A unique take on forensics and crime solving - this novel follows undergraduate student Maggie Moore, who is majoring in Forensics and Linguistics. A professor recommends her as someone to help police solve a crime, which draws her into a local police department as a kidnapping takes place. There was a side plot which was a bit distracting, but highly enjoyable read that kept me turning page until the finish!

this was such an engaging, entertaining story! it follows maggie who can quickly analyze words and speech patterns and uses those abilities to help the police department solve cases. it was definitely inspired by the girl with the dragon tattoo which isn't a bad thing! i did find the conclusion a bit rushed, but it also felt like it was being set up for a sequel which i hope is the case. it's a short, quick read and if i had the time to sit down and read it in one day i would have! i definitely recommend this if you're into mysteries with complex characters, police procedurals (like csi or criminal minds), and want a book you can't put down.

cw: sexual assault, substance abuse

thanks to netgalley and harper perennial for my ARC of wordhunter by stella sands. all opinions are my own.

Liked the concept of a tattooed, pierced forensic linguist who helps rural Florida police analyze a serial killer's notes to crack the crime. But the narrative unravels as the story unspools. Perhaps book 2 will be better?

[arc review]
Thank you to Harper Perennial for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.
Wordhunter releases August 6, 2024

3.75

Maggie is a grad student specializing in forensic linguistics and has recently been asked to assist the police department with solving active cases.
If you’re fond of diagramming sentences or particularly enjoyed how the Unabomber was solved, then this is the book for you.

I flew through this in one-sitting, and while I would have loved a bit more closure at the end in regard to Lucy and Jackson, I wouldn’t mind if it was an intentional open door for a possible sequel.

Men that are intimidated and threatened by the intellects of women are the literal worst, as seen by Professor Ditmire and the Chief of Police, but they made for great characters to root against!

cw: rape, drug and alcohol abuse, overdose resulting in hospitalization

Maggie Moore is an interesting character. Growing up in rural Florida, she has had an interesting and challenging life. But she has a gift. She is able to analyze words and sentences. Although she still suffers from the disappearance of her best, childhood friend, she is attempting to forge a career in forensics using her unique gift.

While studying at the local college, she is called in by the local police to analyze messages from a serial killer. She is successful and called in for a more serious crime, the kidnapping of a local police chiefs' daughter. But things aren't going well back at school. One of her professors assaults her and then attempts to get her kicked out of school. Maggie needs to solve the kidnapping and resurrect her reputation.

This was an interesting book. My only criticism was that, at some points, the author seemed to be trying a bit too hard to make Maggie the "anti-hero". Maybe a little less emphasis on the drugs, piercings, tattoos, living style, food and insomnia might have helped to keep the focus a bit more on the mystery and its solution. But maybe that's just me. Otherwise, I thought the book was very well written. The ending was quite unique. I highly recommend it.

2.5 stars

This was a fast-paced, easy-to-read thriller. The story follows Maggie, the main protagonist, a university student and linguistic genius who helps the local police find the kidnapped mayor's daughter while being haunted by the trauma of her missing childhood best friend, Lucy.

Overall, I enjoyed the book, but it's not something I would rave about. After reading the synopsis, I had high hopes, but the story felt quite predictable. Maggie seemed like an off version of Lisbeth Salander from "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo." The tortured genius trope is so overdone.

The frequent sentence diagramming got tiring. Like I get it you smart girl but I wanted to see more of her actual work and her “brilliant mind” rather than just her diagramming sentences from popular culture. Additionally, the storyline with her psycho professor felt unnecessary. The resolution and explanation were glossed over, making it seem redundant. Seriously what was the reason????

Overall, it was a decent and quick read, which I appreciated.

I loved this book. I haven’t read any book like this before. I loved the writing and the plot. I loved the character of Maggie Moore. She use her uncanny skill to get to the bottom of the disappearance of Mayor’s daughter as she has been abducted and the abductor or stalker has left the cryptic notes for the police to decipher so they take Maggie’s help as she has a special ability to analyse words, she use her linguistic skill to solve the mystery and find clues dropped by the person behind the abduction and disappearance. The south central Florida setting is interesting. There is an unpleasant memory, Maggie herself is carrying in the back of her mind. I loved how she solved the mystery.

