This is such a perfect book for book lovers. The story is about a fellowship of puzzlemakers (duh), and actually it has a few puzzles (like cryptograms and mazes) for you to solve along with the characters.

This was a very heartwarming story of found family, sense of community, going after what you want in life, and PUZZLES. All the characters are loveable and quite flawed. The book covers two timelines and perspectives, one, Pippa covering the forming of the fellowship up to the baby on the doorstep, and the other, after Pippa, who’s been the abandoned baby’s mother figure for 25 years passes away.

I really enjoyed reading this book but it is a bit slow. I think the main reason for it is that the premise of the book didn’t fully start until about halfway through. And soon enough it was obvious what the “solution” to the mystery was gonna be, so that plotline never felt gripping, though I enjoyed the journey.

I really enjoyed the non-mystery aspects of the book. I loved reading about the forming and then the tribulations of the fellowship. I loved the romance plotline. I feel like I would have enjoyed the book more if it was just about those relatively mundane things. Though I did appreciate that the mystery forced the main character to get out of their shell and go on a small adventure, open their door to possibilities.

I loved the focus on different kinds of love, and their importance to our lives, like friendship, self-love, familial love...

It was also really enjoyable to read a book about a group of people who are so clearly passionate about their hobbies, and find a community within that. It really made me wish this was a real place I could visit, and real people I could meet.

If you liked books like Remarkably Bright Creatures and The Lost Ticket, and want a slower paced book with puzzles, this is the book for you!

Thank you Vintage Anchor, Doubleday and NetGalley for the eARC!

I was invited to review an ARC of The Fellowship of the Puzzlemakers, written by Samual Burr. I'm glad I took the opportunity to read this book as it turned out to be an absolute jewel of a story. In a general sense it is all about what brings people together and what pulls them; it's about dreaming and achieving and loss and grief. In particular it is about Pippa, a woman alone in her middle years, she bravely went forth and began the Fellowship of Puzzlemakers, a group of people who specialized in puzzles of all kinds from crosswords to jigsaws to trivia to mathimatical conundrums. They began to increase their income by working together and eventually, Pippa brought them all to live with her in the sprawling old home she'd grown up in. This book is also about Pippa's son, Clayton, who was left on the doorstep of the Fellowship, in a hat box. After Pippa's death, Clayton follows a set of clues Pippa left him to help him discover his birth parents. I don't usually enjoy stories told alternately in two timelines but this one is so magnificently done that I can't imagine it being told any other way. The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers is a lovely story, worthy of reading slowly in order to savor every word.

The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers by Samuel Burr is part heartwarming story of found family, part bildungsroman, and part mystery/puzzle. A fun read for anyone, it will be especially beloved by puzzle-lovers of all kinds: crossword fanatics, trivia lovers, jigsaw aficcionados, and brain teaser enthusiasts. One note of frustration, however, is that the jigsaw puzzle portions of the story were not realistic. As a competitive jigsaw puzzler, I can say with confidence that several parts of the story revolving around jigsaws made no sense. It's highly unlikely that there would be any surface on a houseboat large enough to assemble a 3 or 4,000 piece puzzle, and it certainly couldn't be done by two amateur puzzlers in a matter of a few hours. A 44,000 piece puzzle is exponentially harder than a 1,000 piece puzzle, and absolutely could not be completed in a matter of hours, no matter how many people helped. In fact, having more people working on it would likely make it more difficult to complete. But other than those flawed plot points, it was an enjoyable story with quirky, interesting characters.

This was a lovely story told from 2 main points of view. Pippa was the founder of the Fellowship of Puzzle Makers and started this group to form a sense of community for herself and others who enjoy puzzles of all kinds. The story tells how the group started and continued throughout the years. Clayton, who is now in his 20’s, was left on the steps of the Fellowship when he was an infant and now that Pippa, his caretaker, has passed away he starts a search for his birth parents with the clues to puzzles that Pippa has left for him. I enjoyed all the fun characters and the way they all came together to form this fellowship and showing that family isn’t always made by blood. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc.

