Secrets wash ashore in Pelican Point, but some stories are built to be buried.
Callie Gallagher needed a place to disappear. After her old life came apart at the seams, inheriting her grand-uncle’s weathered cottage at the dead end of Tern Lane felt like a door opening. She traded city streets for the salt air, a cantankerous cast-iron wood stove, and a quiet town on the Gulf Coast. As a trained archivist, Callie has a meticulous eye for detail—she straightens crooked picture frames and tracks down hidden historical truths. She came to Pelican Point to stop noticing things, but she never expected to find a murder scene hidden inside a tragic accident.
When the formidable president of the local Historical Society is found crushed beneath a heavy antique display cabinet, the town is quick to sigh and call it a terrible misfortune. Days later, when the Society’s priceless collection of founding-era seashells is discovered missing, the narrative shifts effortlessly to a robbery gone wrong by a faceless outsider.
But Callie knows the geometry is all wrong.A cabinet doesn’t fall backward onto someone by accident, and clean record books don’t always mean an innocent treasurer. Guided by the spidery handwriting in her grand-uncle’s old journals and aided by Fletch Bodin—the steady-handed volunteer fireman and hardware store owner who knows the town’s basements and its grievances—Callie begins to pull at a loose thread in the historical accounts.
From a harried gift shop owner drowning in boardwalk rent to a quiet beachcomber who sees the coast before the gulls wake, everyone in Pelican Point has a small something to hide. As a tropical storm spins up from the Gulf, Callie realizes that the missing fortune in shells was never the thief’s prize. It was a curtain hung to hide a deeper rot.
Now, Callie must risk her own safety to piece together a paper trail of fraud and betrayal before a careful killer takes inventory of the threats—and decides she knows too much.
Why Readers Love Seashells & Secrets:Atmospheric & Cozy Coastal Setting: Immerse yourself in the scent of warm funnel cake, sun-baked driftwood, and the rhythmic ringing of halyards against the harbor flagpoles.
A Sharp, Relatable Heroine: Callie Gallagher is a delightfully clumsy but fiercely intelligent former archivist who runs toward the things everyone else backs away from.
A Slow-Burn Connection: Enjoy the easy, unhurried chemistry and quiet charm between Callie and Fletch, the local protector who helps her navigate the tight-knit community.
An Intricate, Clue-Driven Mystery: A classic whodunit meticulously crafted, filled with structural breadcrumbs, small-town secrets, and a clever archival puzzle.
Discover the first book in The Coastal Charm Mysteries series. If you love small-town cozy mysteries with rich sensory detail, lighthearted mishaps, and a brilliant heroine who reads between the lines, buy Seashells & Secrets today!
