Guilty By Definition by Susie Dent 

Yes, THAT Susie Dent.  The personification of an academic crush and author of several great books on the meaning of words. Sadly, this is hung too heavily on that framework and doesn’t have enough verve or warmth to fit onto the increasingly overloaded bookshelves of cosy crime.  

Martha is a lexicographer working in Oxford.  She begins to receive postcards, referencing literature and words about her sister Charlotte, who disappeared over a decade ago.  That, in itself is a pretty familiar concept.  Plus, most books feature a protagonist who is based on its author - Martha, with her work for ‘Clarendon English Dictionary’ and appearances on TV is no exception.  

The real problem with this novel is the use of definition, in its literal sense.  Barely a page goes by without the meaning of an obscure word, even the chapter titles themselves.  It’s an amiable enough read, and Martha and her Scooby Gang of word lovers will probably return. But it’s not dynamic enough as a crime novel, nor is it learned enough to be an almanac.  

It’s a ‘copacetic’ read, but not a ‘meritorious’ one.  It’s published by Bonnier Books on 15th August and I thank them for a preview copy.  #guiltybydefinition

 Good Chaps by Simon Kuper:

Good Chaps is the literary equivalent of what cinema calls a ‘wet print’.  It’s about corruption in public life and is we head towards next Thursday, with a possible sea change in British politics in the air - it becomes a very timely, relevant read.  

Kuper’s main theory that there always has, at some level been corruption in public life.  He mentions old classics like Profumo, Marples and Poulson.  Even ones we’ve forgotten about, such as Blair taking money from Bernie Ecclestone in exchange for stubbing out a comprehensive ban on tobacco advertising in sport.  

But maybe we should credit Thatcher for having some form of principles, asking cabinet ministers to buy their own sandwiches for meetings.  From Major on, corruption seeps in British life as much as sewage seeps into rivers.  

He’s good on the current list of billionaires from different parts of the world who fund the Tory Party; where you can bid a hundred grand on breakfast with Johnson.  But equally, the interconnectedness of British politics, where Paul Marshall can fund GB News AND be a major donor to The Church Of England.  

It’s a short read, lurid and shocking but well argued and even offers solutions.  You should read it as a solution to a very English disease, where things can only get better.  It’s published by Profile Books on  and I thank them and Rachel Quin for a preview copy.  #goodchaps. 

Minchin is known as the former co-presenter of BBC Breakfast.  It’s a debut novel that makes the same mistakes as all debut novels, but is too chaotically structured to be a truly entertaining read.  

The title is a fictional reality show, Celebs have to perform tasks, with their heart’s desire as the prize.  Lauren is a TV documentary maker.  She’s joined by a soap star, twin bloggers, an ex pop star, two athletes, a Hollywood icon and an action movie star.  But Lauren is there with her own agenda.  

I know that sounds oblique, but to say more would spoil potential enjoyment of the novel.  The key incident in it takes place about halfway through and from then it accelerates to the end at confusing speed.  The characters aren’t fleshed out enough, even through it is fairly obvious who they are based on.  One exits the novel early, for no apparent reason.  

Michin’s writing style is curious too; with a use of present tense with sentences and descriptive passages that are just too verb heavy.  With better editing and structure, she’ll write a better novel.   But it’s a book that doesn’t make the most of its Traitorous, Faustian concept.  It’s published by Headline on September 12th and I thank them for a preview copy.  #isolationisland.  

 Old Soul by Susan Barker:

Again, another book for 2025.  Old Soul is an artfully written book, dark and scary about a demonic presence called The Tyrant, technically hundreds of years old (but possibly thousands) as it inhabits the souls of people in different time periods. 

It’s an artfully written book, but the prose is some too prolix or allusive to be truly scary.  However, it is an assemblage of styles and formats that doesn’t quite work.  The connections between each chapter flash back and forward, with the odd shiver here and there to keep the cauldron boiling.  

I would say the book’s biggest flaw is for such an expansive plot, the book seems to have too much of a butterfly mind to truly succeed.  And in the novel’s epilogue, a particularly gory final chapter is retconned.  It’s a technically efficient book, but one that is too artfully constructed to be truly scary.  It’s published by Penguin on February 6th, 2025 and I thank them for a preview copy.  #oldsoul

 Cloudless by Rupert Dastur:  

North Wales, 2004: John and Catrin are struggling farmers with a teenage son and another serving  in Iraq.  Over the course of a year, we follow a fractured relationship, infidelity and instability through the lens of the Welsh landscape and what are now historical events. 

It’s funny to think of 2004-05 as ancient history, but it is.  This is debut novel and it’s a well-written, thoughtful debut.  However, I think the biggest problem is in its structure.  The framing device is the Iraq War and its subsequent enquiry - each chapter begins with a death toll for that month in the narrative. 

Events also seem to have some weighted significance - everything seems to have relevance to something else. You can make an educated guess at to what’s going to happen to the son in Iraq.  The narrative also seems to have a number of themes (death, fate, chance, marriage) but there is not enough interconnectedness between them.  The novel also ends with a coda a decade later which wraps things up a little too neatly.  

In conclusion, it’s a portentious debut, with the prose too dense to just let the story drift.  It’s published by Penguin on February 27th, 2025 and I thank them for a preview copy.  #cloudless

 Hollywood To Kentish Town by Patrice Chaplin: 

To answer your first question, she is related to him.  But let’s talk about the book, shall we?  In the 1980’s, she’s in and out of the Hollywood set, desperately trying to get her novel Siesta made as a film.  In between that, she is coping with the Hollywood system.  The pitfalls of that are lying someone $100k to read your screenplay, Brando’s appetite for food and an extremely flirtatious (as you’d expect) Nicholson.  

It’s not the kiss and tell that has been done before.  Admittedly, it is a slight read (under 150 pages), but it’s an elegant, sophisticated, non-linear one. It’s also a very skilful, contrasting the bleak uncertainties of 1970’s London, with the brash, sunlit gaze of Hollywood.  

It’s published by Quadrant Books on 20th June and I thank Grace Pilkington for a preview copy.