The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers is just my type of book. I love stories that show we are better together and also include some quirky characters. Books with cookie cutter characters bore me and Samuel Burr gives us a cast of multi layered characters that makes me an interesting story.

When Clayton Stump was just a baby, he was found on the front steps of the commune of The Puzzlemakers. Raised by a group of eclectic and older adults, results in Clayton, at twenty six years old, acts like he is eighty.

With the passing of Clayton's adoptive mom, Pippa, Clayton is sent on a scavenger hunt to discover who he is and what he should do with his life.

Samuel Burr has woven a story that is heartfelt and filled with great characters. I would have loved to know many of these individuals.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thanks to NetGalley, the Publisher and Author for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This book was so heartwarming and whimsical. I love word games and puzzles, so it had me from the start there, but there’s so much more to it than that. It deals with grief, love, found family, and belonging. The dual timelines were great, and I liked seeing how the Fellowship came to be, and how past events lead to the current day timeline. The puzzle element was great as well

The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers is a great fit for readers who enjoy stories about solving puzzles, celebrating found family, and exploring heartwarming LGBTQ-themed narratives.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced readers copy of The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers.
I really wanted to enjoy this book based on the synopsis, but found it to be just okay. I do not think that I am the proper target audience. However, I do have several library patrons that I think will adore this one.

What an extremely lovely book. Reading it was like drinking a warm cup of tea. I highly recommend it if you are needing an uplifting story.

Vintage Anchor, a division of Penguin Random House, provided an early galley for review.

As a child, some of my favorite library books to check out dealt with puzzles. In the late 1970's, when I was still in junior high school, I had a subscription to Games Magazine. It is, therefore, no surprise the title of this novel would jump right out to me.

This novel has a cast of varied characters. I like the concept of the Fellowship itself - people of similar interests coming together and supporting one another. I also liked the puzzles sprinkled through the story for the readers to complete if they are so inclined. Some were fairly easy for me; a few took a little more time.

The story bounces back and forth between the present day (2016) and the past (when the Fellowship was first starting out). At first, this is marked, but then it is up to the reader to keep track of when we are. As I've noted in the past, I am not a huge fan of parallel narratives as they can sometimes be confusing or slow down any momentum gained when switching to the other period of the story.

Granted, there is no fear of that latter aspect here as the story has a very meandering pace as it is. There is movement, sure, but I was not feeling a sense of urgency as I read. And, the aforementioned puzzles also slow the reading progress down if time is taken to work them out as they are presented. But, perhaps, this might have been Burr's intention all along - to get us to slow down in this hectic 21st century world to take in and savor that which we are currently focused on.

I do have to nitpick something though. One of the characters in the book is always reading Danielle Steel novels. However, each title that the author notes clearly were written many years after the scenes in which they are shown. That is something only the well-read (or a librarian like myself) would catch on to. I am a stickler for accuracy in pop-culture references in historical pieces. With so many complex puzzles and such in the book, I was surprised to see this area of detail falling short.

The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers by Samuel Burr is a tale about the joy of puzzles and a young man solving a puzzle and finding himself. It is a highly recommended feel-good novel.

As a baby Clayton Stumper was left in a hatbox on the steps of the Fellowship of Puzzlemakers in Bedfordshire, England. Now 25, he was raised by Fellowship founder Pippa Allsbrook, the esteemed and prolific maker of crossword puzzles, along with the other older members, all enigmatologists living together in the commune. Now Pippa has passed away, and Clayton wants to know who his birth parents were. Lucky for him, Pippa left a series of puzzles that will provide him with the answers he seeks if he can solve them.

The narrative follows dual story lines, alternating between the past, when Pippa started the Fellowship of Puzzlemakers, and the present, as Clayton solves the puzzles and clues left for him. The past allows us the meet Pippa and the other members of the Fellowship before Clayton arrived. It's a look into who raised Clayton. The present follows Clayton's quest to find out who he is as an individual apart from the Fellowship.

The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers is a sweet-tempered, gentle, cozy tale that has pleasant, appealing characters, and many types of puzzles. The main focus of the novel are puzzles of all types and varieties. They are embedded in the novel and part of all plot threads in the narrative with the characters circling around the puzzles. The pace is slow, almost glacially at times, but if you adore puzzles and novels about finding your family, then this will be a good choice. Thanks to Knopf Doubleday for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

The review will be published on Edelweiss, X, Barnes & Noble and Amazon.

Not my cup of tea, unfortunately. I wasn’t really into the story line. It fell a bit flat for me. Thank you to NetGalley for gifting me an arc.

Ratings:
⭐️⭐️

Review (no spoilers):
This book was alright. I struggled staying invested during parts of it. I think there might have been a bit too much puzzles within the body of the book. Since I couldn’t solve them myself I struggled to appreciate them.

I enjoyed the two timelines and getting to see Pippa’s story along with Clayton’s and how everything came together in the end.

I was definitely surprised about who his father was, so great job on the surprise aspect to this.

