I really, really wanted to like this book, but sadly I didn't.

Martha's sister Charlie disappeared 10 years ago, she was in the throes of finishing her PhD and also worked part time at the CED.

Martha is back from Berlin and is now working at the same place, and living with her remaining parent, her father. Life is quiet until anonymous letters are sent to the office, which Martha and her colleagues try to decipher, when they do all clues point to Charlie having found an important commonplace book.

The book tried very hard but I found it to be quite pretentious with words that were randomly put in at the start of each chapter which didn't seem to fit with the story thread, and then were littered throughout the book, often going off on a tangent and the story having to be dragged back (kicking and screaming!)

The actual story is just a basic one of girl disappears and anonymous letters, not much substance, no really likeable characters, lots of long words which the person on the street wouldn't know or be able to say..

I am sure some people will appreciate the book, unfortunately I wasn't one of them.

This is a well-written and engaging tale about Martha - a lexicographer - based at a fictional dictionary in Oxford. Years before, Martha's sister, Charlie, went missing, never to be found. When cryptic messages start arriving at the offices, and with other people, it is up to Martha, her colleagues Alex, Zoe and Simon to get to the bottom of what is going on.

Dent is a skilled writer - clearly, words are significant in her life, and this is, to an extent, somewhat autobiographical in terms of Martha's life and education. At times, it is creepy, and at other times, sad. Overall, though, it is a very good depiction of what happens when the past is dug up - and the lengths people will go to in order to find out the truth.

I do hope that Susie Dent writes more fiction. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

Amost unusual story centred on an editor and her team of researchers searching for lost words and their meaning in ancient times in the evolution of the English language. They are challenged by a cryptic letter from a mystic person signed as Chorus with a reference to an unsolved murder. But nothing is what it seems, under multiple layers of hidden meanings it seems to refer to a missing person, the older sister of the editor, a cold case of a decade ago. There after follows a series of similar letters with clues hidden to be found. Who is Chorus, is Charlie alive so where is she, or if dead how did she die?

Working for a dictionary is somehow dangerous.

It’s an unusual place for a murder mystery to be set, though greed is the motive. The majority of the story is groundwork, leading up to solving a decade old mystery, a couple of twists, some relief and self forgiveness, and a new start of sorts for two characters. There’s a reasonably satisfying humiliation and decline of an entitled prig and more justice meted out on another conspirator that’s well deserved. All the action and explanation happens in the last ten percent of the book. You are made to work a bit to follow some of the text, stuffed as it is, with words most mere mortals would never employ in their day to day conversations. You don’t work out who the villains are until you’re told, or who the mysterious instigator of the revelations is, or their convoluted reasons for waiting so long. It only becomes clear at the end!

I had great hopes for this book and I was more than a little disappointed to say the least. I know Susie is a lexicographer but it’s just far too wordy. It got in the way of what was an ok storyline. And towards the denouement and just a couple of pages left to read the main ‘culprit’ hadn’t been named and I was beginning to wonder if I’d missed it. Luckily all was resolved but that seemed a bit rushed.

This is a book to be read during the autumn/winter, when you can sit in a comfy chair with a hot drink and have the time to admire all the beautifully crafted definitions, descriptions, language and the languid pacing of the story. I wish this was when I read it as I'm sure I would have appreciated all of the above a lot more. Perhaps a re-read will be in order later in the year.

A cleverly written story .
As you would expect from Susie Dent the book is peppered with lovely long words .
At times I felt the book was slow going and the words seem to take centre stage above the characters and the story .
The mystery was a solid one and worth persevering to the end .
Just a little slow for my taste but a good read nevertheless.
Thanks to NetGalley and Bonnier Books UK .

Guilty By Definition - Suzie Dent

As you might imagine, Suzie has put some obscure words into her first fiction book...but here's the good thing; she's given definitions along with them.

Undoubtedly she could have filled the book with words only someone with the IQ of a planet could've read without a trusty dictionary to hand, but she didn't.

