Death Writ Large

Death Writ Large Synopsis

The Sunday Times bestselling linguistic mystery from Countdown's resident lexicographer Susie Dent, author of Guilty by Definition.

'A must-read' Woman's Own
'Every bit as gripping as her debut' Daily Mail

A mysterious letter. A silenced scholar. A city paved with injustice.

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, she 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 clever, twisty mystery' Good Housekeeping
'Brilliant, gripping, unputdownable' Kate Williams
'A compelling murder mystery punctuated by delicious etymological puzzles' Tom Read-Wilson

Death Writ Large was a Sunday Times bestseller August 2026