When the lexicographers at the Clarendon English Dictionary get an anonymous letter suggesting things about events that took place in 2010 they are baffled. For Martha Thornhill 2010 has particular significance- it was the year her sister Charlie went missing. As more letters & postcards arrive the staff become intrigued as they try to decode the message in them. Set in the scholarly world of Oxford the lexicographers have the skills & imagination to find out the answers- even if it puts them in harms way.

I absolutely loved this book! I was fascinated by the words that started each chapter- I even worked out what some of them meant! I must admit I don't watch 'Catchphrase' so I wasn't aware of Susie Dent- however I loved her writing. It was a good story with beautiful language that kept me guessing. Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this book. It's one of my favourite books I've read so far this year.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this.

I’ll be upfront and confess I’d pretty much guessed whodunnit early in the story, however this didn’t spoil my enjoyment at all. The mystery was interesting, the sense of place rich and detailed, and the characters engaging and sympathetic.

I thoroughly recommend this book to anyone looking for an interesting mystery that will keep you engaged from first page to last.

*** Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher ***

Oh! I so wanted to love this book. Susie Dent is so clever and I adore her podcast with Giles Brandreth.
Unfortunately, for me, this was an OK read. I think the premise is an excellent one. However, the complexity of the words interfered (for me) with the storyline and I struggled to finish it.

It’s well written and I wish it every success, but, for me it was too much like hard work.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bonnie’s Books for the opportunity to preview.

I was really looking forward to this book but it was a slow start for me. It felt like the author was almost trying too hard and I was glad of the dictionary in my kindle! I'm glad I persevered though as the story did pick up and ultimately, it was one that I enjoyed.

I was absolutely engrossed.

I actually listened to the audiobook and it was such a brilliant narration.

Gripping and intriguing.

5*

This was a really clever and entertaining crime novel by Susie Dent. I really really enjoyed it , including the author's powers of description of place. The plot was gripping and how wonderful would it be if the discovery at the heart of the mystery and murder could be true. There is something very authentic about the possibility .If I had a criticism , it would be that at times the characterisation was a little perfunctory, but in all a great read. Thank you to the publishers. author and Netgalley for the opportunity to access an arc.

I had high hopes for this as I regularly watch Countdown and enjoy Susie's contributions as well as her section where she gives meaning and history to various words.

However this book stated slowly and I nearly gave up on it as there was a bit too much use of unusual words which seemed to want to demonstrate the author's cleverness rather than focus on h=just telling the story.

The relationships of the team could have been developed more than they were and the twist could be seen coming from a long way back so it wasn't much of a revelation.

Well written yes but well paced not so much and I wouldn't be particularly recommending this as a must read.

This could have been really good but it ended up being just fine.

This is a slower paced mystery littered with lexical intrigue, it all had so much promise but I think I enjoyed the idea of this book far more than the execution.

Knowing the author’s profession, it came as no surprise that our FMC worked at a dictionary and that unusual words were going to be littered throughout. I initially welcomed these interjections and I was looking forward to them being incorporated into the tale, but unfortunately I think they often missed the mark. There were far too many occasions where the word choice didn’t bring anything interesting to the story, detracted from the events, negatively impacted the pacing or quite simply just felt superfluous. It really felt excessive and honestly hindered by enjoyment as they felt redundant and overdone.

The mystery itself wasn’t particularly surprising or anything all that new - if you’ve read a fair few mysteries it wouldn’t shock me if you were able to plot the eventual reveal from early on in the book.

The pacing was slow. While it does slowly pick up as we head towards the later end of the book it’s still a bit of a drag and all too easy to put down.

The characters themselves felt like they had a lot of potential here. There could have been some wonderfully nuances relationships developing but as soon as we got close to adding some layers to the book we were cut off with an unnecessary definition, excessive whimsical description or oxford, or our FMC being plain boring.

Overall, it’s all just a bit overdone and ends up feeling a bit flat.

