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A Novel
by Susie Dent
She knew there'd be ghosts in Oxford, she just didn't think they'd make their way to the dictionary.
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.
"Redolent with Oxford's musty academic atmosphere and deeply respectful of the stewards who keep the English language and all its arcane idiosyncrasies alive, this debut missing-person mystery from renowned lexicographer and British media personality Dent is infused with an intellectual insouciance, delivering tempting challenges for fellow word nerds and creating a trail of tantalizing clues that will intrigue the most devoted fans of Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers." ―Booklist ( starred review)
"There are pleasures here for anyone who revels in the joy of text." ―Kirkus Reviews
"Etymologist Dent makes an impressive fiction debut with a clever whodunit that pivots on her linguistic expertise...a tantalizing puzzle for Anglophiles and Golden Age mystery lovers alike." ―Publishers Weekly
"Linguist Dent proves she is a talented wordsmith in her own right, diverting readers with historical and lexicological tidbits throughout the story...Martha and her team are whip-smart and fun, providing a light juxtaposition to the suspense elements, while the lush and vibrant descriptions of Oxford create a lovely sense of place; readers will be both informed and entertained." ―Library Journal
This information about Guilty by Definition was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Susie Dent was educated at the Marist Convent in Ascot, an independent Roman Catholic day school. She went on to Somerville College, Oxford for her B.A. in modern languages, then to Princeton University for her master's degree in German.
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