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Death Writ Large

The unmissable new linguistic mystery in the Sunday Times bestselling series from Britain's...

Susie Dent

$34.99

Paperback

Forthcoming
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English
BONNIER
18 August 2026
A brand-new linguistic mystery from Countdown's resident lexicographer, Susie Dent, set in the city of Oxford
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When mysterious symbols appear as graffiti around Oxford, lexicographer Martha Thornhill recognises them from a runic alphabet created by a deceased fantasy 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, Martha 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.

Guilty by Definition (book 1) was a Sunday Times bestseller August 2024
By:  
Imprint:   BONNIER
Country of Publication:   United Kingdom
Dimensions:   Height: 234mm,  Width: 153mm, 
ISBN:   9781804187258
ISBN 10:   1804187259
Series:   Linguistic Mystery
Pages:   416
Publication Date:  
Audience:   General/trade ,  ELT Advanced
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Forthcoming

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.

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