I'm being very mean with my rating, but the book was full of anachronisms that really irritated me (e.g. sudokus, "bucket lists" and Gibsons jigsaws did not exist in the early '80s), the crossword clues were terrible, and the story was quite plodding and dull.

I loved the concept of a commune full of genius puzzlemakers who raise a child and create a large-scale scavenger hunt for him, but the execution was unambitious and the resolution made the whole thing a bit pointless.

I liked Pippa as a character, and might have enjoyed the book more had the whole story been about her. Clayton, on the other hand, spent far too long being a bit dim for plot reasons.

For example, when he needs to talk to someone urgently, doesn't have their phone number, but happens to be a short walk from a mutual friend's house... Clayton's solution: Send a postcard. *facepalm*

On the whole, a disappointing read.

P.S. The author has characters sitting on a "stall" instead of a "stool" a couple of times, then credits their "eagle-eyed copy editor" in the acknowledgements. I don't know if I've gone mad or if they have.