Researching her book on the DIORAMA KILLER has brought writer FAYE WILLIAMS to the door of retired Sheriff RICKY STERN. The Medal of Valor he’d been awarded for taking down the infamous serial killer seems to have meant little to the washed up Sheriff who now spends his time immersed in old Chuck Norris movies.

He certainly hadn’t expected that his posting to Clay County would lead to an FBI-led serial killer investigation but this killer was different: his staging of victims – posing them in gruesome dioramas – had made national headlines. And if he was on Ricky’s patch, he needed to be caught. But it may already be too late. Bloodstains in a public restroom and a missing hooker – since their killer’s gruesome scenes always featured a couple, it was suspected that his next victim would almost certainly be male. But who?

Meanwhile, on the other side of Clay County, JEFF and KRISSY MADISON’S honeymoon had been going well until their car blew a tire. Knocking on the door of the only house for miles seemed like a good idea – after all, they weren’t to know that it’s owner, EMERY REED, was holding a loaded gun to his own head. While awaiting a tow truck, Krissy discovers the cause of Emery’s agitation: peering through a bathroom window she sees the cut up remains of a naked man.

As Sheriff Ricky and FBI Agent DENICE TORRES follow the Diorama Killer’s trail, the violent struggle that plays out at the home of Emery Reed tests the values that lie at the very heart of relationships and romance. And asks whether, when faced with adversity, true love really can conquer all ?