t been published yet, and no one could confirm that Conway existed. When Argylle‘s trailer arrived, viewers realized that Conway was the fictional protagonist of the film portrayed by Bryce Dallas Howard. Hence, it became clear that Conway was just a pseudonym. However, since the book was published on January 9, 2024, someone still had to have written it.
When Conway became active on Instagram, Swifties fell into a frenzy after noticing the first post was published on December 13, Taylor Swift’s birthday. Even after director Vaughn debunked the theory, fans continued to hold onto the belief that the pop singer had somehow written her first novel somewhere in between recording albums and touring the world.
Another common theory was that Vaughn wrote the book, though the cast and crew rejected this idea, too. This finally led to many admitting that it must have been written by an established author concealing their identity, but who?
Meet the real Elly Conway
Swifties may be slightly disappointed to learn that Swift didn’t write the book after all. However, several fans and a journalist did successfully solve the mystery beforehand. Leading up to the premiere, Washington Post writer Sophia Nguyen reached out to one of the book’s consultants, Robert Massey, who was listed in the acknowledgments. He told the writer that someone named Tammy Cohen had written the book. There does happen to be a real author named Tammy Cohen who has written under pseudonyms before, and many accepted this as the final answer.
Others connected the book to author Terry Hayes, given that Vaughn was once slated to adapt Hayes’ novel I Am Pilgrim. What almost no one accounted for, though, was the possibility of more than one author writing the book. Indeed, those who suspected Cohen and those who suspected Hayes were both correct, as the book was a collaboration between the two, as confirmed by The Telegraph.
Cohen is a British author who has written several psychological thrillers, including The Mistress’s Revenge and When She Was Bad. Meanwhile, Hayes is a former journalist best known for his debut thriller I Am Pilgrim, which took ten years to write. The pair have kept their involvement with Argylle secret for nearly three years, including from their inner circles. The project arose when Vaughn, who was working with Hayes at the time, suggested he write the novel for Argylle. Rather than being a novelization, it would be like the actual novel that the character Conway wrote within the movie. Hayes loved the idea but was also busy writing The Year of the Locust.
Hayes’ publisher, Bill Scott-Kerr, thought Cohen would be the perfect co-author for Argylle and got the authors in touch. Together, they crafted the spy novel, which sees Argylle attempting to best his Russian enemies in a race to find a priceless chamber called The Amber Room.
Hayes and Cohen explained that their involvement in the project wasn’t a publicity stunt. They signed on to write because they wanted to make Vaughn’s vision a reality with a genuine Argylle novel that embodied such an intriguing meta-idea. Neither had any idea of how many people would become invested in this mystery. However, now the cat is out of the bag, and it’s quite fitting that two established thriller authors are the duo behind Conway and Argylle.
(featured image: Universal Pictures)
