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