Cecil is a woman unhappy with her life in the big city - so when she receives an inheritance (a house and a business) from her mother's cousin, she cancels the lease on her apartment, packs up her worldly possessions, and drives from New York to Maine. Once there, she settles into New England life with relative ease; her mother's cousin Allegra was well-liked and Cecil is quickly accepted. She meets three very different men - a shy and uneducated lobsterman, a reclusive horror author who returned to his hometown to write, and the cultured reporter for the town's newspaper - each holding their own appeal for her. But one has a deadly secret, and when she falls (literally) under his spell, it looks as though she's not only going to be his lover, but his next victim...