Wordhunter

An Amazon Best of the Year Pick

“Smart, original, and entirely entertaining.” –Alafair Burke, NYT Bestselling author of Find Me

An utterly original and compulsively readable detective story, this gripping psychological suspense novel is 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 missing person case. 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.

“A crackling mystery centered on a Lisbeth Salanderesque savant.” – Publisher’s Weekly (Starred Review)

Stella Sands is the bestselling author of the novels Wordhunter, which was an Amazon Editor’s Best Book of 2024, and Codebreakers; six true-crime books: Baby-Faced Butchers, The Dating Game Killer, Behind the Mask, Murder at Yale, Wealthy Men Only, and The Good Son; a children’s book, Odyssea; and many educational books. She served as the editor-in-chief of the award-winning magazine Kids Discover for nineteen years. She has appeared on numerous television shows, including People Magazine Investigates, ABC’s 20/20, and several episodes of Investigation Discovery. Sands lives in Sag Harbor, New York.