Comforting as a jigsaw

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The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers is a charming book about various types of love and friendship and finding your people and knowing that it's never too late in life. Clayton Stumper was left at the door of the Fellowship of Puzzlemakers in Bedfordshire, England, in the early 90s and is taken in by founding member Pippa Allsbrook. When she dies 25 years later, Clayton follows the clues she left to try to figure out who he is. The book jumps between the founding of the Fellowship and Clayton's quest.

I am actually not that much of a puzzle person--unless you consider trivia to be a puzzle, which the Fellowship does. Even so, I still found the book appealing. Their membership includes all sorts of puzzles, games, mazes, crosswords, and so on. Pippa lost her parents young and was raised by an uncaring aunt, then grew up to make crossword puzzles for a newspaper. She found a group of like-minded folks and by force of will brought them together.

Clayton, now 25, has spent his life with this group of older folks, living a pretty quiet life. He and Pip were close and he has the other members of the Fellowship, and doesn't really have friends his own age. So when Pip spurs him on after her death, he faces a learning curve.

Author Samuel Burr manages to portray Clayton as being a bit sheltered, a bit shy, without him coming across as too twee. He has his routines and enjoys his life but knows that's probably missing out and it stops him from being a frustrating character. The various members of the Fellowship all have their foibles and their stories.

Because of the framing device of Clayton with flashbacks to the earlier days of the Fellowship, we know certain things, which I honestly found comforting as I read the book. I didn't have to worry too much about the resolution of various issues that popped up for Pippa.

There was also a lovely little bit of romance for Clayton; it definitely isn't the point of the story, but it's well done, doesn't overtake the story, and manages to pull together a few of the story strings.

Recommend if you're in the mood for some cozy fiction.