Looking for a sweet gentle read with a hint of romance and a lot of heart? The Fellowship of Puzzle Makers is your solution. The story interweaves the journey of Clayton Stumper to find out who his birth parents were with the life of his adoptive mother, who was the recently deceased leader of the Fellowship of Puzzle Makers who range from crossword creators to painters of puzzles to creators of intricate hedge labyrinths.

The story will resonate for those who are looking for found families and a sweet lgbtq story in the vein of TJ Klune's The House in the Cerulean Sea or Under the Whispering Door. Though the Puzzle Makers lack actual fantastic powers, there is a sense of whimsy and joy that feel a bit fairy tale like with one character living on a house boat and a female taxi driver who has every country's capital memorized. Because he was raised by the mostly aged puzzle makers, Clayton has adopted many old-fashioned affectations and interests and yet he at times seems also more childlike then many in their early 20's would be.

This was a fast paced read which slowly reveals the truth of Clayton's heritage. There are also several puzzles throughout that you can try to solve.

Since my early reading days, I've been captivated by mysteries that entice me with an enigmatic puzzle and keep me engaged until the final reveal. However, as I've grown older, a compelling mystery alone doesn't hold the same allure for me; it's the depth and complexity of the characters that truly elevate a book. Samuel Burr's debut novel, The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers, masterfully blends both these elements. Towards the end of last year, I received a mysterious package from his publisher. Enclosed was a manuscript cleverly disguised as a crossword puzzle and a jigsaw puzzle, with the solution revealing the book's title and cover image. While the puzzles seemed to be at the story's core, it was the depth of the characters that truly drew me into the narrative.

Pippa Allsbrook has always stood apart from the crowd. Her remarkable intelligence, rather than impressing others, often alienated her. Men found her intimidating, while women couldn't fathom her passion for deep thinking and puzzles. Despite societal expectations, Pippa's love for puzzles prevailed, leading her to craft the local newspaper's crossword under a male pseudonym. Her true passion lies in her weekly gatherings with The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers, a diverse group united by their love for solving and creating puzzles, be it math problems, jigsaw puzzles, trivia, or mazes. To preserve the group's legacy, Pippa invested her family's fortune to establish a commune where the Fellowship could live and collaborate. While this haven sounds idyllic, maintaining it presents its own set of challenges, requiring Pippa to utilize all her wit and ingenuity.

Clayton Stumper is a young man with an old soul. Abandoned as a baby at the doorstep of the Fellowship of Puzzlemakers, he was raised within this enigmatic community, with Pippa serving as his surrogate mother. Immersed in the world of enigmatology from a young age, Clayton grew up respecting and cherishing the fellowship's traditions. However, with the group's decline and Pippa's recent passing, Clayton finds himself among the last members, questioning his identity and heritage. After her death, Pippa entrusts Clayton with a final puzzle, promising that its solution will unveil the secrets of his lineage and equip him for the world beyond the commune's confines. As Clayton delves into the clues, he stumbles upon a mystery even the Fellowship couldn't decipher—a revelation that could reshape everything they've ever known.

In The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers, Samuel Burr crafts a novel that puzzle aficionados will find irresistible. The premise of a young man unraveling the mysteries of his past through a complex scavenger hunt filled with puzzles is undeniably captivating. While I was engrossed in piecing together the intricate puzzle, it was the characters that truly resonated with me. Burr skillfully weaves the narrative through two distinct points of view: Clayton in the present and Pippa in the past. This dual perspective offers a comprehensive view of both the puzzle's creation and its solution. I was immediately captivated by these characters, empathizing with their individual quests for love. Burr explores love in its various forms—familial, romantic, and communal. Although I found myself more invested in one perspective over the other, it didn't diminish my overall enjoyment of the story. The journey itself is more than worth the price of admission in this heartfelt debut. After all, as the book aptly puts it, "The magic was always found in the solving, never in the solution."

The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers by Samuel Burr is a coming-of-age/found family story.

"Clayton Stumper was left as a baby at the doors of the Fellowship. When his adoptive mother, Pippa, dies - he is sent on a quest to solve one last puzzle. He's off to find himself, where he came from and where he's going."

