Book Review: The Fellowship of Puzzle Makers

Clayton Stumper might be in his twenties, but he dresses like your grandpa and fusses like your aunt. Abandoned at birth on the steps of the Fellowship of Puzzlemakers, he was raised by a group of eccentric enigmatologists and now finds himself among the last survivors of a fading institution.

When the esteemed crossword compiler and main maternal presence in Clayton’s life, Pippa Allsbrook, passes away, she bestows her final puzzle on him: a promise to reveal the mystery of his parentage and prepare him for life beyond the walls of the commune. So begins Clay’s quest to uncover the secrets surrounding his birth, secrets that will change Clay and the Fellowship forever.

The Fellowship of Puzzle Makers, the debut novel by Samuel Burr, will be published April 9, 2024. 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.