I feel like I’ve ‘known’ Susie Dent forever – she’s been in Dictionary Corner on Countdown since 1992 – which is a very long time. I heard her interviewed on a podcast recently and really enjoyed hearing about her being herself, not just the lexicographer and etymologist that she is famed for being on TV. When I heard that her first novel was being released, I was delighted to be granted an advance review copy. Here’s the blurb:

“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.
She’d known there would be ghosts in Oxford. Martha wasn’t afraid of any headless horsemen, or nuns haunting the local ruins; it was Charlie, always Charlie she was afraid would find her.
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.”

The book is set at the ‘Clarendon English Dictionary’ offices in Oxford. I know Susie has worked for Oxford University Press in the past – so I’m guessing she’s drawing on personal experience for a lot of the setting (maybe novel 2 will be set in the world of TV?!)

Martha has returned from working in Berlin to a role at the CED – where her older sister, Charlie, had been employed before she disappeared many years before. Martha and her colleagues, and other people connected to Charlie, start to receive cryptic letters and postcards which they try to decipher.

I have to say some of this deciphering went over my head a bit – as my Shakespeare knowledge is not extensive – but that didn’t detract from enjoying the book. And whilst I haven’t read any more Shakespeare than my GCSE syllabus required, I did grow up close to Stratford Upon Avon – so am familiar with him and his family. In fact I grew up thinking the expression ‘It’s black over Bill’s Mother’s’ – when a storm was incoming – was due to the fact the clouds were gathering from a Southerly direction where Mary Shakespeare (nee Arden)’s house was. However, having attempted to fact check that (I’ve been ‘influenced’ by the book) it would appear this is one explanation – but actually people all over the UK use the same odd phrase and it may well refer to Kaiser Wilhelm II from Germany instead.

The start of each chapter features an unusual word which is then explained (some I knew, some I didn’t – but do now) and as you would expect, the language throughout the book is just wonderful. I felt like I was being educated whilst enjoying a fantastic book at the same time! This did mean that at the start the storyline felt quite slow – as lots of page space was taken up explaining the meaning of words – but I enjoyed that. I’m not sure if I just got used to that – or if the pace did pick up – as the ‘mystery’ element of the book seemed to gather momentum throughout.

The relationships between Martha and her colleagues are explored – and Martha and her parents and particularly how that changed after Charlie disappeared. The fact that someone who disappears / dies is remembered through rose coloured spectacles is also looked at, along with ‘recollections may vary’ between different parties of the same experience and ‘survivor’ guilt. That makes it sound really heavy – but it’s not at all – it’s a great read.

I thoroughly enjoyed the whole book – from an educational standpoint – but also as a well written mystery novel. A huge thank you to the publishers for my ARC. It actually was released 2 days ago – so if it’s taken your fancy, you can order it right now.

My only ‘slight’ quibble, is that a certain pop group from the 1990s were never mentioned…………….