A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to spend the weekend at Capital Crime with the Sister. As always the first thing we do is head to the bookshop to check out what’s available.  There was one cover that stood out straight away but as a limited edition Goldsboro item of beauty there was the danger of blowing my book budget. However I was rather lucky that for some reason The Sister had a rather unexpected fit of generosity and gifted me a copy (it may of course be that I had been picking up the book so much that she was told to either pay for it or I’d get kicked out!)

Of course when a book has been coveted purely for how it looks there is always the danger that actually reading it might be a let down, however I am very pleased to say that it was not the case at all, I absolutely loved this beautiful story. 

The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers by Samual Burr is the book in question. This is the story of Clayton Stumper. He is twenty five going on sixty five. Clayton was abandoned at birth and brought up by the fellowship, an eclectic group of people, with some of the sharpest minds in the country. All brought together under one roof by their collective love of puzzles. When head of the group and renowned crossword setter Pippa dies, she leaves one final puzzle for Clayton. A chance to find out the truth about where he comes from. Yet as he starts to solve the puzzles he begins to uncover secrets that will affect not only his life but also those left in the fellowship.

I absolutely loved this beautiful and heartwarming story. Whilst not crime in my usual way, there were no dead bodies, there was plenty of mystery and intrigue within the novel that was absolutely captivating. 

The story was charming as we follow Clayton along his journey of self discovery from London to Amsterdam as he follows the clues to track down his family.  Each chapter starts with a puzzle which gave it a real quirky feel. I have recently become a big fan of Murdle puzzles and now quite fancy myself as a bit of a puzzler so I really enjoyed this element.

I loved all the characters in this. They were a strange bunch of misfits, all with their own foibles and secrets yet as a group they are pretty invincible. The story is told from Clayton’s viewpoint in the present, and a flashback to Pippa as she sets up the Fellowship and navigates her way through communal living. 

This was a debut novel that was incredibly well written and I both couldn’t wait to finish so I would find out the ending and also didn’t want to end as I was enjoying it so much. One of my favourite reads so far this year and I’d love to see a Fellowship of Puzzlemakers series.