This book is so much! I enjoyed the plot and characters. I loved the found family aspect of this book. The puzzles were a great bonus! Recommending this to all of our patrons!

It took me a bit to get completely into this book, but once I did, I fell in love with this group of complicated characters. Pippa has formed a group with fellow puzzlemakers and purchased her old family home where they live. They are quite a bunch of unusual characters. Clayton was left there in a basket as a baby and the group raised him as their own. No one has any idea where he came from. As the group aged, Pippa has told Clayton she will give him the answers about his parentage and prepare him for living as an adult. When she dies, she leaves Clayton a puzzlebox with clues for the answers he seeks. Naturally, all the clues are in the form of a puzzle. His quest reveals the history of the group and reveals many things about his past, present and eventually his future.

Also reviewed on B&N (1IrishEyes430) and Kobo (IrishEyes430)

For fans of heartfelt novels filled with found family The Fellowship of the Puzzlemakers is a great choice. This story centers the Fellowship of Puzzlemakers, which is a group of eccentric individuals who adore puzzles, from crossword pros to maze makers, from word sleuths to jigsaw creators. This unlikely group of people are drawn together by Pippa, the crossword queen, who decides they should create a fellowship, even deciding to live together at a large estate. Then one day the puzzlemakers open their door to find a baby in a hat box abandoned on their front steps. So begins the story of how baby Clayton was raised by the fellowship.

The story really gets going as Clayton a now 26-year-old going on 80 at heart, is grieving the loss of Pippa who served as a maternal figure for him and who has now left him one last puzzle in her passing. And its the puzzle Clayton has always pondered... that of his origins. Clayton’s final riddle will not only shed light on his own history, but send shockwaves through the fellowship. Now its up to Clayton to not only find the answers he’s always been looking for, but also see what future exists for him outside of the puzzlemakers.This book reads like a mixture of The Reading List and A Man Called Ove with its sweet cast of characters, including some curmudgeons, and it’s lessons of letting both the good and bard parts of life help propel us forward. This sweet book is filled with enough friendships, family, and puzzles to make it a great summer read.

“The magic was always in the solving, never in the solution.”

There's a puzzle that ends this book (at least in the ARC edition) and I find it interesting that no one has asked a question about it here on Goodreads or commented about it on their review. Again, maybe it was the ARC typesetting but I didn't understand the order Clayton was hunting the clues or when they were happening. Once in a while there would be a word in boldface but I had no idea what it meant. Perhaps in a paper book you could refer back to the original puzzle to see?

I'm sad to say that this was a predictable book for the main mystery. The main character, Clayton, is supposed to be "old beyond his years" but did that have to include not knowing how to google anything, or photo recognition? Sure, <spoiler>when you need to interpret a Greek word the first reaction is, "Let's go to the British Museum!" :/ I understand him being mugged, but it sounded as if his friend, standing right next to him, wasn't?

As someone who just turned 65 I had misgivings about the foster parenting plotline. I don't know who the person was who objected, but I bet it was the housekeeper. You know she would have been the one to do all the heavy lifting--grocery shopping, cooking, driving, etc--not Pippa. Obviously they dealt with a baby without the housekeeper and that worked out, but I sure wouldn't have been enthusiastic about the idea.</spoiler>

I wonder if the book had taken place now if corn mazes would have filled in for the landscape mazes.

<img src="https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRKOX0T0iaftwb8v-Mr0SbfedAc3gbelanM6A&s" width="400" height="300" alt="corn maze for seniors"/>

Yeah, yeah laugh it up. (photo of senior citizen corn maze)

My thanks to Netgalley and Doubleday for an advance copy of this book.

An enchanting book. Told in alternating chapters of the birth of the Fellowship and the months leading up to a baby left on their doorstep, and the grown man who was that baby trying to find out who his birth parents are.
The book is riddled with puzzles of all sorts. You can choose to try to solve it or keep reading for the answer.
Life is about finding that missing piece for you. Whether it's a hobby, a hubby, a baby, a degree, whatever.
I really like the motto "To go further, go together"
This was a fun book to read and I would recommend it.

I am a puzzler and love everything puzzles - I love the Marlowe Murder mysteries and the Hallmark Crossword Mysteries series. I was surprised that this book was a bit more serious and very uplifting. A hidden gem that I am recommending to patrons looking for uplifting fiction and who love puzzles.

Told in alternating timelines of past and present, this book really weaves an interesting tale of found family (in more ways than one.) I loved all the different elements of puzzling that each character brought to the table to make quite an eccentric bunch. I also loved the twisty puzzle the main character was sent on. This was a touching, and sometimes heartbreaking story!