Every chapter begins with a (random to the plot) word, its definition and origin. Within the text, some more oddities, but all helpfully described.

Overall, I'd describe this as a 'cosy' thriller. There's nothing even approaching bloodthirsty or sordid, but it is very readable. Well structured with the odd twist...it's not award winning (although who knows, with Suzie's notoriety?) but it just flows.

The Plot

No spoilers, but the sleeve notes describe a mystery note that arrives at the offices of the Clarendon English Dictionary in Oxford. The letter is obscure, almost a clue/challenge to be solved....and the first letter points to the year 2010....the year Senior Editor Martha Thornhill's sister went missing. Then follows a cat and mouse game of further letters/postcards with ever more vague puzzles to be solved, and a team of lexicographers trying to unravel the mystery...and who is the mysterious 'Chorus' penning them...

My criticisms would be there appears to be a lack of character building throughout....I never felt affiliated or sympathetic/antagonised by anyone in the book. Here it's all about the plot...but it still read well.
Also, the clues littered throughout aren't anything a reader could fathom, and the way they were solved by the characters seemed opportune, to say the least!

Many reference Shakespeare's words and works...it's not off-putting, and is a central theme here.

All in all, a good read I think and I devoured it in a couple of days.

A cleverly plotted murder mystery which revolves around Dent’s specialities – etymology and lexicography. The main characters work in Oxford at the Clarendon English Dictionary which gives Dent the freedom to indulge her passion of educating her readers on rare and interesting words and their provenance, sometimes to a distracting level of frequency. Despite this, the writing is excellent, and the overall story is great. I hope Dent continues crime writing as this is definitely promising for the future.
My thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley. This review was written voluntarily and is entirely my own unbiased opinion.

I enjoyed this mystery. Although stumped by a number of Chorus's references in their letters, I enjoyed watching how Dent's characters solved the clues. I particularly appreciated the female colleagues, and how they became a support network to Martha and each other. As an Abingdonian I also liked the Oxford setting and felt Dent captured more than just the student and tourist sides of the City.

Martha returns to Oxford to work as a lexicographer at the Clarendon English Dictionary. Following the disappearance of her sister Charlie over ten years ago, Martha left Oxford and has lived in Berlin.
An original start to each chapter with a new word heading, its meaning and its origins.
Mysterious letters begin to arrive at the CED, signed 'Chorus' with clues relating to Charlie's disappearance. Martha and her colleagues ( I especially warmed to Zoe) set on a trail to decipher the clues.
Many twists and turns, with Oxford playing an important role in the novel and the descriptions of the city all adding to the intrigue.
A great read with great characters.
I loved the way the mystery unfolds. Did I guess the outcome? Yes, eventually.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC.

I enjoy murder mysteries, I like Susie Dent and I love finding out about the origins of words and phrases, so this should have been a 5 star book for me. Unfortunately it's more of a 3.5. It's not that it's a bad book, it's just that I felt the story and characters often seemed to be less important than cryptic clues and obscure words which take you away from the flow of the novel to find out their meaning. While there's an OK murder mystery here, it sometimes feels as if the story is being suffocated by the heavy vocabulary.
Set in Oxford, this is a literary mystery surrounding the 10 year old disappearance of young woman, with a series of anonymous letters providing cryptic clues to the staff at CED, Clarendon English Dictionary. The team need to pool their various specialist skills to decode each letter and then set about solving the mystery.
I love a good mystery and whodunnit but I found the story too slow paced and the characters hard to engage with. I did however learn a lot of fascinating new words and that was enjoyable.
With thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC.

3.5/5 very enjoyable mystery book. I really enjoy Susie Dent on countdown and her personality has really come across in this book. A little wordy and slow at times but an all round good read. Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read!

Really enjoyable book. Cleverly written.

Will appeal to anyone who likes words, and a bit of mystery.

