Susie Dent – författare

Ett anonymt brev levereras till redaktionen för ett prestigefullt lexikon i Oxford och det står snart klart att det inte rör sig om en vanlig fråga om ord. Brevet antyder att ett visst datum är kopplat till ödesdigra händelser. Är det även ett förtäckt hot mot någon av de som arbetar där? För nyblivna ansvariga redaktören Martha Thornhill kan datumet i brevet bara syfta på en sak: sommaren då hennes begåvade äldre syster Charlie försvann. Tio år senare är Martha och hennes familj inte närmare att lösa mysteriet kring Charlies försvinnande – förrän nu. Allteftersom fler brev anländer följer Martha och hennes team de lingvistiska ledtrådarna till en oroande sanning. Det verkar som om Charlie bar på en mäktig hemlighet, och någon vill se till att den fortsätter vara begravd.

Per definition skyldig är en hyllning till språk och Oxford och ett spännande mysterium om en försvunnen kvinna.

SUSIE DENT är författare och programledare med språk som specialitet. Susie kommenterar regelbundet ord i brittisk tv och radio, och har skrivit fackböcker om ord och språk. Per definition skyldig är hennes första deckare och blev en omedelbar bästsäljare.

"A TANTALISING MYSTERY FOR WORD SLEUTHS AND CRIME FANS ALIKE" -Janice Hallett, bestselling author of The Appeal

"A NATIONAL TREASURE" - Richard Osman

She knew there'd be ghosts in Oxford, she just didn't think they'd make their way to the dictionary.

Oxford, England. After a decade abroad, Martha Thornhill has returned home to the city whose ancient institutions have long defined her family. But the ghosts she had thought to be at rest seem to have been waiting for her to return. When an anonymous letter is delivered to the Clarendon English Dictionary, where Martha is a newly hired senior editor, it's rapidly clear that this is not the usual lexicographical enquiry. Instead, the coded letter hints at secrets and lies linked to a particular year.

The date can mean only one thing: the summer Martha's brilliant older sister Charlie went missing.

When more letters arrive, Martha and her team pull apart the complex clues within them, and soon, the mystery becomes ever more insistent and troubling. Because it seems Charlie had been keeping a powerful secret, and someone may be trying to lead the lexicographers towards the truth that will unravel the mystery of her disappearance. But other forces are no less desperate to keep their secrets well and truly buried, and Martha and her team must crack the codes before it's too late.

From resident lexicographer Susie Dent comes a linguistic mystery that will both delight and shock readers.

Brought to you by Penguin.Susie Dent, bestselling author, broadcaster and word expert, is on a mission to find light in the deepest, darkest corners of our language.It takes just a short browse through the dictionary to spot how it is filled with negative words. But Susie has searched far and wide to unearth happy and uplifting words and phrases that, in some cases, have been long-forgotten and, in other cases, have only just been discovered.Paired with beautiful illustrations, this is the perfect book to lift you out of your mubble fubbles (a slightly sad mood), make you grin like a gigglemug (someone who never stops smiling), and have you chortling (laughing) away in no time.This joyous collection of 100 positive words will show readers young and old just how wonderful language can be - and how you can use your words to make the world a happier place.©2023 Susie Dent (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Brought to you by Penguin.Susie Dent, bestselling author, broadcaster and word expert, is on a mission to find 100 words and phrases that bring people together.There are times when the world feels more divided than ever. But it is important to remember the things that unite rather than divide us. Susie has searched far and wide to unearth words and phrases - old, new, and long-forgotten - that celebrate harmony, unity, and the universal languages that connect people across the world.Whether you want to conjobble (chat with a friend over some food), to be goodwilly (kind, generous, and cheerful), to atone for a mistake (become ''at'' ''one'' with someone again) or simply head off on a coddiwomple (a journey with no destination), this joyous collection of words celebrates the things in life that bind us together, from friendship, love and peace, to community, music and even the stars. These are the roots we share.© Susie Dent 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025

Join Susie Dent, lexicographer extraordinaire and Queen of Countdown''s Dictionary Corner, on a curious and exceedingly interesting adventure through all the very best RED HERRINGS, COCK AND BULL STORIES and NINE-DAY WONDERS in the English language.Who was SWEET FANNY ADAMS?What''s the dramatic true story behind STEALING THUNDER?Why is it CHANCING YOUR ARM when you take a risk?What do bears have to do with LICKING INTO SHAPE?Or robbers with PULLING SOMEONE''S LEG?Why are CIRCLES VICIOUS?And, what''s so bad about a WHITE ELEPHANT? ''Nobody on earth knows more about the English language than Susie Dent'' Gyles Brandreth

Did you know that . . . a soldier''s biggest social blunder is called jack brew - making yourself a cuppa without making one for anyone else? That twitchers have an expression for a bird that can''t be identified - LBJ (the letters stand for Little Brown Job)? Or that builders call plastering the ceiling doing Lionel Richie''s dancefloor? Susie Dent does.Ever wondered why football managers all speak the same way, what a cabbie calls the Houses of Parliament, or how ticket inspectors discreetly request back-up? We are surrounded by hundreds of tribes, each speaking their own distinct slanguage of colourful words, jokes and phrases, honed through years of conversations on the battlefield, in A&E, backstage, or at ten-thousand feet in the air. Susie Dent has spent years interviewing hundreds of professionals, hobbyists and enthusiasts, and the result is an idiosyncratic phrasebook like no other. From the Freemason''s handshake to the publican''s banter, Dent''s Modern Tribes takes us on a whirlwind tour of Britain, decoding its secret languages and, in the process, finds out what really makes us all tick.

''Susie Dent is a one-off. She breathes life and fun into words and language'' Pam Ayres

''Susie Dent is a national treasure'' Richard Osman

Welcome to a year of wonder with Susie Dent, lexicographer, logophile, and longtime queen of Countdown''s Dictionary Corner.

From the real Jack the Lad to the theatrically literal story behind stealing someone''s thunder, from tartle (forgetting someone''s name at the very moment you need it) to snaccident (the unintentional eating of an entire packet of biscuits), WORD PERFECT is a brilliant linguistic almanac full of unforgettable stories, fascinating facts, and surprising etymologies tied to every day of the year. You''ll never be lost for words again.

''MAGIC'' JO BRAND''HAPPIFYING'' STEPHEN FRY''SUSIE DENT IS A NATIONAL TREASURE'' RICHARD OSMAN

Whether it''s the distress of a bad haircut (AGE-OTORI) or longing for the food someone else is eating (GROAKING), the pleasure found in other people''s happiness (CONFELICITY) or the shock of jumping into icy water (CURGLAFF), there are real words to pinpoint exactly how you feel and Susie Dent, Queen of Countdown''s Dictionary Corner and lexicographer extraordinaire, is going to help you find them. Here are 1001 terms everyone needs, whether it''s the best kind of hug (CWTCH), the relief found in swearing (LALOCHEZIA), or the ability to endure till the end (PERTOLERANCE). It''s time to rediscover the lost positives of language (and be more GORM); find out how a stork gave us the word for the love between parent and child, and who the first MAVERICK was. Packed with unexpected stories and unforgettable words, on a mission to describe the indescribable, this life-enhancing book will deepen your vocabulary as much as it extends it.

Welcome to the first truly human dictionary, as idiosyncratic and unusual as you are.