Guilty by Definition

THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERSHORTLISTED FOR THE BRITISH BOOK AWARD 2025: BOOK OF THE YEAR - CRIME & THRILLER'ONE OF THE FINEST MYSTERIES I HAVE EVER READ'Rob Rinder, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Trial'A TANTALISING MYSTERY FOR WORD SLEUTHS AND CRIME FANS ALIKE'Janice Hallett, Sunday Times bestselling author of The AppealA 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.Guilty by Definition was a Sunday Times bestseller August 2024

Product details

• Authors: Susie Dent, Dent Susie
• Publisher: Zaffre Bonnier
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback
• Released: 10.04.2025
• EAN: 9781804183977
• ISBN: 978-1-80418-397-7
• No. of pages: 387
• Dimensions: 128 mm x 197 mm x 25 mm
• Subjects: Fiction > Suspense > Crime fiction, thrillers, espionage; Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > General and comparative linguistics; Oxford, FICTION / Mystery & Detective / Amateur Sleuth, Crime & mystery, LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Lexicography, Lexicography, Crime and mystery: private investigator / amateur detectives