This story revolves around Martha Thornhill, senior editor for the Chambers English Dictionary, and her team. Anonymous letters are being sent to each of the team, each containing clues about the sudden disappearance 10 years ago of Martha's older sister, Charlie.
The lexicographers are aptly suited to solving word puzzles and soon become wrapped up in a mystery getting deeper and deeper as more letters are received.

I was really looking forward to giving this a read, knowing Susie Dents lexicography work mainly from TV's Countdown, where her history of words and sense of humour are clear to see.
Susie Dent love of the history of the English language is clear for all to see in this novel, managing to weave into the narrative lots of words and their origins without being distracting to the reader.

The word puzzles and clues within the letters were cleverly created and were certainly beyond my powers of deduction, although the villain of the piece was easier to deduce. I found the world of lexicography strangely compelling and seems to contain a lot of detective work, so it makes sense for Martha and her team to have the skills to piece the evidence together.

I do hope Susie Dent ventures into the world of Mystery novels again. I would love to read more.


I would like to convey my thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for supplying an ARC in return for an honest review. All opinions are my own

Really enjoyed this mystery thriller set in Oxford. It's a great premise and an intriguing plot with a few twists and turns along the way. As you would expect and hope, Susie Dent makes full use of her knowledge of lexicography, cleverly intertwining meaningful and unique words to enhance the story - and maybe provide a few further clues?! I certainly learnt a few new words along the way.

All in all, a well written but easy read that will keep you guessing until the end.

Thanks to NetGalley, Bonnier Books and Susie Dent for an ARC in exchange for an honest review of the book.

This one was everything I hoped for - and so much more!

Martha Thornhill returns to Oxford after a decade away as the senior editor of the Clarendon English Dictionary. When an anonymous letter is received in the office, it's obviously related to the disappearance of Martha's sister Charlie and includes hints and clues which need to be solved - and it's just the beginning.

What an intriguing read! With clues and puzzles to be solved, this novel pulled me in and didn't let me go until the very end. Very cleverly crafted and beautifully written, this is a good solid read with lots going on and several surprises along the way. A stunning read, definitely earning all five stars and my recommendation.

My thanks to the publisher for my copy via NetGalley; this is - as always - my honest, original and unbiased review.

A great debut novel Guilty By Definition by Susie Dent. Loved the references to words and definitions throughout the book and the nod to how words are in the dictionary and the team of people who work behind the scenes to make dictionaries exist.

A real mystery with hidden clues intertwined throughout the plot to keep you guessing and wanting to turn the page.

Loved the characters and the complexity of how they are all brought together into the book. So many pieces of a jigsaw that all fit together at the end!

A must-read for all word lovers, a true mystery and fab summer holiday read, rated 5⭐️’s

Susie Dent wrote a book and it was exactly as I expected. This one kept me entertained and kept me on my toes. It was so much fun her using some very outdated words, thank god for google, but I would expect no less from the UK's leading lady of words.

This book screams Susie Dent and I just loved that!
It is a missing woman mystery and I didn't actually know this going into the book. Our main character is Martha, who I wouldn't say is a standout but there are a lot of characters in this story. I would say this is definitely more character driven than plot driven, so more similar to books such as The Thursday Murder Club, where you have that focus on the characters and their connections. I also love workplace mysteries and how much you trust your colleagues, I really liked this academia setting of Oxford.
I think I lost a little interest in the middle of the book, it didn't keep my attention unfortunately as it just felt too long until the action kicked in for the ending. I'll hide this as a spoiler but it is very mild <spoiler>there is a lot of Shakespeare in this book, and I have very little knowledge myself so I didn't get as much enjoyment from this storyline as others would.</spoiler>
I was surprised by some of the twists and reveals, it definitely went in a direction I wasn't anticipating. I would love to see if Susie Dent decides to publish more fiction in the future as I loved the focus on language and all the random words I learned.
3.5/5 (rounded down to 3) ⭐⭐⭐

Thank you to NetGalley, Bonnier Books UK and Susie Dent for the opportunity to read this advanced reader copy.

Review posted to Goodreads, The Storygraph and Amazon.