The unmissable new linguistic mystery in the Sunday Times bestselling series from Britain's wordsmith, Susie Dent

**The brand-new Sunday Times bestselling linguistic mystery from Countdown's resident lexicographer, Susie Dent, set in the city of Oxford

****'A MUST-READ' *Woman's Own
*
'A CLEVER, TWISTY MYSTERY' Good Housekeeping

'BRILLIANT, GRIPPING, UNPUTDOWNABLE' Kate Williams

'A COMPELLING MURDER MYSTERY PUNCTUATED BY DELICIOUS ETYMOLOGICAL PUZZLES' Tom Read-Wilson

'EVERY BIT AS GRIPPING AS HER DEBUT' Daily Mail
**
A mysterious letter. A silenced scholar. A city paved with injustice.

When mysterious symbols appear as graffiti around Oxford, lexicographer Martha Thornhill recognises them from an alphabet created by a deceased writer whose papers she once worked on. But this is no publicity stunt, and tensions intensify when further graffiti is found near the body of a university lecturer.

Martha is not the only one to have doubts when the suspicious death is assumed by police to be a suicide. Called upon to lend their linguistic expertise to the case, she and her colleagues begin to unearth a tragedy that extends beyond the ancient walls of the university. As new messages portend more death, it's clear that a spirit of vengeance is stalking the city's streets, and may be reaching out towards them too.

PRAISE FOR GUILTY BY DEFINITION:

'Astonishingly clever'
THE GUARDIAN

'Will delight anyone who appreciates fine crime writing'
THE TIMES

'One of the finest mysteries I have ever read'
ROB RINDER

'Huge fun and beautifully written'
GYLES BRANDRETH

'A tantalising mystery'
JANICE HALLETT

'Genuinely page-turning'
LALINE PAULL
*
Guilty by Definition* (book 1) was a Sunday Times bestseller August 2024

Autorentext

Susie Dent is a writer and broadcaster on language. She recently celebrated thirty years as a co-presenter and 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 on words and language. Her debut novel, Guilty by Definition, was an instant Sunday Times bestseller and was shortlisted for Book of the Year - Crime/Thriller at the British Book Awards 2025.

Klappentext

**A brand-new Sunday Times bestselling linguistic mystery from Countdown's resident lexicographer, Susie Dent, set in the city of Oxford

****'A MUST-READ' *Woman's Own
*
'A CLEVER, TWISTY MYSTERY' Good Housekeeping

'BRILLIANT, GRIPPING, UNPUTDOWNABLE' Kate Williams

'A COMPELLING MURDER MYSTERY PUNCTUATED BY DELICIOUS ETYMOLOGICAL PUZZLES' Tom Read-Wilson

'EVERY BIT AS GRIPPING AS HER DEBUT' Daily Mail
**
A mysterious letter. A silenced scholar. A city paved with injustice.

When mysterious symbols appear as graffiti around Oxford, lexicographer Martha Thornhill recognises them from an alphabet created by a deceased writer whose papers she once worked on. But this is no publicity stunt, and tensions intensify when further graffiti is found near the body of a university lecturer.

Martha is not the only one to have doubts when the suspicious death is assumed by police to be a suicide. Called upon to lend their linguistic expertise to the case, she and her colleagues begin to unearth a tragedy that extends beyond the ancient walls of the university. As new messages portend more death, it's clear that a spirit of vengeance is stalking the city's streets, and may be reaching out towards them too.

PRAISE FOR GUILTY BY DEFINITION:

'Astonishingly clever'
THE GUARDIAN

'Will delight anyone who appreciates fine crime writing'
THE TIMES

'One of the finest mysteries I have ever read'
ROB RINDER

'Huge fun and beautifully written'
GYLES BRANDRETH

'A tantalising mystery'
JANICE HALLETT

'Genuinely page-turning'
LALINE PAULL
*
Guilty by Definition* (book 1) was a Sunday Times bestseller August 2024