Burr's book is full of colorful characters. The fellowship is full of people who make every kind of puzzle - mazes, crossword puzzles, jigsaw puzzles, handmade wooden creations - anything you can imagine.
There are dual timelines - one is the beginnings of the Fellowship, giving all of the answers to Clayton's puzzle - and another of Clayton following the clues.

This is a slow read - not for those interested in a fast-paced story.

I enjoyed this one. It has lots of helpful reviews, so I'll just recommend it.

Thanks very much for the free copy for review!!

I was drawn in by the premise of The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers - I am definitely a puzzle person and this sounded like a great combination of puzzlers and a mystery. Unfortunately the execution didn’t work for me and I decided to DNF. Thank you to the publisher for the free book to review.

Pippa founds a society of puzzlemakers, turning it into a commune. The group takes in a baby, Clayton, left on their doorstep. When Pippa dies, Clayton sets out on a journey to find his birthparents, using enigmatic clues left for him by Pippa. This is a very sweet book, filled with puzzles, enigmas, and mysteries for the reader to solve along with Clayton. Set in both Clayton's time and the time of the founding of the commune, the story unwraps itself in both timeframes. Truly touching with a unique setting.

A soft and pillowy story of love in all shapes and forms that has very strong echoes of TJ Klune's novels (a good thing for me) without the fantasy element.

There are two narratives and perspectives: we see the formation and growth of the Fellowship of Puzzlemakers through the eyes of their founder Pippa Allsbrook, from their early meetings in an Islington pub to their commune in her ancestral home in Bedfordshire. The Fellowship is the “third act,” in her late middle age, and she has few regrets except not being a mother. This strand starts and ends with Pippa finding a baby in a hatbox on the doorstep.

In the second storyline, set after Pippa’s death, her adoptive son, Clayton Stumper (and you have to question an adoptive mother who would foist that name on a baby) is sent, by a posthumous Pippa, on a puzzle-filled quest to find his birth mother and venture out into the world. Clayton is an amiable innocent, and, given that he was raised by a household of elderly puzzlemakers, a rather fogyish young man.

In fact the whole novel has quite an old-fashioned and stiff upper lip feel to it, even the Clayton sections which are set in the present day, and this gives a certain remove to the story. The puzzlemakers are mostly old, white, retired men with little life outside their brainteasers and they feel like they belong in a post-war Ealing comedy.

A couple of grumbles, there is a constant use of the word “lady” instead of “woman”, which may be appropriate in the early sections but feels gratingly anachronistic in the present day. Secondly, and this may have been a function of reading a review copy or reading on a Kindle, some of the puzzles just didn’t work.

Overall, however, this is a warmly rosy novel full of love - romantic, parental, familial and for friends. Like The House on the Cerulean Sea, for me it just about stays on the right side of sweetness, but if you identify as twee and/or whimsy averse, it’s probably best avoided.

Thanks to Doubleday and Netgalley for the digital review copy.

An entertaining and mostly lighthearted story that made me want to keep reading to see where Clayton's journey would take him. While enjoyable, I felt like I would have enjoyed it even more if there was a bit more depth to the story. As someone who loves puzzles, it was fun to find them interspersed throughout the story, and I enjoyed solving them alongside Clayton. I'd be curious to know what puzzles he has to solve next....

Thanks for the free audiobook @PRHAudio#PRHAudioPartner and to Netgalley, Doubleday Books, and the author for the ARC.

“The solving is always more important than the solution.”

DNF at 70%. Told in dual timelines and with dual narrators, this sweet story is an ode to intellect, puzzles of all sorts, and family. The narrators did a great job and I think that’s what kept me going.

The story, though? I wanted to love it but I just couldn’t get lost in it. I do see how it has such great reviews and why so many people love it. Unfortunately it just wasn’t for me. But I would recommend it for sure!

