Last Will and Puzzlement by Melissa Nordhoff
Complex, Intriguing, Gripping
Genre: Contemporary Fiction/Family Drama/Mystery
Roddy and Ruby might have guessed that events following their grandmother’s passing wouldn’t be straightforward. With her playful quirkiness and her penchant for puzzles, riddles and scavenger hunts that she had staged for the twins all their lives, they had now grown into two very well read, deep thinking, intelligent adults. She was practical, and also would have wanted to give them something to concentrate on instead of wallowing in grief. It was also very cleverly contrived to teach them more about their beloved Gigi’s life and to finally put to rest some things that she did, that she had failed to tell her grandchildren because she was less than proud of some of her actions. Will they be able to forgive her? 
‘Last Will and Puzzlement’ is the first of Melissa Nordhoff’s books that I have read. The design of the colourful cover attracted me, in a social media post, asking what people thought of it. I was also intrigued by the title. Initially, I was concerned that it might be too complex, as I’m not the best with puzzles, unless you count word searches, but curiosity got the better of me and the synopsis sounded as if it would be an interesting and fun story. It did not disappoint. The author has created not only a story in which she has manufactured fairly complex and clever conundrums and plausible situations in which those conundrums are solved, but also absorbing and certainly unexpected outcomes. She also combines this with chapters giving us a taste of parts of their grandmother’s colourful life, that interweave with the information that Roddy and Ruby uncover. At the same time, life leads them to making a discovery that their Gigi had intended to reveal as part of her compendium of puzzles, prior to reaching the final clue. I am impressed with the amount of planning that has clearly gone into writing Roddy and Ruby’s adventures.
This is a book of many characters which, although at times it proved a little difficult to keep track of in terms of what relationship one person was to another, I am a big character reader and like a diverse large cast of individuals in my reading material. I love dialogue and being able to really get a grip on that narrative voice in my head and giving the author’s characters, personality. There was plenty of that in this entertaining novel. I really appreciate stories that delve into characters’ pasts and follow a narrative from both sides of a timeline. I have a great interest in people’s motives for things they do. The chapters about Evie (Gigi) demonstrate this well and it enables the reader to understand the character much more thoroughly. 
Roddy and Ruby are written to convey two individuals who are sensible, intelligent and thoughtful human beings. Ruby’s penchant for naming inanimate objects tickled me as I have been inclined to do the same in the past. I admired their brother/sister bond, how close they were, and how they easily and amicably worked together to fulfil Evie’s last wish. It was clear that she was the central point in their lives. I also enjoyed the development of Ruby and Marty’s relationship. The way she embraces his quirkiness is endearing and probably due to the fact that she was brought up by someone who didn’t conform to the norm either. Marty is certainly my favourite character. I love the way that he assists Ruby with her grandmother’s quest when it is required, whilst accepting that completing the process is important to her and is supportive of the less savoury elements.
The sisterly connection between Evie and Bess from day one made me smile. The mischievous things that they get up to in their early years and the utter certainty that one will be there to support the other is something to envy and extremely heart warming. The discovery of the locket when Ruby has a memory of Bess from childhood, was a clever way to marry the past to the present. The love and deep feelings that these characters have for each other really comes across in the writing. 
As the story progresses to Evie and Bess each having a child, the friendship that continues with the two women, is passed down to their girls, Ella and Lynn, which is really touching, although the difference in the two teenagers is very apparent. I wondered if there was a reason for Ella being so difficult, or whether she was just a typical teenager. Most of the discipline seemed to come from Evie, whereas her father, Peter seemed quite laid back. The timeline for me at that point got a little confusing as Peter appears to be a part of Ella’s life up until she gets married and it feels as if the part in which he is away at war wasn’t included. I will be definitely reading it again, to try to piece this together. However, this did not impede the flow of the story or my enjoyment of it. The scene where Ella arrives home with her boss is written brilliantly, and I could just imagine teenage Ella high as a kite and the much older man trying to defend himself, whilst Evie gives him all she’s got. When Ella finds out she is pregnant, Evie accuses her of having a ‘pity party’ which, to me seemed a fairly modern phrase. However, I looked up when this phrase came into use and it was at the end of the 1970’s. I believe the scene was in under the heading of ‘Evie – 1965’. This information was sourced from Google and the OED and is probably me just being a bit picky.
The chapter where the twins are looking for the Bowman Technical School and find a residential property in its place and decide to knock on the door, leading to the discovery of evidence that their parents had been there, was also a very poignant addition from the author. What the twins did for the owners of the house was very generous and warming. I really liked the way the author used places in Evie’s past to connect to the present.
The character of Donald was a real link across the generations and a real motivator to keep you reading. I was frustrated after reading the chapter that reveals Donald’s identity that the twins couldn’t recall him. The writing is clever, as it steers the reader away from even entertaining his real identity until it is revealed. I also thought it interesting that Ruby was angry with him at what was eventually revealed, as well as Evie’s actions, I hadn’t thought of it in terms of Donald being willing to relinquish that part of his life so much as Evie putting him in a situation where he had no choice.
This full bodied novel of self discovery, dark times, strong friendships and powerful women, plus what a human being will do to survive and protect the people that they love the most, was such a joy to read and so compelling, I shall be acquiring a copy of the paperback and will look out for further novels from this gifted author. 
Comments
Post a Comment