Thanks to the Publisher

Stella Sands' Wordhunter is one of one my favorite reads this year. Maggie is a motorcycle riding, pierced and tattooed Florida College student, scorned for her genius and ability to break down sentences into answers. Maggie reminds me a lot of Lisbeth Salander of " Dragon Tattoo" fame.
When her college professor sends Maggie to the local police over a series of "stalker" notes, she easily finds the culprit. Maggie becomes friends with the police chief and a wary officer Jackson, whom she reluctantly teams up with to investigate a series of murders.
Two side stories intersect. Maggie still searches for her missing best friend, who disappeared years before. And she must also deal with her overzealous college professor, who threatens to ruin her future.
Sands amuses the reader with Maggie's breakdown of sentences from famous novels while seeking the source of a missing girl. Wordhunter has all the makings of a wonderful series with a heroine as brave as she is weird.

I really and truly loved the concept of this book and I am so grateful I got to read an advanced copy.

I feel like there are so many elements here for the making of an incredibly unique mystery/thriller. I have never read a book that has a main character who is an expert in forensic linguistics and tbh I never even thought of that as a career option. I loved how educated the author was on this topic and I feel like I learned a lot about what that could look like. There was a lot of sentence diagramming which I don't really remember from school but enjoyed that Maggie, our MC, used this as a coping skill and applied it to several different books. movies, songs, and other recognizable works.

My biggest complaint with the book is that it felt like the author was writing it like they were running out of time. There were several characters who were introduced in a way that felt like we should be more familiar with them or that we would become more familiar by the end but then never fully developed.

At times I experienced whiplash from conversations with characters that felt like they had jumped ahead a few steps and this was similar for plotlines. And the plotlines were aplenty. In the end I felt dissatisfied with a lot of the relationships and how a few storylines were left hanging. I do recognize the opening for this to become a series which I think I would enjoy if more time was spent on character development and tying up loose plot holes and less on sentence diagramming.

I think this book gets in its own way a little. The core story has a solid plotline and cast of characters, with a satisfying conclusion - but there's too much extra stuff going on that distracts from it. It makes me wonder if the author was trying to throw the reader off from solving the main mystery too quickly by throwing in unrelated characters and side plots. There's too much left unresolved at the end, potentially trying to tee up for a sequel? But it didn't exactly leave me wanting more. I did enjoy the linguistics aspect of the plot, and the buddy-cop dynamic between the main character and the detective was endearing.

I'm pretty torn on Wordhunter.

On the plus side, I liked the main character. I appreciated that she was smart and a little quirky, but also plenty capable of standing up for herself. I love linguistics (not to the same extent), so it was super cool to read that kind of thing here.

On the other hand, the storyline with the professor (and I won't spoil it, but TW for sure) was almost completely unnecessary. It wasn't wrapped up at the end, and it just seemed secondary. It almost felt like Sands started writing one story, and pivoted halfway through. I mean, there were two characters introduced 75% of the way in the book, and our main character had to explain their presence with information that wasn't anywhere else in the book...and then they were only mentioned once more.

Overall, it was an interesting concept, but fell short on execution.

An interesting story. The main character was unique and so smart, but she does have problems. There has to be a next book to answer questions. The one character rescued is quite a coinsidence. ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair review..

Wordhunter by Stella Sands is a brilliant novel about a college student who’s a forensics linguistics genius and when asked, offers her expertise to the police to solve a crime. When the crime is solved, Maggie receives an award.

Then she asks the detective she’s helped to try to solve an old case, her childhood girlfriend who went missing and was never found. Jackson’s not sure he can but eventually she convinces him to take a look.

Meanwhile she’s become a T.A. for one of her professors who thinks she’s really a good student but he tries to sexually assault her. She gets away and resigns her T.A. position but Dr. Ditmore threatens to make sure her grant is rescinded and she doesn’t get in graduate school if she doesn’t continue to work for him.

In addition, the daughter of the local mayor is abducted and Maggie tries to help, but there may be devastating consequences.

You’ll definitely want to ready this quirky but wonderfully written book!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this eARC.

Sheila Sands created one of the most interesting and engaging characters in Maggie Moore., with her motorcycle, her piercings, her tattoos and fascinating addiction to diagramming sentences, is a unique and interesting character. I found ever page of this book delightful.

