Preview

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Wordhunter

By: Stella Sands
Narrated by: Jeremy Carlisle Parker
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $24.29

Buy for $24.29

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

An utterly original and thoroughly enjoyable detective story about a woman who uses her uncanny ability to analyze words and speech patterns to help solve crimes.

Tattooed, pierced, and a bit of a mess, Maggie Moore is a surprising genius when it comes to words, a savant able to solve any linguistic puzzle. The top student in her forensic linguistics class, she’s tapped by local police to use her skills to decipher harrowing notes left by a stalker-turned-rapist—and succeeds brilliantly.

But when the daughter of a local mayor is abducted, Maggie isn’t sure she’s the right person to help the police solve the crime. Given what happened to her best childhood friend, Maggie just might be too close to this one.

Yet she knows the authorities in this rural south-Central Florida town cannot crack the case without her special skill. Along with her new best friend, a detective Jackson, Maggie begins to analyze the texts, emails, and verbal tics of various suspects . . . and comes to a disturbing conclusion that will rock this small community.

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2024 Stella Sands (P)2024 HarperCollins Publishers
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

What listeners say about Wordhunter

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    10
  • 4 Stars
    3
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    10
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    8
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    2

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A Word Geek--I love it!

A murder mystery, a coming-of-age novel, an academics-behaving-badly novel, a family saga with a missing person thrown in. And because it's Florida--a cult. A main character who diagrams sentences to relieve stress--imagine that! A love story with a tragic (maybe not) ending. All in such a small book!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Complex Mind

Such a great mystery novel. MC's mind is amazing to see laid out throughout the book. Unexpected twists and turns. READ IT!!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wordhunter

Great mystery and easy read! Whether sitting, walking or what ever!! And five more words to submit.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Wish someone had said cliffhanger

Strong characters. A bit Lisbeth Salander for the main character, tattooed, pierced, savant (albeit in a different field than Salander).
The literary references were interesting. I have read some reviews where the sentence diagraming is said to be unnecessary, I felt that it added to the depth of the story.
My biggest complaint is the three directional cliffhanger.
There was only one question asked in the story that was answered. Three huge, big, enormous and important questions were left on the table. I didn't realize until I looked down at the time counter and saw only six minutes left.
One cliffhanger, okay. I fully appreciate that writing is a job and that authors need to sell books. To string me along, allow me to become invested and leave that many cards on the table was shabby treatment of us, the readers.
Perhaps the author 'walked away' a bit to early.

I thought the narrator did a very good job, he had to have exceptional diction to narrate this book and I feel that he did it well.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Word geeks, unite!

Please tell me this is the first in a series! I read a review that compared Maggie Moore to Lisbeth Salander, and they're not wrong - although, perhaps not quite as damaged. Maggie is smart, snappy and....a sentence diagrammer! Her partner in crime detection, Jackson, is a middle-aged policeman whose special skill is an eagle eye - literally - his vision is particularly sharp. They're a terrific partnership. Get writing, Stella Sands - I need to know what happens next.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Somewhere between tedious and boring

Very unlikable lead character, weak and foreseeable plot, and the constant sentence diagraming drove me nuts.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Interesting story

Writing simple, dialogue not believable. Jackson accent off. Would not recommend. Plot full of holes

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!