Guilty by Definition

A Novel

Oxford, England. After a decade abroad, Martha Thornhill has returned home to the city whose ancient institutions have long defined her family. But the ghosts she had thought to be at rest seem to have been waiting for her to return. When an anonymous letter is delivered to the Clarendon English Dictionary, where Martha is a newly hired senior editor, it's rapidly clear that this is not the usual lexicographical enquiry. Instead, the coded letter hints at secrets and lies linked to a particular year.

The date can mean only one thing: the summer Martha's brilliant older sister Charlie went missing.

When more letters arrive, Martha and her team pull apart the complex clues within them, and soon, the mystery becomes ever more insistent and troubling. Because it seems Charlie had been keeping a powerful secret, and someone may be trying to lead the lexicographers towards the truth that will unravel the mystery of her disappearance. But other forces are no less desperate to keep their secrets well and truly buried, and Martha and her team must crack the codes before it's too late.

Audiobook includes an exclusive introduction by Susie Dent and Q&A between Susie and Jack Edwards from YouTube.

Love of language

I fell in love with Oxford when I visited my son on sabbatical in England. He gifted me with the book because of that history, and I love the language in the dictionary basis for the story development. It was a joy to read, and I look forward to a sequel.

Beautifully Told Mystery, incredibly engaging language, I cannot wait for the sequel!

I absolutely loved this book! Storytelling Interwoven so beautifully… the people, definitions, the wordplay, the setting of a group of word specialists in a dictionary department. Love of family, friends, betrayal, and a path to a resolution… Mysterious and challenging as in Life. Bravo Ms. Dent! I cannot wait for the sequel!

Absorbing and smart

This is quite something. The intricacy of plot as it intertwines with the linguistic component pulled me in completely. Hope she’s writing something else—and if in Oxford, more’s the better.

Great reading

If you love words, puzzles, and definitions, this is especially fun. It’s a satisfying mystery, too. Makes me want to be a lexicographer.

Lexicographer

She can’t compete head on against a good whodunnit. She adds lexicographer background: 1. Uses obsolete words to convey what could only be conveyed awkwardly by contemporary ones. She makes some words ends in themselves, rather than a medium between author & listener. Those practices have a novelty appeal, rather than a lexicographer dimension. She seeks empathy from the listener by providing disturbed characters in disturbing situations & partly succeeds; I felt only mild empathy for even the most disturbed of all, the main character, Martha.