Thank you for the ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Puzzles come in all ways, shapes, and forms, and so do puzzle makers. It's the early 80's. Pippa is bright, beautiful, and alone. She decides to find like minded individuals to share in her love of puzzle making. She sends out invitations and one night brings some of the best puzzle minds in Great Britain together to form a club, The Fellowship of the Puzzlemakers. Surprisingly, but unsurprisingly, Pippa is the only female present and some of her male counterparts have trouble with her leadership. This slowly fades away and a new organization is born. Fast forward to when the members decide to make it a full time deal and move in together creating a living space with a commune feeling. Running along side this story is the story of Clayton, a baby that was left on the doorstep of the Fellowship of Puzzlemakers some twenty something years early. Pippa, who has been his mother, has passed and it is now time for him to find out where he comes from. And in true puzzlemaker's style, Pippa provides Clayton with the clues he needs to solve to discover his origin story, how he ended up on their doorstep in a hat makers box all those years early. Full of quirky characters, heart, and puzzles this is a fun and touching story to read.

Pippa Allsbrook was a true feminist and trailblazer within her own right, as she was the one who founded a club called "the Fellowship of Puzzle Makers." This act alone provides something that all those cruciverbalists and enigmatologist need, which is fellowship with like minds and intelligence. That was unheard of and the fact that it's the brainchild and run by a woman is an anomaly. Slowly within the first meeting, it was settled, and the "Fellowship" commenced. Then one day, Pippa finds a little hat box and she knows as she removes the lid, there is someone watching her discover the baby within. With the support of the Fellowship, baby Clayton Stumper thrives within the community. As Clayton grows, his curiosity about his past never diminishes but many of the characters from the Fellowship teaches him life lessons. For instance, Earl Vosey shows him how to shave and ride a bicycle.

Pippa sadly passes at the beginning of the novel. Yet even in death, she leaves behind puzzles for Clayton to solve, leading him away from the comforts of home to London. During this adventure, he makes new friends and ultimately discovers his roots.

A very sweet story and I suppose a cozy mystery of how even in death, Pippa has formulated puzzles for Clayton to solve which leads him to London, away from the comforts of his home and forces him to take new adventures and make friends and ultimately, leads him back to answering who and where he came from. This story is told not only in a dual timeline: past and present.

A charming and perfect "quiet" read. If you're looking for an action-packed thriller like "The Bourne Identity," this novel might not be your cup of tea. While personally, it is not my usual type of reading, I found it incredibly heartwarming.

Thank you to NetGalley and DoubleDay for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers is told along two timelines and two POVs. We follow Clayton’s present day quest to learn his background alternating with Pippa’s life before Clayton. It starts with Pippa’s death followed by the series of puzzles and clues she leaves for Clayton so he can discover his birth mother. The clues also help Clayton to discover himself.

Interspersed with Clayton’s journey of self-discovery we learn of Pippa’s life and her founding of the Fellowship. Simultaneously, we learn of the various members of the Fellowship and how they interact with Pippa, with each other, and with Clayton. I would have liked to learn more about Clayton’s childhood and his relationship to Pippa and the other members as a child growing up.

The premise of the novel is unique. However, while we get to meet many of the other members of the Fellowship, their stories are briefly told and are never fully-developed. Additionally, the pace is slow and I found myself putting it down to read other novels in between before returning to this one.

Ultimately, this is a story about finding one’s identity (for both Pippa and Clayton) and the importance of family and love, no matter how they’re defined.

Phew, this book was filled with fascinating descriptions and even more intriguing "new" words for me, like enigmatologist, cruciverbalist, etc. Who doesn't love to learn new things as they read a delightful story?
I was drawn to this story by the title, as a fellow lover of puzzles. Once I started reading, I really enjoyed the mysteries and puzzles that were woven through past and present. Peppa's story and her creation of the fellowship was unique, as a fearless problem-solver and solo female. I absolutely loved how she paved the way for Clayton to learn more about himself and his birth parents after her death, through her final puzzle and comforting charm. The quirkiness and character connections made this story that much more enjoyable!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Doubleday for the opportunity to read this advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

I love puzzles and escape rooms so was excited to read this one. It was interesting and a good read but there were pages and pages that drug on. I wanted to be engrossed in the story and flipping pages but I wasn't. It was good, don't get me wrong but I just wanted some faster moving action.

🎩Don't need to be a puzzler to thoroughly enjoy this story😊

Samuel Burr's heartwarming story of a group of talented puzzlers and the foundling boy they raise was a total pleasure to read, from the first arrival of a mysterious hat box at their doorstep to the conclusion. I am a middling puzzler at best, anything beyond sudoku and the occasional word search and crossword usually just frustrates me, but this endearing motley crew and their evolution into a close-knit family held me in their thrawl and foundling Clayton Stumper's quest for information about his biological parents kept the story moving through the puzzle of his birth and arrival into their care to the epiphany of his parentage.

The story continuously flows back and forth in time, from the day Pippa Allsbrook founds the Fellowship in a London pub to the final pages and Clayton's happy realization of his whole history. I was a bit leery of keeping all the characters straight, but the author gives them each unique talents and pretty early on I became comfortable telling them apart.

