Sam Preston fears his new companion, beloved chef and TV personality Patty Hudson, may be the Charleston Maneater, a cannibalistic serial killer.

SYNOPSIS:

Lonesome widower Sam Preston departs his hometown of Lancaster, PA, retiring to Charleston, SC to be near his daughter and her family.

On his second night in town, Sam meets Patty Hudson, the beloved chef, TV personality and proprietor of the Patty's Country Kitchen restaurant chain. Sam is instantly smitten with Patty's warm, colorful persona, while Patty feels comfort in the down-to-earth Sam, who doesn't even recognize the superstar. They begin a courtship, thrusting the mild-mannered Sam into the spotlight.

As their romance blossoms, Sam is disturbed to learn of the Charleston Maneater, a serial killer responsible for the murders of local men in recent years. Their mutilated and decapitated corpses, ravaged of flesh, have been discovered along the nearby Cooper River. Law enforcement is at a loss of who is responsible.

When Patty embarks on a business trip out of town, she curiously insists Sam stay behind in Charleston. While rummaging through her basement to find a movie, he notices an unusual number of violent horror films among her collection, as well as several books on true crime, including serial killers.

Little things continue to alarm Sam – he notices a blood stain on one of Patty's blouses; a butcher knife from her kitchen mysteriously disappears; he comes across an extensive collection of machetes in her garage.

As corpses continue to surface along the Cooper River, Sam becomes increasingly obsessed with the Maneater case and convinced the new love of his life may be involved. Alongside his daughter, the sister of Patty's long-lost first husband, and the FBI agent who for years has been on the hunt for the Maneater, Sam embarks on a perilous mission to crack the case that will place him and his family in grave danger.