In a seemingly random event, forensic anthropologist Lindsay Chamberlain is attacked and left for dead. Buried in a shallow grave in the woods, she manages to escape, although she suffers from loss of memory as a result of the ordeal.

When Lindsay's memory returns, it is incomplete. She copes with the trauma by ignoring it, and she allows the authorities to handle the investigation. As the probe quickly comes to a dead end, however, the assault looms like a dark cloud over her peace of mind.

Lindsay joins excavations at an 1830s farm site on the edge of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Unlike previous digs where Lindsay has worked, this site is an unhappy one. Crew members are on edge and argue among themselves, and the site director takes an instant dislike to Lindsay. Furthermore, the principal investigator is under suspicion of murdering a local resident and stealing valuable papers from her. If that weren't enough, Lindsay and the crew are lodged in a haunted house, and even though she is the only crew member who doesn't believe in ghosts, she is the only one who sees them.

When very old sealed lead coffins dating from the 1700s are discovered, Lindsay becomes so excited with the discovery that she momentarily forgets her own troubles. However, her relief is short-lived, for inside one of the coffins are the disturbing remains of a woman who has something frighteningly in common with Lindsay. Then when one of the crew disappears, no one but Lindsay is worried or seems to care. If she doesn't figure out what's happening around her, she might lose her sanity, or worse, her life.