Description
Agatha Christie meets Countdown in the debut mystery novel from the genius of Dictionary Corner, Susie Dent
Word games can be murder
When an anonymous letter is delivered to the offices of the Clarendon English Dictionary, it is immediately clear that this is not the usual lexicographical enquiry. Instead, the letter hints at secrets and lies linked to a particular year. For new senior editor Martha Thornhill, the date means only one thing: the summer her brilliant older sister, Charlie, went missing.
After a decade abroad, Martha has returned home to the city whose ancient institutions have long defined her family. Have the ghosts she left behind been waiting for her return?
When more letters arrive, and Martha and her team pull apart the complex clues within them, the mystery becomes even more insistent and troubling. It seems that Charlie had been keeping a powerful secret. Now someone is trying to lead the lexicographers toward the truth. But other forces are no less desperate to keep it well and truly buried.
Product Details
| Publisher | HarperCollins Publishers |
| Publish Date | May 13, 2025 |
| Pages | 400 |
| Language | English |
| Type |  Hardback |
| EAN/UPC | 9781443475334 |
| Dimensions | 9.0 X 6.0 X 0.0 inches | 19.2 pounds |
About the Author
SUSIE DENT is a writer and broadcaster who specializes in language. She recently celebrated thirty years as a co-presenter and the resident word expert on Channel 4’s Countdown, and also appears on the show’s comedy sister, 8 out of 10 Cats Does Countdown. Susie comments regularly on TV and radio on words in the news and is the author of several non-fiction books about words and language. Guilty by Definition is her first novel.
Reviews
“Lexicographer Dent’s debut novel, which makes splendidly atmospheric use of the city of dreaming spires, is about the hidden lives of words as well as people....this astonishingly clever literary mystery will be catnip to logophiles and cruciverbalists alike.” — The Guardian
“What a delicious, genuinely page-turning and brilliantly written literary mystery novel this is. More please!” — Laline Paull, Women’s Prize-shortlisted author of The Bees
“I read it with a great deal of pleasure. It’s very good. It’s a classic detective story, in that it has a puzzle and a missing young woman and an engaging detective (or three of them) and a setting that Dorothy L. Sayers would love to have thought of. The main characters are people I’d like to meet in real life; the Oxford types are convincing; the puzzle is well worked-out. And it kept me reading eagerly. I enjoyed it very much and I hope it’s a best-seller.” — Philip Pullman, author of His Dark Materials trilogy and The Good Man Jesus
“Susie Dent’s impressive debut novel is virtuosic. So meticulously and fascinatingly steeped in the archaic glory of words, it will surely be the ultimate treat for every logophile out there. But this is so much more than a celebration of the dictionary - it's a tantalizing mystery of a missing sister, a cold case that will not lie down, and a family frozen in their unresolved grief… all while their circle of friends and colleagues nurse secrets and lies beyond explication. Guilty by Definition is positively aglitter with etymological and detecting treasures for word-sleuths and crime-fans alike.” — Janice Hallett, author of The Examiner
“With a lovely rendering of Oxford and a plot that draws the reader in more and more as it unfolds, Dent has struck a perfect balance between the language lessons of Bill Bryson and amateur sleuthing of Richard Osman.” — Buzz Magazine
"Beautifully written and full of rare and forgotten words, which felt pleasingly educational. Wonderful.” — Daily Mail (UK)
"Susie Dent is a national treasure." — Richard Osman, New York Times bestselling author of The Thursday Murder Club
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