In this light noir crime novel, a previous puzzle prodigy returns to the competing world. A thoughtful mystery with deeply personal stakes, perfect for fans of The Queen’s Gambit.

THE CONTEST
by Jeff Macfee
Angry Robot, February 2025
(via JABberwocky)

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?

Jeff Macfee writes about ordinary people who do their best but make things worse. When he’s not writing he’s doing IT things and asking you to turn it off and on again. He lives in North Texas with his wife and three kids.