Guilty By Definition

THE BESTSELLING RICHARD AND JUDY BOOK CLUB PICK A TAKE A BREAK BOOK CLUB SELECTION A GOOD HOUSEKEEPING GOOD BOOKS READER FAVOURITE A coded letter. A missing woman. A truth waiting to be found. When an anonymous letter is delivered to the Clarendon English Dictionary office, it becomes rapidly clear that this is not the usual word-related enquiry. Instead, the letter hints at sinister events linked to a particular year. For editor Martha Thornhill, the date can mean only one thing: the summer her brilliant older sister Charlie went missing. Ten years on, Martha and her family are no closer to unravelling the mystery of Charlie's disappearance - until now. As more letters arrive, Martha and her team follow the linguistic clues to a troubling truth. It seems Charlie was keeping a powerful secret, and that someone is desperate to keep it well and truly buried. Guilty by Definition is a love letter not only to language but to the city of Oxford, wrapped within an intriguing mystery of a missing woman and considering the emotional aftershocks of her disappearance on those left behind. SHORTLISTED FOR THE BRITISH BOOK AWARD 2025: BOOK OF THE YEAR - CRIME & THRILLER Author Biography: Susie Dent is a writer and broadcaster on language. She recently celebrated thirty years as a co-presenter and the resident word expert on Channel 4's Countdown, and also appears on the show's comedy sister 8 out of 10 Cats Does Countdown. Susie comments regularly on TV and radio on words in the news, and is the author of several non-fiction books on words and language. Guilty by Definition is her first novel.