A heartwarming story that chronicles the lives of a group of puzzle makers. A mysterious baby, a death, chosen family and finding your tribe. Thoroughly enjoyable.

**I appreciated the opportunity to read and review the electronic ARC. Thanks NetGalley and the publisher.

Pippa Allsbrook is a 50+ year old, unmarried, crossword puzzle enthusiast. She she feels a bit empty in her life, and would like to socialize with others who share her interest in puzzles. She starts a club and recruits a number of other puzzle enthusiasts with diverse interests and talents.
Still, though, Pippa doesn't quite feel fulfilled. That all changes one day when a black, leather hatbox is left on the steps of the home that the puzzle club members share and in that hatbox is a baby boy, only a couple of days old.

Pippa becomes the boy's guardian. He is named Clayton Stumper and the entire club helps to raise him. He leads a pleasant enough life, but he wants to know more about his background. Who were his parents? Why was he left, abandoned the way he was? He is never able to get any answers.

When Clayton is about 25, Pippa passes away, leaving a series of puzzles for Clayton. The puzzles appear to lead Clayton to getting some of the answers he's been looking for, regarding his parents. But solving puzzles isn't always as easy as it looks, even for someone like Clayton who was raised on them. And the answers take Clayton, who led a very pleasant, but sheltered life to far away places.

I really liked the premise for this book, and the characters - the different puzzle-solvers - were so much fun.

The book is told in two different time frames - 'now,' as Clayton works on the puzzles Pippa left for him, and the twenty-plus years ago when he just came into the lives of the puzzlemakers.

I was honestly bored with the 'now' section. Clayton is a pleasant young man on his own journey of discovery, but he's not particularly remarkable. It's Pippa, and coterie of puzzlers that were most interesting. Of course there's a reason we get to know more about them, and the book definitely provides an uplifting story, but it does so by sacrificing that challenge that makes puzzles so interesting to so many. That challenge is told to us, rather than shown to us, and it just didn't work well for me.

Looking for a good book? The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers by Samual Burr is a charming, sweet tale, but lacks the real attraction of a puzzle. It's the difference between a 1000 piece puzzle and a 250 piece puzzle.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

New author for me and fresh storyline involving the craft of puzzlemaking and its wide effects on games, contests. and people

Synopsis: As a baby, Clayton Stumper was abandoned at the headquarters of the Fellowship of Puzzlemakers; a group of the brightest brains in Britain. He grows up amongst mostly elderly people, Clayton dresses and acts beyond his years. But when, aged 25, his surrogate mother, Pippa, dies Clayton starts wondering about his past and where he comes from. Luckily for him, his inheritance is the greatest puzzle Pippa has ever created: one that will unlock the answers Clayton is so desperately looking for. Will he solve the most important puzzle of his life?

My thoughts: I long for a place as magnificent as the Fellowship's headquarters and wish it truly existed. I also have a weak spot for stories with older main characters and a found family trope, which The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers delivers. This is the kind of book we need in the world. The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers is warm hearted, gentle and uplifting without a hint of saccharine sentimentality. The members living together are representative of so many layers of society that they appeal and relate to many readers. I especially appreciated the fact that, apart from those like Clayton and Angel, the majority are older, but are not the frail token characters of other books. Instead we have strong, sharp witted, artistic and talented people who can be head strong as well as generous and supportive.

I love the secrets and actual puzzles throughout the story, however the biggest puzzle is who is Clayton related to? Samuel Burr has created a most charming world demonstrating how our interactions with one another are the connections we need to solve the puzzle, that is life.

The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers is full of fun with its puzzles and quirky characters. Most of all, this book it is a beautiful tale of self-discovery and a coming-of-age story. It left me feeling all warm and fuzzy.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Vintage Anchor/ Doubleday for introducing me to a cast of likeable characters and puzzle contests.

The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers is what I would classify as a lovely book. I don’t think anyone would dislike it, but I didn’t walk away from this book loving it -I was just in like with it.

What works for this book - the dual timeline/pov, the cast of characters, the puzzles. What doesn’t work for this book - a slow start that does not hook you right away, an idea that the “main” puzzle of the book in ways feels cruel during the first 2/3rd of the book.

I think this book has so many lovely parts, some boring parts, and some parts that make you go, “now why are we doing that?” I wish the ending hadn’t felt so rushed. If you want something cozy and love puzzles, I think you will enjoy this book.

