Susie Dent for Death Writ Large

The excellent wordsmith & Lexicographer Susie Dent joins us in October for her new novel in the Clarendon Lexicographer mysteries, Death Writ Large.

When mysterious symbols appear as graffiti around Oxford, lexicographer Martha Thornhill recognises them from an alphabet created by a deceased 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.

'A tantalising mystery' - Janice Hallett

'Genuinely page-turning' - Laline Paul

Susie Dent's first novel Guilty By Definition was a Sunday Times bestseller, and was shortlisted for Book of the Year - Crime/Thriller at the British Book Awards 2025.