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Death Writ Large

The unmissable new Sunday Times bestselling Oxford-based linguistic murder mystery from leading lexicographer and star of Countdown, Susie Dent

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Death Writ Large

By: Susie Dent
Narrated by: Louise Brealey
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Summary
 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 as 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. Amateur Sleuths Crime Fiction Mystery Women Sleuths
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Loved the chapter openings with new (to me) old words and with definitions. Another triumph.

Great plotting, wonderful use of language.

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I enjoyed 95% of the writing -The frequent meanderings into the history of words seemed misplaced half of the time - more padding than plot.The narration was excellent - again most of the time, occasionally the arch and “clever clever” tone grated. And there were too many editing flaws in the production.The plot and characters and setting were all excellent

Clever and kept us guessing

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Another nice story, dramatic twists and turns and enjoyable main characters. I like the literary side notes and the general warm feel of the world Susie has created. I lost track a little of some of the minor characters who lacked a little definition here and there but not enough to spoil the story. Well read as always by Louise Brearley.

A great sequel

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Loved this book and the previous one. Theres lots of delightful information about the origin of words and idioms but not at all intrusive. The story has enough intrigue and character development and the narrator has really grown on me. She pronounces all her consonants which suits the character of Martha in particular. Also she does accents well enough that they do not jar like some actors. The plot is Oxford based again and I enjoyed the camaraderie of the word team. It’s not quite a cosy crime and I feel it’s what the tv series Ludwig hoped to have been (though I enjoyed the first series.)

Death writ large

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An entertaining mystery and enjoyed learning new words and derivations. Found narration too quick, needed time to digest such words so dropped speed to 95pc. Plot good but perhaps a little more linkage to ultimately 'whodunnit' would have improved satisfaction.

Enjoyable tale

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