Binding: Paperback
Date Published: 13 Aug 2026
A brand-new linguistic mystery from Countdown's resident lexicographer, Susie Dent, set in the city of Oxford
**AVAILABLE TO PRE-ORDER NOW**
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