Where is Cabot Cove? (2025)

“It is not down on any map; true places never are.”

Herman Melville, Moby-Dick

With apologies to Melville, I am going to attempt to locate the beloved, unreal-yet-true place of Cabot Cove on a map, using information gleaned from multiple episodes of Murder, She Wrote.

A Real Island

In the series premiere, “The Murder of Sherlock Holmes,” we are introduced to Cabot Cove as a small coastal town in Maine. The second episode of the series, “Deadly Lady,” is set in Cabot Cove. In this episode, we learn a bit more about where Cabot Cove is located based on it’s distance from a real place in Maine, Monhegan Island.

“Deadly Lady” opens in the middle of a hurricane. A yacht is stuck out in the storm, and the Coast Guard has picked up its distress signals. The next morning, when the yacht’s passengers are rescued and brought ashore in Cabot Cove, they explain that they were 3 miles due east of Monhegan Island. Although this story is later retracted, it is accepted as a plausible location.

Watercraft use VHF (very high frequency) marine radio to communicate. The range of a VHF radio can vary due to a number of factors. Based on some cursory research, I found a good basic explanation here along with a handy diagram:

According to this diagram, we can estimate the maximum range of a VHS radio using a yacht height (12M) mast to be 30-33 miles. Therefore, we can place Cabot Cove within a 30 mile radius of Monhegan Island. This narrows the possible location of Cabot Cove to the circle shown on the map below:

There are at least two Coast Guard stations within this radius that would have been active in 1984, in Boothbay and Rockland. It stands to reason that Cabot Cove would be at least as close to Monhegan Island as either Coast Guard station for Captain Ethan Cragg to be called on as a first responder.

A Real Road

In S1 E7: “Hit, Run and Homicide” we learn more about Cabot Cove’s location relative to other real places in Maine. A key piece to the puzzle is Route 27. It’s referenced twice in the episode. It’s mentioned by Ethan Cragg as he discusses a search for a missing vehicle in Cabot Cove.

We also learn from Ethan’s statement that Cabot Cove is south of Augusta, which is consistent with the rest of the information we have so far. The portion of Route 27 that is within 30 miles of Monhegan Island is highlighted on the map above.

The other reference to Route 27 is easy to miss, but so crucial to locating Cabot Cove that it basically renders everything else, including the lovely map above, as pretty much moot. There is a scene between Ethan and a visitor to Cabot Cove, Dean Merrill, at the docks.

In the center background, beneath the speed limit sign, is the sign for the road immediately behind Merrill, Route 27. Again, in reference to the map above, the gold star represents the relatively limited area where Maine’s Route 27 runs along the coast.

A Real Cove?

That gold star narrows the location of Cabot Cove to Boothbay and Southport Island, the former being the larger and more likely spot. The area, similar to the rest of the ragged Maine coastline, is dotted with numerous coves and inlets. In the center of Boothbay Harbor is a small cove, Mill Cove. Until and unless there is evidence to the contrary, that is where the MSWSW search for Cabot Cove will come to rest.