Along the way, Maggie is asked (through the college she attends) to work with the police and assist them by attempting to find a kidnapped girl by analyzing the kidnapper's notes for clues based upon various linguistic characteristics.

As a longtime scholar of words, linguistics and mysteries, I found this book to be an extremely clever and satisfying mystery, with so much to offer!

My hope is that Sands brings Maggie back and bases a long series on her abilities, I think the author struck gold by creating such an engaging character.

I loved this book, and I am looking forward to buying copies for family members and friends.

5 stars from this thrilled reader, for mystery fans and word lovers alike, Sheila Sands is definitely one to watch, if things happen as they should, I expect to see much more in the future from this skilled author.

Fans of mysteries and psychological thrillers should give this book a read, I LOVE this book!

Maggie is a linguistic genius, traumatized by the disappearance of her childhood best friend, obsessed with finding her, and planning for a future in forensic science. Unfortunately, she is also an alcoholic, engages in high risk behavior, and to top it off, has a self-described potty mouth.

The writing is quite good, and I was enjoying myself until I realized that Maggie is not just “…a bit of a mess” as described by the publisher. She is a walking disaster.

My dislike for Maggie’s character was so strong that it completely overshadowed my admiration for her cleverness and unique talents, and that is why I stopped reading at around 40%. It is impossible to root for a character who is a drunk driver, and this novel seems to maybe want to be part cozy mystery with quirky characters, but Maggie is reprehensible and confusing. She is supposed to be a millennial but comes across as a woman in her 60s. (She is in her early 20s and has cultural references such as Kenny Rogers and Kris Kristofferson?). I am hoping she will have a redemption arc in the future, but I won’t be sticking around to find out. It is a shame, because this is a clever idea for a mystery, and I loved all the literary references.

This had such a promising start, but really unraveled in the last third or so. The author threw everything but the kitchen sink into the resolution and the story really suffered for it. A tightly plotted beginning turned into a stream of consciousness ramble, frequently stretching credulity.

Interesting mind game/ puzzle that unravels before your eyes. I enjoyed Maggie’s character and personal development. Fast and easy read!

As a Language Arts teacher and a word nerd, i enjoyed this book. It was interesting, unique and fast-paced. It was an enjoyable read.

Wordhunter is a unique fast-paced mystery for anyone who enjoys procedurals and especially word puzzles. Maggie Moore is in graduate school to become a forensic linguist. She is a genius with language but her personal life is a mess. She drinks and smokes to excess and is obsessed with the disappearance of her childhood best friend. When the mayor’s daughter goes missing, her professor recommends her as a consultant to the local police to help analyze notes left by the kidnapper.
This book has a lot going on but it never gets confusing or bogged down. Instead it kept me totally invested in cold case from Maggie’s childhood, the current case of the missing girl, her struggles and victories in graduate school, and her relationships with her friends, professors, and cops. One case is still not completely resolved at the end of the book so I am hoping there is a sequel or even and entire series in the works.
#Wordhunter. #NetGalley

"Wordhunter" is a quirky detective story that hooked me from the start with its unique premise. Maggie Moore, with her tattoos and piercings, is not your typical genius, but her knack for analyzing words and speech patterns makes her a captivating protagonist. As a graduate student studying forensic linguistics, she's roped into helping the local police crack cases using her uncanny linguistic skills.

The book falls into a cozy mystery-meets-police procedural vibe, making it a fast and enjoyable read. The ambiguous ending suggests the potential for a series, which could be intriguing for fans of the genre.

However, while the concept of forensic linguistics is fascinating, the execution left something to be desired. The story sometimes overestimates the reader's understanding, delving into complex linguistic concepts without providing enough explanation. This made certain parts of the plot feel like a textbook rather than a gripping mystery.

Moreover, the writing itself felt amateurish at times, with rudimentary dialogue and underdeveloped characters. I struggled to connect with the characters, as they lacked distinct voices and depth.

Additionally, the inclusion of unnecessary plot lines detracted from the main story, feeling like filler rather than adding substance. Despite these flaws, the book shows promise and could benefit from more development and a sharper editor.

Overall, "Wordhunter" has the potential to be a captivating series with its original premise and intriguing protagonist. With some refinement, it could appeal to fans of cozy mysteries and police procedurals alike.