The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers is a work of contemporary fiction/cosy mystery. At 26, Clayton Stumper grew old before he even grew up, raised by a bunch of eccentric retirees after being left as an infant at the doorstep of their headquarters for the Fellowship of Puzzlemakers. When its president (and the woman who raised him) Pippa Allsbrooks passes away, Charlie decides it’s finally time to find some answers about where he came from. Having expected this, Pippa has left him puzzles and clues to help him discover his past and set up his future.

This was just such a charming and heartwarming read. There was nothing I did not love about it. Told in two timelines, it follows Pippa as a younger woman as she establishes the Fellowship of Puzzlemakers as first a club then eventually a refuge for its members who tend to be older and lonely. In the present timeline, Clayton goes on a puzzling scavenger hunt of sorts, uncovering the secrets of his origins and finally opening himself up to more beyond just the Fellowship.

The book delivers a surprisingly cosy mystery full of puzzles (actual puzzles you can solve) and quirky personalities. It brings together a found family of different puzzling aficionados with their own quirks and charms, anchored by two exceedingly different personalities. In Pippa is a determined and outgoing older woman who makes a family of her own beyond that of biology, and in Clayton is a sheltered young man needing to venture out from his comfort zone and family to be more than he is. And in both their stories is an uplifting and upbeat adventure about finding family, love (including a queer one), and a place to belong.

The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers will be perfect for a specific audience, and I happen to be one of them. I can totally see this working as a television miniseries.