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

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

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When mysterious symbols appear as graffiti around Oxford, lexicographer Martha Thornhill recognises them from a runic alphabet created by a deceased fantasy 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, Martha 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.

Guilty by Definition (book 1) was a Sunday Times bestseller August 2024

Details

ISBN13: 9781804187258
Format: Paperback / softback
Number of Pages: 416
Edition:
Publication Date: 25 Aug 2026
Publisher: Bonnier Books Ltd
Publication City, Country: United Kingdom
Dimensions (cm): 23.5(H)x15.3(L)x3.1(W)506
Weight (gm): 506

Author Biography

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.

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