Wordhunter - Stella Sands

Mystery/Suspense

Rating: 8/10

Grammer and language nerds rejoice!

Looking at her, tattooed, pierced, hard drinking, cigarette smoking and a bit of a hot mess, you might be surprised to find out that Maggie is a genius when it comes to language. A savant able to unravel any linguistics puzzle, she is a star student in her forensic linguistics class.

Tapped by local police to help them decipher notes and texts left by stalkers and kidnappers, she quickly proves an invaluable asset.

Growing up in poverty and neglect, Maggie has worked hard to escape the restrictions of her childhood. But when a case hits too close to home, reminding her of the unsolved disappearance of her best friend when they were fourteen, she wonders if she has chosen the wrong life path.

I adored this character, as well as Detective Jackson with whom she strikes up a lovely friendship. A quirky and heartwarming read, the perfect combination!

Footnote: This book pairs my fascination with language and linguistics and my love of books that give me new info for my data loving brain. My favourite tidbit from this author is the sporadic use of the diagraming of sentences. Placing words in precise positions on the horizontal, diagonal, dotted and pedestaled lines that mimic speech. It’s like hopscotch across the reader’s mind. And it’s harder to read than you might think! Full disclosure, I will be trying this technique myself. What can I say, my idea of a fun time screams NERD!

Book Pairing(s): Babel by R.F. Kuang, Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night Time by Mark Haddon, The Puzzle Master by Danielle Trussoni