When two anatomy students resort to body snatching to learn their craft, they discover their stolen corpse is a murder victim and the killer must be found.

If they want to truly learn about the human body, London medical students Edward Montague and Jean-Claude Legard have no choice but to become common criminals. The authorities have long looked the other way as budding anatomists dug up fresh graves. But Edward and Jean-Claude still greet the task of defiling the final resting place of Abigail Darcy with unease, especially when they discover that the cadaver stolen from the graveyard is not the late Mrs. Darcy but a man—and that he's been murdered!

Utterly baffled and seeking justice, Edward and Jean-Claude begin an investigation into Mrs. Darcy's life and death, hoping to find out how a young man met his terrible fate and ended his days in her coffin. It's a search that leads to adultery, betrayal, and more than one suspicious death—and a final, paralyzing encounter with a cold-blooded killer.