Guilty by Definition

The debut murder mystery from the resident genius of Countdown's Dictionary Corner, Susie Dent.

An anonymous letter arrives at the offices of the Clarendon English Dictionary containing a challenge for the team of lexicographers working there. It's clear that's it's not the usual run-of-the-mill, eccentric enquiry. The letter hints at secrets, lies and a year. 2010. For Martha Thornhill, the new senior editor, that year can mean only one thing: the summer her brilliant, beautiful older sister Charlie went missing.

After a decade living abroad, Martha has returned to her father, her family home and the city whose institutions have defined her family, but the ghosts she thought at rest were only waiting for her to return.

More letters arrive, pointing towards a secret in the heart of the dictionary itself. As Martha and her colleagues start pulling apart the clues, the questions become more insistent and troubling. Charlie's disappearance is one of a series of secret absences going back centuries, and someone wants to keep those secrets buried.

PRAISE FOR SUSIE DENT:

'Susie Dent is a national treasure' - Richard Osman

'Nobody on earth knows more about the English language than Susie Dent and nobody writes about it more entertainingly' - Gyles Brandreth

'Stuffed with delightful words . . . it'll keep Scrabble fanatics and wordsmiths entertained for hours' - Radio TImes

"If you're like me and love both language and crime, then Guilty by Definition has it all. 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... Guilty by Definition is positively aglitter with etymological and detecting treasures for word-sleuths and crime-fans alike." - Janice Hallett

Susie Dent is a writer and broadcaster on language. She recently celebrated 30 years as a co-presenter and the resident word expert on C4'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. She has contributed to discussions on Radio 4's Woman's Hour, Word of Mouth, Saturday Live, More or Less, Today, and on Radio 5 Live's Breakfast and Drive programmes. She has made guest appearances on many TV programmes including BBC Breakfast, Newsnight, This Morning, Test the Nation, Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway, Not Going Out, and The One Show.

Susie answers notes and queries about words and phrases in weekly columns in the Radio Times, The Week Junior, the I newspaper, and Why Now. She has written for the Independent on Sunday, The Telegraph, and The Times, and is the author of several books, including her latest, An Emotional Dictionary: Real Words for How You Feel, from Angst to Zwodder, published in 2022.

She is a spokesperson for Oxford University Press, and has been a judge on the Costa Book Awards and on the Academy Excellence Awards. Susie regularly delivers key-note speeches to both small companies and major corporations on language and communication.

Susie lives in Oxford where she has developed a passion for cycling - Lycra or no, she is never without her little black book for jotting down any new words picked up in the wild.

@susie_dent

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