“Once a child prodigy of puzzles and logic games, Gillian Charles now barely ekes out a living in Los Angeles. With her sick mother facing eviction from her care facility, Gillian can’t say no when her childhood nemesis, Tommy, shows up at her apartment with a $50k offer. All she has to do is return to the place where it all started, where she swore she’d never set foot again: Miscellany.

Miscellany is a place of wonder and enchantment—a Disney World for puzzle lovers, and one that quickly owns the lives of those who stay too long. Tommy is running the park’s latest big game, and he’s convinced someone is leaking the answers. With investment and expansion in the cards, Miscellany can’t afford a scandal. As a former puzzler who kept her distance from Miscellany for twenty years, Gillian should find it easy to investigate while avoiding Miscellany’s charms and entanglements. But when Gillian arrives, she discovers things aren’t so straightforward.

Her turncoat ex-friend Martin Ellsberg holds the security reins, Tommy’s estranged wife Evelina spins PR webs around the park’s machinations, and the manipulative park founder Sebastian offers her the financial security and intellectual future she always wanted. With her mother’s circumstances growing more dire, and under pressure to sweep the accusations under the rug, Gillian finds childhood games all the more treacherous for adults.

Miscellany is offering Gillian the life she always wanted. But at what price?”

Hello and welcome to damppebbles. Today I am delighted to share my review of The Contest by Jeff Macfee. The Contest is published by Datura Books today (that’s Tuesday 11th February 2025) and is available in paperback and digital formats. I chose to read a free ARC of The Contest but that has in no way influenced my review. My grateful thanks to the team at Datura Books for sending me a finished copy.

As a child Gillian Charles was a puzzle-solving genius. She pitted her skills in a contest against other children her age to win the ultimate prize; fame, fortune and a lifestyle where she and her family would never have to worry about a thing, ever again. But she failed. In a moment of compassion, Gillian let the lead slip and came in a paltry second place. As an adult, Gillian makes ends meet in Los Angeles. It’s a life, but not the life she thought she would have. Now, the winner of the contest, Tommy Kundojjala, is on her doorstep asking for help. Miscellany, the place where the Contest Extraordinaire took place all those years ago is set to run another big event. Tommy is convinced one of the contestants taking part has cheated in the preliminaries. And the only person who can uncover the truth is Gillian…

The Contest is a highly intriguing novel about child prodigies and what happens when it all goes wrong. I thoroughly enjoyed the fact that most of the action is set in and around a puzzle theme park. Can you imagine such a thing! A place where elite children consume riddles and conundrums, pushing themselves to be the best of the best. I was very impressed with the clever, well-drawn setting. The idea that instead of going to other well-known, adrenaline-fuelled theme parks and consuming vast amounts of calories and sugar, some children would opt for more intellectual nourishment (although I could see it providing the same level of adrenaline to its players!). The main characters are all interesting and help move the story along. Gillian is our lead. The much maligned loser of the Contest Extraordinaire. Reluctantly she returns to Miscellany because, in truth, she needs the cash Tommy has put on the table. Her mother, who she still feels she let down terribly by not winning, is severely ill and needs constant care. Plus, the draw of the puzzles is always strong. But on arrival Gillian discovers that not everything is as it should be at Miscellany. Tommy hasn’t told her the whole truth. Far from it.

Would I recommend this book? I would, yes. The Contest is an enjoyable mystery and very different to anything else I’ve read of late. I liked the world-building (elite mathletes battling it out in specially constructed arenas to be the best and win big!), I became fond of Gillian over the course of the book (not sure others will warm to her in the same way as she does have quite a hard edge to her) and I liked how all of it, everything in this strange puzzle focussed world, was the creation of one man, Willy Wonka style! The book is billed as cosy crime but I struggle with that. There’s a certain grittiness to the story. Back to that hard edge I mentioned Gillian having a few moments ago. Definitely more grit than you normally get in a cosy crime novel. I also felt there was a literary tone to the story. All in all, I enjoyed The Contest. I look forward to seeing what Macfee has for us next. Wonderfully intricate, well-plotted and with believable, well-drawn characters. Recommended.

I chose to read and review a free ARC of The Contest. The above review is my own unbiased opinion.

The Contest by Jeff Macfee was published in the UK by Datura Books on 11th February 2025 and is available in paperback and digital formats (please note, the following links are affiliate links which means I receive a small percentage of the purchase price at no extra cost to you): | amazon.co.uk | Waterstones | bookshop.org | Goodreads | damppebbles bookshop.org shop | damppebbles amazon.co.uk shop | damppebbles amazon.com shop |

Jeff Macfee is a writer. His crime novel THE CONTEST about a former puzzle prodigy who returns to the contest of her youth comes out in February, 2025.

He is also the author of the superhero noir NINE TENTHS.

He’s represented by Lisa Rodgers of JABberwocky Literary Agency.