I don’t know why I always read these celebrity books with high hopes (I always think ‘this one will be different’), but when I saw Susie Dent had put one out I genuinely thought we were going to get a delightful mash up of mysteries with a love of words. In reality this read like a celebrity book. I am sure it will sell many copies but it’s not one I will be able to recall anything from in a few months aside from a bland mystery bogged down in excessive vocabulary flaunting.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an E-ARC

I'm afraid I think I'm in the minority of not being a fan of this one - I found the need to constantly shoehorn in the clever language and then explain it consistently affected the flow of the book for me and I found it difficult going.

I also felt the outcome was telegraphed from pretty early on.

A shame as I'm normally a fan of Susie Dent's work but this was a miss for me.

"Martha knew that it wasn't just the scent of those days that had evaporated. Her family home was fading. The gilt mirror whose gaze her mother had one shared with her children was now speckled with age. Martha looked into its apologetic frame and was surprised by the depth of her frown. Aspectabund, she thought: wearing your emotions on your face. Quite."

Although Dent has written lots of nonfiction, this is her first foray into fiction - and crime writing, at that. Not my favourite genre and so I'm sure I missed a lot, but I thought it was really good and well done. I sort of had an idea who was implicated as clues were planted, but there were red herrings and I didn't catch the finer detail in advance.

Martha has returned to Oxford for a job on the "Clarendon English Dictionary", living with her father, both mourning the sister who disappeared ten years ago and the mother who died more recently, Charlie's fate still unknown, and living quite a restricted life. Soon, the dictionary team start receiving peculiar letters in Shakesperean language, and she realises it has something to do with Charlie. Untangling of clues and peril await though there's nothing at all grim described. There are two cats and both continue well to the end and onwards.

There's loads of lovely detail about working on a dictionary, and the team is nicely diverse, too, with Zoe's heritage introduced through mention of a host of Nigerian aunties and her interests spanning English folklore and Peckham's dialects and Alex a slightly older woman with children who have left home. There is a lot of dictionary stuff and if you enjoyed the quotation at the top you're likely to enjoy the book: a few NetGalley readers found it a bit "wordy" but I think that's what you'd expect from this author and enjoyed it tremendously.

Reviewed on my blog 12 Sept 2024: https://librofulltime.wordpress.com/2024/09/12/two-final-august-netgalley-reads-by-susie-dent-and-sally-page/

Susie Dent is known for her love of words, their origin and the way in which their meanings have changed and now she has turned to crime in this excellent debut novel. The novel plays to her strengths with the main character being Martha who works on the updating of the Clarendon English Dictionary. Martha’s sister Charlie had gone missing many years earlier. A cryptic letter arrives at her office hinting at what might have happened to Charlie. Martha and her fellow colleagues start to investigate in the hope of uncovering the truth about her sister’s disappearance. An extremely enjoyable, entertaining novel that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Mysterious letters arriving at the office of Clarendon English dictionary - super clever add I. That they’re clues to a murder in the past - I was hooked !! Loved it a good join the dots together crime thriller

When I saw Susie Dent's name, I was definitely intrigued to pick this up. She's used her wordplay skills to their fullest here. The most interesting part of it is our core group receiving letters with wordy clues around the central crime. It's quite cleverly done. Otherwise it's a fairly run of the mill mysetery. I didn't find myself that invested in the characters but it was an easy read. Definitely think it will hit a similar demographic to the Thursday Murder Club,

I didn't like this book to start with as I thought it was trying to be too clever with words which felt like that interfered with the story, but it grew on me!

