Tell Me What You Did

Content Warning: This section of the guide contains descriptions of violence (including violence against children and sexually motivated violence), death, emotional abuse, stalking, and substance abuse.

Poe Webb is the novel’s protagonist, a 30-year-old woman with an acerbic wit and a dark past. Poe is the host and creator of the popular true crime podcast Tell Me What You Did, which offers callers a space to confess past crimes. Though beloved by her fans, Poe lives an isolated and dysfunctional life behind the scenes, struggling to cope with grief and trauma from witnessing the murder of her mother at 13. Wracked by guilt over not having stopped the murder, Poe tracked down and killed the man she believed responsible, a secret she intends to take to the grave. She pushes people away to avoid making herself vulnerable and drinks to excess to numb the physical and mental manifestations of her trauma.

Poe’s guardedness takes a toll on her interpersonal relationships. She has no close connections outside of her father and her boyfriend Kip. Poe is only vulnerable when interviewing callers on her podcast, feeling a kinship with others who have also committed crimes. At the start of the novel, Poe’s relationship with Kip suffers because he suspects her of not being fully truthful.