Tell Me
Something.
Ten years ago, Cedar Cove buried her parents and her first love. Now the killer is back on the anniversary, and so is she.
The first thing
the book tells you.
Before chapter one, before the map, before any of it. This is the page you land on.
Returning to Cedar Cove, Maine, wasn't on my bingo card for this year or, well, any year. This town is less "quaint seaside charm" and more "where all my worst memories live." But my grams took a bad fall, so here I am back where my parents and my first love were murdered a decade ago. A real Hallmark homecoming.
I barely unpack before another murder rocks the town, on the exact anniversary of the one that wrecked my life. I'd say I'm here to help, but honestly? It's my journalist instincts that won't let me walk away. Cedar Cove's new sheriff, Jack Mercer, thinks I'm in over my head. He's infuriatingly good-looking, disarmingly nice, and doesn't seem half as grumpy around me as he does around everyone else. Annoying.
Then there's Reed. He's tall, dark, and unsettlingly similar to Rhett, the type of guy I should be avoiding at all costs. Now I've got two men in my life: one who's paid to keep the town safe, and another who's setting off every alarm in my head. Both of them are hiding something, and if history is any indication, trusting the wrong person here could be lethal.
In Cedar Cove, love can be murder. And if I'm not careful, I might be next.
Why you'll fall for
Cedar Cove.
No spoilers, no synopsis. Just the tropes that keep readers up past midnight.
Small-town secrets
Messy love triangle
Protective sheriff
Rugged hometown builder
A decade-old murder
A grandma who runs the town
Slow-burn suspense
Spice level: 3 of 5
Meet the cast.
Everyone in Cedar Cove is hiding something. Click a secret, if you dare.
Lennon
The journalist who came homeShe swore she'd never come back to Cedar Cove. But Grams took a bad fall, and some promises don't survive a phone call at 2am. Ten years after the murders that wrecked her life, Lennon's instincts, the ones that made her a journalist, won't let her look away from the one that just happened.
"I'd say I'm here to help, but honestly? It's my journalist instincts that won't let me walk away."
Jack Mercer
Cedar Cove's new sheriffInfuriatingly good-looking, disarmingly nice, and grumpy with everyone in town, except her. He thinks Lennon's in over her head. He's probably right. That doesn't mean he's not going to be right there next to her, badge and all.
He doesn't seem half as grumpy around her as he does around everyone else. Annoying.
Reed
The one she should avoidTall, dark, and unsettlingly similar to Rhett, the first love Cedar Cove buried alongside her parents. Every instinct Lennon has says to stay away. Every other instinct says otherwise.
The type of guy she should be avoiding at all costs.
Grams
Cedar Cove's real sheriffShe's buried two husbands, run this town for forty years, and has an opinion about both men currently orbiting her granddaughter. She's meddling, hilarious, and the softest place Lennon has to land.
Readers' favorite character, hands down.
Welcome to Cedar Cove.
Population: small. Secrets: not. Tap a pin and look around before you go in.
Swipe the map sideways to see the whole town
The cold case file.
Ten years. No answers. Now it's happening again. Click each piece of evidence to declassify it. Completely spoiler-free.
Unsolved
Chapter one.
Because you should never have to buy a book blind. Turn the pages and settle in.
Chapter One
Whoever coined "Don't be such a worrywart" clearly never met Lillian Harrington. My grams didn't just worry, she mastered it. Anxiety wasn't her shadow; it was her lifelong partner, spinning her through sleepless nights and turning overthinking into an art form.
Maggie, my best friend, isn't far behind. Same relentless worry, just with more glitter.
"Promise me you'll text the second you get there, okay?" Her plea lingers in the cab like thick summer air, heavy and inescapable.
"I will." I try for conviction, for authority, but the slight tremor in my voice betrays me, selling me out faster than a Nordstrom clearance rack.
"Good." She softens, but concern still laces her words. "Because I know you, Lennon. You're stubborn, impossibly so. And sometimes, that stubbornness stops you from asking for help when you need it most."
