The story of words, cultures, the OED and John Simpson, a word detective with thirty-seven years of dictionary experience and twenty years as Chief Editor of the world's most important dictionary

'I enjoyed this book immensely. John Simpson is an engaging narrator, and the story he tells is full of interest for anyone who has a fascination for words, their origins, their meanings, the way we use them. The Oxford English Dictionary is one of the great wonders of the world, and to have the story of how the great vessel that was launched in the nineteenth century was brought up to date and set sailing confidently on the digital seas of the twenty-first told by its chief editor is a great treat' Philip Pullman

'A perfect title. According to the OED, a Sherlock is someone "who investigates mysteries or shows great perceptiveness". This aptly summarizes Sherlock Simpson, who tells the inside story of how that great dictionary has come to be written, illustrated by illuminating and sometimes daring word histories, and grounded in an engaging and moving autobiography. Anyone fascinated by words and their history will love it' David Crystal

'A charmingly full, frank and humorous account of a career dedicated to rigorous lexicographic rectitude . . . [Simpson] is an absolute hero' Lynne Truss, International New York Times

'Poignant . . . a sustained and sincere reflection on what it means to make a dictionary - the toil, the puzzles, the costs and the profits' Henry Hitchings, Guardian

This elegantly crafted volume will surely provide greater entertainment than a few more famous memoirists this autumn