An anonymous letter arrives and a team of lexicographers within a dictionary office begin to decipher the clues which are connected to the disappearance of Martha's sister Charli 10 years ago

The author clearly loves language and it also felt like a love letter to words and their meanings

I loved Guilty by Definition by Susie Dent… far more than I thought I was going to! There was actually a fantastic mystery in amongst all the words and it somehow worked its magic making me feel cleverer rather than stupid! I love the wordiness of it; the history of words was fascinating and enhanced rather than detracted from the story.
It was well paced with relatable and realistic characters and an excellent plot cleverly executed. I’m hoping this could be the start of a series…
I would like thank Bonner Books UK and NetGalley for the digital ARC.

‘Guilty by Definition’ is the debut novel by television celebrity Susie Dent. Given the authors background I had no fears that this would be well written and so it proved. What was a little surprising was how good the plotting and characters actually were.

Guilty by Definition is a mystery where the world of lexicography come together with personal secrets and intrigue. An anonymous letter arrives at the offices of the Clarendon English Dictionary containing a challenge for the team of lexicographers working there. It’s not the usual enquiry but hints at secrets, lies and a year. 2010. For the new senior editor Martha Thornhill, that year is when her brilliant, beautiful older sister Charlie went missing.

Martha Thornhill, is an engrossing character who has returned after spending ten years abroad. She is heavily burdened with the emotional baggage resulting from her sisters disappearance. A series of anonymous letters arrive at the offices which builds up the tension and intrigue as little by little revelations are unravelled.

The mystery deepens, so do the stakes, with Martha’s personal connection there is an urgency as well as the emotional weight of her missing sister. Martha struggles to unravel the mystery as well coming to terms with her own past. The novel is well paced, impeccably written building the tension up to clever conclusion. Ideal for readers who enjoy puzzles. Excellent debut novel and look forward to more of the same.

I would like to thank both Netgalley and Bonnier Books UK for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

I was sent an uncorrected manuscript proof of Guilty by Definition by Susie Dent to read and review by NetGalley. I love words and I love crosswords and mysteries, and this novel has it all! I found the characters to be very engaging and the descriptions of Oxford really conjured up the different areas in my mind. The plot is nice and intriguing and I loved the use of unusual and archaic words and ‘proper’ English language that was also very accessible. You don’t have to be a language snob like me (I was brought up when the approach to English was quite different to today) to enjoy this book, it is ultimately a cracking good yarn!

A Word Lover's Delight: A Review of "Guilty by Definition"
Susie Dent's debut novel, "Guilty by Definition," is a captivating blend of mystery and linguistics that will delight word lovers and fans of a well-crafted tale.
Dent, a renowned lexicographer, weaves a compelling story around a group of characters connected by a haunting disappearance. The novel's central mystery, a cold case involving a missing woman, unfolds through a series of cryptic clues delivered in the form of anagrams and word puzzles. This unique approach not only keeps the reader guessing but also showcases Dent's deep knowledge of language and her ability to use it as a powerful storytelling tool.
The characters in "Guilty by Definition" are richly drawn and believable. Martha, the protagonist, is a complex figure struggling with grief and guilt. Her colleagues at the Clarendon English Dictionary are equally intriguing, each with their own secrets and motivations. Dent's vivid descriptions of Oxford, the setting for the novel, add a layer of authenticity and atmosphere.
What sets "Guilty by Definition" apart is Dent's seamless integration of language into the narrative. The novel is a love letter to words, with references to obscure terms and fascinating linguistic tidbits sprinkled throughout. This makes it not only a thrilling mystery but also an enlightening exploration of the English language.
If you're a fan of mysteries, linguistics, or simply a well-written story, "Guilty by Definition" is a must-read. Dent's debut novel is a promising start to what is sure to be a successful literary career.

A brilliant debut! It's not surprise that Susie Dent has a way with words, but also expertly developed characters and a great plot. A great literary fiction murder mystery combo! Cryptic and clever, a treat to read.

I was really looking forward to reading this book as I have enjoyed Susie Dent's non-fiction and so expected a lot from her fiction. Whilst I suspect that my review is the opposite of all others, this was not a book for me. It dragged along and, after 20%, I had to give up.