Death Writ Large: The unmissable new Sunday Times bestselling Oxford-based linguistic murder mystery from leading lexicographer and star of Countdown, Susie Dent

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 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

• Publication date: 13 August 2026
• Page count: 416
• Dimensions: Height 164 mm; Width 242 mm; Thickness 38 mm
• Publisher: Bonnier Books Ltd
• Format: Hardback
• ISBN-13: 9781804187241