Publication: 13th August 2026 – Zaffre Books
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.
Death Writ Large is the second book in the Clarendon Lexicographer series, but, even though I follow the author on social media and love her linguistic posts, somehow I missed that there was a first book until I was already fully immersed in the story of this second book. Anyway, even though I am confused about a few things about the protagonist’s past (I am going to read Guilty by Definition soon!) I still really enjoyed this novel: I loved the mystery, the cast of characters is interesting and well-written, the setting of Oxford is quite atmospheric (and it’s one of my favourite places in the world), and I found the world of lexicography interesting.
A man falls to his death from a church tower. Is it suicide or someone pushed him? The runes appearing all around Oxford make the police think there is more to the story than an academic lecturer killing himself and Martha, senior editor at the Clarendon English Dictionary, and her friends are there to help the police figure it out.
The plot is clever, intriguing, and well-developed. I loved how Martha and her friends use their knowledge of the language, explaining words and their origins, to decipher the runes invented by a fictional contemporary of Tolkien, how the mystery, full of secrets and enigmatic clues, blends with their private lives, which are interesting as well. I really enjoyed Death Writ Large, it is a compelling and fascinating read, and I look forward to reading more from this author!
A huge thank you to Bonnier and NetGalley for providing me with a proof of this novel!
Susie Dent is a writer and broadcaster on language. She recently celebrated thirty years as a co-presenter and resident word expert on Channel 4’s Countdown, and also appears on the show’s comedy sister 8 out of 10 Cats Does Countdown. Susie comments regularly on TV and radio on words in the news, and is the author of several non-fiction books on words and language. Her debut novel, Guilty by Definition, was an instant Sunday Times bestseller and was shortlisted for Book of the Year – Crime/Thriller at the British Book Awards 2025.
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