August 14, 2025

Guilty by Definition, by Susie Dent

Lexicographer, etymologist and TV personality Susie Dent is a pretty big deal in her native UK, that renown finding its way across the pond to the point where I was stopped by a stranger on the subway this week while I was reading her fiction debut, Guilty By Definition, who asked if she was same Susie Dent from 8 Out of 10 Cats, a question I was unable to answer at the time (turns out it’s a comedy panel show, and yes, she is!), but I told him the book was fascinating. It’s a murder mystery set in Oxford that begins with a mysterious letter delivered to the offices of the famous (and fictional) Clarendon English Dictionary, a letter rife with Shakespeare references that alludes to the unsolved disappearance of the newly appointed editor’s sister, who’d also worked for the dictionary, years before, the sleuthing intermingled with rare book lore, etymological wonders, and each chapter is named for a rare and perfect word like Chapter 27’s “engouement, noun, (nineteenth century): an irrational fondness.”

I will admit that the puzzles became too puzzling for me, who couldn’t solve a cryptic crossword to save my life or even know where to begin with one, and the characters in the novel lacked much emotional depth, but if the idea of a murder mystery all about words and their meanings, and dictionaries and the people who make them intrigues you at all, then you’ll find this book a rich delight.