Queen of Countdown’s Dictionary Corner Susie Dent wows The Watermill

Queen of Countdown’s Dictionary Corner Susie Dent wowed her audience at The Watermill on Sunday evening.

She was there in conversation with broadcaster and podcaster Hannah MacInnes at a fundraising event for the Bagnor theatre in collaboration with Hungerford Bookshop, talking about her debut crime novel Guilty by Definition.

Set in Oxford, a group of lexicographers and etymologists, or word experts, have to solve a series of mysterious letters that start arriving in the post and have a worrying link to one of the groups past.

The novel is stuffed with fascinating facts about the English language some of which Susie shared with the audience, to much laughter and amazement.

“Susie’s knowledge of words seems infinite and she has so many great stories,” said Janine Giovanni from Hungerford Bookshop. “For example, did you know that no-one knows where the word ‘dog’ comes from?

“In England everyone used to use the word ‘hound’ from the German ‘hund’ and then suddenly everyone started using the word ‘dog’.

“To date, nobody knows why.”

Many audience members were overheard in the signing queue afterwards talking about how they could have stayed all night listening to her stories.

Luckily they were able to go home with a copy of Guilty By Definition and carry on being entertained in the comfort of their own homes.