Guilty by Definition

By Susie Dent

What it’s about?

When an anonymous letter is delivered to the Clarendon English Dictionary, it is rapidly clear that this is not the usual lexicographical enquiry. Instead, the letter hints at secrets and lies linked to a particular year.

For Martha Thornhill, the new senior editor, the date can mean only one thing: the summer her brilliant older sister Charlie went missing. After a decade abroad, Martha has returned home to the city whose ancient institutions have long defined her family. Have the ghosts she left behind her been waiting for her return?


When more letters arrive, and Martha and her team pull apart the complex clues within them, the mystery becomes ever more insistent and troubling. It seems Charlie had been keeping a powerful secret, and someone is trying to lead the lexicographers towards the truth. But other forces are no less desperate to keep it well and truly buried.

What I think:

Susie Dent is the Queen of dictionary corner and a whizz with words and who better to write a murder mystery based around dictionaries and words.

This is a cosy but complex mystery.

Martha is a editor at the world renown Clarendon English Dictionary based in Oxford. Her team of lexicographers receive a mysterious anonymous letter which leads them into an investigation into the disappearance of Martha’s sister, Charlie.

The clues are complex and cryptic and the perfect use of their skills. To unravel the mystery of Charlie’s disappearance they need to figure out what she was working on that made her so excited.

This is a complex and multi-layered mystery with lots of red-herrings that kept me guessing all the way through.

Each chapter begins with a arcane and interesting word that is relevant to the chapter.

This is a smart and clever mystery that I found a great read.

Thank you to Bonnier Books and NetGalley for my gifted advanced copy of Guilty by Definition.