I will give this 3 stars. Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for a digital arc of this book in exchange for an honest review,

The beginning: a baby is left on the doorstep in a hatbox at the home of the Puzzlemakers.
The story: Clayton [the grown up baby] is trying to learn who his parents are. Pippi who has been his 'mother' has died. But she left clues which he must follow. This is a challenge for him as this adventure takes him outside his comfort zone.
Read and learn about the many types of puzzles there are in the world and the results of Clayton's challenge.

At the start of this book, Clayton’s adoptive mother Pippa has just died. Clayton grew up unusually in a house occupied by a bunch of older people who are all part of a group called The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers, where he was found on the doorstep as a baby. The book then proceeds alternating between present day (well, 2015) where Clayton starts following puzzle clues Pippa left him to find out more about his origins, and flashbacks starting many years early all the way back to the late 70s when Pippa first established the fellowship. Interspersed throughout the book are puzzles the reader can try to solve as well.

This was a sweet quirky character/found family book, with the addition of the puzzles and The Fellowship a fun original element. Definitely one to read in physical format so you can see the puzzles more easily!

Thoroughly entertaining, I thought the author did a great job developing a whole cast of quirky characters. A feel good story and an easy read.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers.

When Clayton Stumper 's beloved adopted mother dies, she leaves one final puzzle for him.

A promise to reveal the mystery of his parentage and prepare him for life beyond the walls of the home he's grown up in.

Clay's quest takes him out of his sheltered life and into the world, meeting eccentric characters and to find his true self.

The narrative is quirky and heartfelt, much like the characters in the story, but for some reason I thought it would be more mysterious and thrilling.

The pacing is slow, and it drags, especially as Clayton tries to figure out the puzzles his mom has left for him to decipher.

Then, he crisscrosses the city and travels to meet important people in his dear mom's life that made a meaningful and long-lasting impact and how they contribute to his quest.

I loved the premise of the story but just felt it was too boring.

I didn't know Clayton or the cast of characters all that well so I didn't connect or care about either of them.

Also, in my opinion, I think it's sleazy Pippa kept Clayton's parentage a secret and forced him to go traipsing all over town to figure out his biological origins.

Not cool.

I really wanted to like this more but I may not be the target audience. Some readers will definitely enjoy this.

I wanted to love this one more than I did. I really liked the premise but the story didn’t really grab me in the same way. I felt like the hunt for the truth was a bit too easy in the end but I did appreciate the intergenerational friendships and kindness along the way. Many of the characters were not terribly likable or memorable unfortunately. I didn’t dislike reading it but I don’t think this will be one I’ll remember a month from now. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I received a copy of this from Netgalley in exchange for a review.

I’d rate this probably a 3.75, so rounded up to a four. I was all in on this book - two timelines, one from Pippa’s POV as a 50 some year old woman setting up the Fellowship of the Puzzlemakers and all the trials and tribulations that went into making that found family and the characters involved, and and several years later, the story following Clayton, who when born was left at the front door of the Fellowship’s communal home and raised by the puzzle loving adults there. Clayton’s story starts as Pippa’s ends - his only mother figure has left him puzzles to solve in order to figure out who his birth parents are.

I really liked the going back and forth between times - it was fun to read about the fellowship at their early stages and how they got to the point where they were a successful business and communal house, and then get information of how they are in Clayton’s time. I definitely spent some time contemplating who Clayton’s mother might be, and if a certain character is his mother, who the father might be.

I enjoyed both halves of the story- both Pippa and Clayton learn and grow through their experiences. The only part I was not really a fan of, and the reason I didn’t give this a higher rating, is that I was not a fan of who the father turned out to be/his relationship to Clayton. Without spoiling things, it just made me upset to find out who the father was. It made sense once you figured out who the mother was, but when I thought more of other aspects regarding the father, I was not entirely happy about it. Still a good story though, and kept me captivated.

I am a big puzzle fan and thought this would be a fun read but unfortunately it did not work that way for me. I was confused a lot of the time and couldn't connect to the characters or story early on.

Thank you #NetGalley for the ebook ARC. I enjoyed the different narrators and time jumps as the story progressed. The final reveal was creative and I enjoyed trying to figure out that "puzzle" as well as the others throughout the book.

"You're the mystery we've never been able to solve."

A young many follows the clues to discover his real parents. This is a sweet cozy mystery with no murder. Pleasant, but entirely forgettable.

"That's the thing about puzzles, though, isn't it?" he replied, thoughtfully. "The pleasure is in the solving, not the solution."