If everyone has a book hidden somewhere in them, it seems, these days, it's probably going to be a crime fiction book. It seems inevitable now that "celebrities" will show up at, touting their wares - some with considerably more success than others.
Susie Dent, famous for her appearances on Countdown, and in this household, Cats Does Countdown, is a lexicographer and wordsmith. Her non-fiction books on words, and language, are particular favourites around here, so GUILTY BY DEFINITION jumped more than a few 100 places in the queue when it became available at my local library. In audio, which was fortunate as I had a few things on which lent themselves to a book in the background.
I don't think anyone will be surprised to find a book set in the offices of the Clarendon English Dictionary to be about word games. I'd also be very startled if anyone was expecting a fast paced, high thrills style of novel. It's not the setting, or the subject matter for that, no matter how much lexicographers might like to think their work is deep in intrigue, and mystery, searching as they do for the origins, first uses, and changes inuse of words over many years.
GUILTY BY DEFINITION has an interesting plot idea at it's heart. Senior Editor Martha Thornhill has returned home, to her now widowed father, and the family home, and work at the aforementioned Dictionary. She's been away for 10 years or so, leaving after her brilliant, vivacious older sister Charlie went missing. Martha's very different from Charlie, and having never recovered from the loss of her sister, startled to find somebody has been sending mysterious and very cryptic letters to the dictionary's editors - hinting at secrets, lies and the year 2010 - the year Charlie disappeared.
As more letters arrive, Martha and her colleagues start deciphering the cryptic messages, finding connections between Charlie's disappearance and a most unexpected, and drawn out past. Their investigation revolves around an understanding (unsurprisingly) of words, an ability to sleuth out messages from the past (again not surprisingly), to piece together a puzzle that nobody even knew was there.
As mentioned, GUILTY BY DEFINITION is not a thriller. It's not fast paced, it's not action packed, and it relies, in part on the cleverness of the word play, in part to the relationship between the main characters. It may take a little while to get into the flow of the story as well, it seemed to meander quite a bit at the beginning, and was very easy to lose track of in it's gentle, discursive and meandering manner. It also does, sometimes, get a bit wordy, so if you are, like me, listening to the audio, you might find yourself hitting pause and the dictionary all at the same time.
Entertaining definitely, stellar, maybe not one that's going to stay with me for years to come, I suspect this one is going to appeal to her pre-existing fan base in particular.
Guilty by Definition
An anonymous letter arrives at the offices of the Clarendon English Dictionary containing a challenge for the team of lexicographers working there. It's clear that's it's not the usual run-of-the-mill, eccentric enquiry. The letter hints at secrets, lies and a year. 2010. For Martha Thornhill, the new senior editor, that year can mean only one the summer her brilliant, beautiful older sister Charlie went missing.
After a decade living abroad, Martha has returned to her father, her family home and the city whose institutions have defined her family, but the ghosts she thought at rest were only waiting for her to return.
More letters arrive, pointing towards a secret in the heart of the dictionary itself. As Martha and her colleagues start pulling apart the clues, the questions become more insistent and troubling. Charlie's disappearance is one of a series of secret absences going back centuries, and someone wants to keep those secrets buried.
Add comment