Arriving late for a lunch date at a diner in her hometown of Heartsdale, Georgia, pediatrician and coroner Sara Linton discovers local college professor Sibyl Adams in the restroom, raped and slashed. Sara is unable to save her, and becomes drawn into the investigation with her ex-husband, Chief of Police Jeffrey Tolliver. It soon appears that a serial rapist/murderer is at work, and suspects abound, including a possible link to Sara's past.