*DON'T MISS SUSIE'S NEXT LINGUISTIC MYSTERY, DEATH WRIT LARGE - AVAILABLE TO PRE-ORDER NOW!*
'ONE OF THE FINEST MYSTERIES I HAVE EVER READ'
Rob Rinder, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Trial
'A TANTALISING MYSTERY FOR WORD SLEUTHS AND CRIME FANS ALIKE'
Janice Hallett, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Appeal
A coded letter. A missing woman. A truth waiting to be found.
When an anonymous letter is delivered to the Clarendon English Dictionary office, it becomes rapidly clear that this is not the usual word-related enquiry. Instead, the letter hints at sinister events linked to a particular year.
For editor Martha Thornhill, the date can mean only one thing: the summer her brilliant older sister Charlie went missing. Ten years on, Martha and her family are no closer to unravelling the mystery of Charlie's disappearance - until now.
As more letters arrive, Martha and her team follow the linguistic clues to a troubling truth. It seems Charlie was keeping a powerful secret, and that someone is desperate to keep it well and truly buried.
Guilty by Definition is a love letter not only to language but to the city of Oxford, wrapped within an intriguing mystery of a missing woman and considering the emotional aftershocks of her disappearance on those left behind.
Guilty by Definition was a Sunday Times bestseller August 2024 Susie Dent is a writer and broadcaster on 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 on words and language. Guilty by Definition is her first novel. Agatha Christie meets Countdown in the debut mystery novel from the Genius of Dictionary Corner, Susie Dent EXPERT AUTHOR: As the resident genius in Dictionary Corner on beloved daytime quiz show Countdown for over 30 years as well as a regular feature writer on lexicography, there is no one better placed to bring this linguistic mystery to life HUGE AUDIENCE: Susie is daytime TV royalty, co-hosts a podcast with Gyles Brandreth and is currently touring her one-woman show 'The Secret Lives of Words'. She has over 1 million followers on Twitter ON TREND: Susie Dent's debut crime fiction is set to join the ranks of celeb presenters turned bestselling authors, including Richard Osman, Rev Richard Coles and Rob Rinder CHART SUCCESS: Guilty by Definition was an instant Sunday Times bestseller in its first part-week of release