She's not wrong. Stubbornness and I go way back. It's the Jimmy Choo of my personality: impractical, uncomfortable, but undeniably mine.
"You say that like it's a bad thing," I mutter, more bitter than amused.
"It is a bad thing," she deadpans.
Maggie's right. She usually is. She's been there since the unraveling began, catching the pieces, especially after the call. You know the one; expected, yet still a gut punch.
Two weeks later came the inevitable encore, another fall. Not a harmless stumble Grams could brush off with a joke about being "spry as a mountain goat". This one was catastrophic. Nearly fatal. When I pressed the doctor for details, he said she'd been outside, fixing the backyard fence. Apparently, the fence wasn't the only thing that gave way. Classic Grams.
And no, she's not the warm, cookie-baking, afghan-knitting kind of grandmother. She's been my parents, my anchor, my accomplice. Every ounce of good in me traces back to her.
By 27, I thought I'd built something stable. Columbia degree, respectable journalism job at The Walla Walla Watch, a life that felt, if not perfect, at least solid. But life has a way of yanking the ground out just when you start to trust it.
Tip: use your arrow keys, or swipe on your phone.
Team Jack or Team Reed?
Two men, one small town, and a heart that can't decide. Find out which Cedar Cove man is your type.
Why Charli wrote it.
For the women who can't resist a bad boy with a dark side . . . or a charming gentleman who knows all the right moves. Welcome to Cedar Cove, where love is a game, war is inevitable, and murder? Well, that's just an unfortunate plot twist.
Charli wanted to write a "Hallmark homecoming," then ask what happens when the quaint little town has an unsolved murder in its history. Cedar Cove was born from that one what-if.
This is Charli's first venture into romantic suspense, after building a loyal readership with her earlier contemporary romances.
Grams was never supposed to be a scene-stealer. Beta readers changed that fast, and Charli leaned all the way in.
Charli set out to write a love triangle for readers who normally skip love triangles. Early reviews say she pulled it off.
Don't take our word for it.
A true romance suspense book! I didn't expect the ending at all! Characters were great, and the story left me guessing all the way up until the very end.
Charli sprinkled in just the right amount of clues and misdirection to keep you on your toes, and I need to commend her for writing a love triangle I actually enjoyed.
So engaging it leaves you breathless. I couldn't turn a page fast enough. Plot twists you really don't see coming made it an absolutely addictive one-sitting read.
My favorite part of this whole book was Grams. Her meddlesome behavior plus the wholesome granny attitude was the best combination for a hilarious add-in.
The perfect mix of romance and suspense: a meddling grandma who's genuinely funny, and two men trying to win over the new girl in town. Go in blind and just let it unfold.
Home base: her husband, three kids, and a very unfinished manuscript
If you loved Cedar Cove...
More heart, more banter, more happily-ever-afters.
Bring Cedar Cove to your table.
Spoiler-light questions to get the conversation (and the debate over Team Jack vs. Team Reed) started.
Lennon says returning to Cedar Cove wasn't on her bingo card "for any year." What would it take for you to go back to the place holding your hardest memories?
Grams meddles constantly, and everyone lets her. Why do we forgive our grandmothers things we'd never forgive anyone else?
Jack and Reed represent two very different kinds of safety. Which one did you find yourself rooting for, and did that change as the book went on?
Lennon's journalist instincts keep pulling her toward danger. Where's the line between curiosity and self-preservation?
Small towns are often painted as either idyllic or sinister. How does Cedar Cove hold both at once?
Did you guess the ending? At what point did your theory change?
Reading with a group?
Charli loves talking to book clubs. Send her a note and she'll answer.
Media kit.
Everything a podcast, blog, bookstore, or library needs at a glance.
- TitleTell Me Something
- AuthorCharli Cotner
- GenreSmall-town romantic suspense
- SettingCedar Cove, Maine
- Heat level3 / 5
- Great for fans ofCozy-town mysteries with real stakes