WORDHUNTER

A hard-drinking, hard-living young genius uses her superior understanding of the English language to solve crimes.

Growing up in the poverty-stricken armpit of rural Cypress Havens, Florida, Maggie Moore had her life change at 14 when her best friend, Lucy, went missing. Seven years later, having also lost her mother and graduated high school and college early, Maggie is honing her intense interest in English language and syntax as a graduate student, hoping to pursue a job in forensic linguistics. When her handsome professor selects her both to help the local police with a stalking case by analyzing several texts from the perp and to serve as his assistant, she’s flattered and excited. The first opportunity pays off when Maggie uses her knowledge of Cajun dialect to help catch the stalker turned rapist; soon after, the police reach out again when a young girl, the daughter of a friend of the police chief, is abducted. But Maggie’s life, held together with tequila and bravado, begins to spiral out of control when her professor reveals himself to be an egotistical and predatory misogynist. At the same time, she is beset by regrets and painful memories of Lucy’s disappearance. Detective Silas Jackson, a tough and laconic local cop, elects to help her look for Lucy and is there to pick her up when the going gets really tough. Tattooed and pierced, diagramming sentences from famous novels and movies as a coping mechanism, Maggie is a refreshingly original heroine with literary sensibilities, a potty mouth, and no patience for the patriarchy. Despite the thriller construct, there is not a lot of action in the story, but unusual investigation tactics—and a brash new protagonist—lend the book energy and interest, and Sands leaves the door open for a sequel.

Grammar nerds rejoice!