Guilty by Definition

The Clarendon Lexicographers, Book 1

By: Susie Dent

Narrated by: Louise Brealey, Jack Edwards, Susie Dent

This audiobook features an exclusive introduction from Susie Dent, and an exclusive Q&A between Susie and Youtube's Jack Edwards.

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.©2024 Susie Dent (P)2024 Bonnier Books UK

Words matter, but old words are to die for.

There were times where I felt that I was inhabiting one of Susie’s diaries.
Recognising favourite words such as aprisity and respair and now, having used them here, I am complicit to an uptick in some dictionary database.
If the reader is looking for an insight, a behind the curtain peek, of the goings on of the OED (CED in the book) they will not be disappointed.
Susie brilliantly congers up an Oxford that is all smoke and mirrors. On the surface all calm polite mon ami, whilst just below a seething cauldron of resentment and long held animosity. In short, the characters are as real as the pesky neighbour next door.
The plot leads the reader into the inner sanctum of scholarly endeavours with losing them to mind numbing minutia.
The labyrinthian and linguistic hurdles presented to the reader are eased by the gentle narrative of the writer.
All that to say, a good read (listen) and one I would throughly recommend.

Love of words shines through

Thoroughly enjoyed this - the protagonist was intelligent, understated and pulled the reader in from the start. I loved the way the plot built and I somehow felt smarter by the end of the book as the author would noodle seamlessly on the backstory of certain words as part of the story.