Will I love Guilty by Definition?

I adored everything about this book. The mystery centers around a group of people responsible for tracking the origins and usage of words. So right off the top, for a word lover, we've got these fabulous old words, with all of their nuances and origins. The characters themselves are quirky and fun. The mystery is twisty and literary, and includes secret coded messages. For a mystery loving word nerd like me, it was heaven. Read it on ebook and bought a copy for the shelf.

Beautiful setting of Oxford, England, as a woman tries to find out what happened to her missing sister years ago. Female protagonist works as a dictionary linguist and word clues begin to appear about her sister's mysterious vanishing. The book is wonderfully filled with unique words, many old but all new to me. It was delightful page by page to find new words. The resolution of the missing sister is satisfying and the characters all believable. This book was this author's 1st work of fiction and it was splendid.

Guilty by Definition rises above other celebrity mysteries by being excellent.

This story is well-plotted and well-devised, delightfully intermingled with snippets about the Clarendon Dictionary and the little foibles of the English language, and has a great storyline. It also offers a lovely conjuring of Oxford and the surrounding location—as well as some special Oxford-specific events.

Our four main characters are well-developed, and all have their secrets as they endeavour to solve the perplexing riddles and, in doing so, answer the questions surrounding Martha's sister's disappearance.

It is a complex mystery that is sure to appeal to… show more.