Boston, 1830: In order to pay for his education, medical student Norris Marshall has joined the ranks of local "resurrectionists" - those who plunder graveyards and harvest the dead for sale on the black market. But when a distinguished doctor is found murdered, Norris finds that the illicit trade has made him a prime suspect... Present day: Julia Hamill has made a horrifying discovery on the grounds of her new home in rural Massachusetts - a human skull buried in the rocky soil, scarred with the unmistakable marks of murder.