Between the Shades of Light and Dark

As with most murders, there’s more than one victim.

When Samantha Atterman arrives in the remote town of Columbus Cove, she brings little more than her recently divorced mother and a lifetime of goodbyes. Growing up as a military brat taught her how to survive new places—but nothing prepared her for the suffocating isolation of this forgotten town. Loneliness settles in like the ocean fog, thick and inescapable.

Then she meets Channing Ashford.

Charming, handsome, and seemingly too perfect to be real, Channing feels like something out of a romance novel—until a brutal murder shatters the quiet heart of Columbus Cove. In a town this small, tragedy doesn’t just captivate. It consumes.

As suspicion spreads and long-buried secrets claw their way to the surface, Samantha and Channing find themselves pulled into an investigation that threatens more than their budding relationship. Because in Columbus Cove, nothing stays hidden forever—and some truths are deadlier than the crime itself.