The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers is a family story, of friends who chose to become family. The froup comes together for their shared love of puzzling, they build a commune and a business, and thus build themselves a family. The group is made of mostly of older people, and mostly male, but there are a few strong females mixed in - namely Pippa, one of the main characters, and the one who started the whole Fellowship.
One day a baby is left at their doorstep. The baby stays with them and grows up in their family. After Pippa's death, she leads him on a posthumous scavenger hunt of sorts, to discover his birth parents.
The story alternates between the timeline of the past and the history of the Fellowship, and the present, when Clayton is on his scavenger hunt to find his birth parents.
It is a nice, sweet story; nothing remarkable, and a bit slow at times, but still nice enough.

This lovely book was so good I went back and skimmed through the first 30% all over again just to make sure I had all the pieces to the puzzle.

I had so much fun riding along with Clayton on his puzzle quest to find his birth parents. Who doesn't love a scavenger hunt? And this adventure helps Clayton discover things he didn't realize he was missing, or that he needed.

The characters in this book are not flawless, and this elevates it beyond a simple fun beach read. Clayton isn't just a sweet boy looking for his mother - he is sometimes destructively impatient. Pippa is not just a sweet old lady who wants a baby - she is also carelessly destructive in her need for control and attempts to prove she can do everything. The characters all felt very real, and you can instantly feel the connections and attraction between characters without being told.

It's hard not to race through the book. Just when Clayton gets going, we switch to Pippa's life and the clues to Clayton's parentage, then switch back to Clayton's journey - I wanted all the answers, but I also loved the journey and didn't want it to end. The fun is indeed with the solving.

Many thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for a fair review. I give this easily 5 stars. I loved ALLLLL the characters, I loved Clayton's journey, I loved the people he met along the way. I felt for Pippa even when her mistakes were her own fault. I will miss all the members of the Fellowship and look forward to Samuel Burr's next book.

Original, fascinating but very slow; 3.5 stars
How can a book be one of the most original and fascinating books that I have ever read while at the same time be uncannily boring? When I could stay awake, I truly enjoyed much of this book. I loved the characters but the narrative seemed to drag. Some moments were so poignant I was brought to tears. It was well-written and intriguing. I did indeed want to find out along with Clayton who his parents were, which kept me reading. Unfortunately, my ARC was poorly formatted but thankfully I had also purchased this book so I found the formatting of the published book to be perfect. It would have been most helpful if the ARC had been as well. The chapter titles were all scrambled, not in a puzzling way however. What I realized in looking at my published version was that what I was missing was a clue to a word in a crossword puzzle and a title with spaces where they needed to be. The author alternated chapters of current day (from the book’s standpoint) and back in time before Clayton appeared. Interesting use of flashbacks to show us what transpired in the past. This is a book that I will remember more fondly after the fact than I felt while reading. Lots of good stuff even though. My basic opinion is that the reader will either really like or not like this book. Very few people will be on the fence. I volunteered to review an ARC of this book through NetGalley.

I enjoyed reading the book The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers by Samuel Burr. I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and the publisher. This is my honest and personal review. Happy Reading!

Dual timeline tale of the search for connection as puzzles serve as the connective tissue for family ties amongst a band of intriguing individuals. THE FELLOWSHIP OF PUZZLEMAKERS is enchanting as the characters seek out one another and create lasting relationships over their lifetimes. A child mysteriously left on a doorstep comes of age and wonders about his origins. His adoptive mother leave him one final puzzle to solve upon her death, as her final gift. Will it answer all of his questions? Readers will enjoy the solution set as much as the protagonist. I received my copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Set in England, a quirky cast of characters makes this an endearing read about finding your people. I was not interested in solving the puzzles, perhaps because I read this as an ebook while doing other things, but I'm sure puzzle lovers will especially like this book. I could totally see this being made into a movie or TV series.

This was a 3.5 for me. I really liked it, but I felt like something was missing a little.
What I liked:
- The dual timeline
- The friendship and background stories of some of the people in the fellowship.
- Pip and her love for everyone around her.
- Clayton and Neil (omg the dancing in the boat, SO CUTE)

What I wanted more of / didn't love as much:
- No spoilers, but the mystery of who his parents were was kind of a let down and didn't seem realistic to me.
- I enjoyed the past time line better, I wanted more for Clayton!

Overall I enjoyed it, it was much different than anything I've read! Thanks Netgalley, the publisher, and the author!