Pippa has her own challenges as the puzzling community is largely a man's world, but she quickly takes the lead in organizing them and, in particular, with Hector the jigsaw artist, caring for her group of fellow puzzlers. Clayton's unexpected delivery to their doorstop fills a mothering need she thought she had missed out on. By then, Pippa has truly learned that together there are few limits to what they can achieve, but raising Clayton is the cherry to finish off her sundae🍧.

And I loved Clayton's journey from an insulated, somewhat fusty, introvert to a young man ready to brave new experiences, uncover his true self and find romance. His kindness to Cilla, an older, lonely woman he meets by chance on the streets of London, really touched me.

Such a delight to read, and, yes, there are some puzzles that the reader can choose to solve along the way, but they are not the point of this lovely story about bonds of affection and community.

Thanks to publishers Vintage Anchor/Doubleday and NetGalley for sharing a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest opinion.

My review has already or, upon publication, will be shared on Amazon, B&N, kobo, Goodreads and Bookbub.

This is a very sweet cozy book, and it's not my usual fare, which is why I don't think it was for me. I really wanted to love it, and the story is well told, but the characters didn't connect with me, and I wish more of the story was told in present day.

3.5 stars

Fiftysomething Pippa Allsbrook is an unmarried cruciverbalist (crossword puzzle enthusiast) who longs to socialize with like-minded individuals. So Pippa starts a club called 'The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers', and recruits a variety of puzzlers, including: a codebreaker, an arithmetician; a trivialist; a jigsaw puzzle maker; an inventor of mechanical puzzles; a maze-designer; etc.

All the puzzlemakers - and the folks they meet - are engaging, each with his/her individual history, personality, and quirks. For instance, Sir Derek Wadlow, a codebreaker, was part of the team that built the Enigma machine at Bletchley Park; Earl Vosey is a personable maze-maker whose wife has cancer; Nancy Stone is a cab driver who excels at trivia; Hector Haywood is a quiet artist turned jigsaw designer; Angel, a housekeeper/cook, means well but causes chaos; and more.

In time the puzzlers become a kind of family, and decide to share a big house in the country, with a room for each resident, and studios and outbuildings where the puzzlemakers can work. The members, who make money from their puzzles, contribute to the household expenses.

Pippa never had a child, and she feels an absence in her life. Then one day a miracle happens. A black leather hatbox with gold trim is left on the doorstep of the Fellowship residence. Inside the box is a baby boy, only a few days old. Pippa becomes the boy's guardian, and all the puzzlemakers help raise the little fellow, who's named Clayton Stumper. Clayton is very happy at the Fellowship, though he's curious about his history: Who are his parents? Why did they give him away? Clayton can't seem to get any answers.

Then when Clayton is twenty-five, Pippa dies and leaves Clayton a series of puzzles to solve. The puzzles are actually a kind of treasure hunt that provides clues about Clayton's parents. The crosswords and riddles take Clayton to London, and then to the continent, and Clayton -who was very sheltered at the Fellowship - makes new friends along the way.

The story is told in dual timelines, so that Clayton's adventures in the present alternate with flashbacks to the past, when the puzzlemakers come together, establish their fellowship, 'adopt' Clayton, and so on.

I enjoyed this charming story, which shows that a diverse group of people can become a family; and that love can fluorish in unexpected places. As a bonus, the enthusiastic reader can try to solve the puzzles along with Clayton (they're not so easy).

Thanks to Netgalley, Samuel Burr, and Doubleday for a copy of the book.

Thanks so much to the publisher and author for the ARC in exchange for my honest review! This was such a sweet little story that was perfect to read on a cold day with a cup of tea. I really felt like I was being given a hug in book form! As someone who loves puzzles, I also really enjoyed how interactive this was. My one gripe would be that I wish we spent more time in the present day instead of the past. Overall, this was a really enjoyable reading experience!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers follows Clayton, a young man who was left on the doorstep of the Fellowship of Puzzlemakers and raised by Pippa, the head of the Fellowship, as well as most of the other puzzlers in the group. Clayton does not know much about his family's past, and when Pippa passes away at the beginning of the novel, he finds out she left clues for him to find out who his biological family is. While the cast of characters is unique and each brings something new to the table, something about the story just fell a bit flat for me. It was difficult to get through in some places, but that might just be a problem with the formatting of the e-arc. I would like to revisit this when it's published because I did feel like I missed out on some key pieces of information while reading it as an arc.

A sweet story about a young man, raised by a commune of puzzlers, trying to find his parents after the death of his beloved guardian. The characters were well developed and their relationships drove the story to a satisfying conclusion.

The best kind of book - a fantastic story and subtle messages about family and exploring both the world and yourself. Pippa founds the Fellowship of Puzzlemakers and gains a family. She adopts Clayton, a small baby and he is raised by the Fellowship. When Pippa passes, she leaves Clayton a puzzle to unlock his past and find his future life.

I loved this book. Anyone that loves a good story or a cozy British novel, or puzzles will enjoy this novel. I highly recommend it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Doubleday for an early read in exchange for a fair review.