As Vera Reynolds, drag queen and night club star, sways onstage singing 'Falling in Love Again', a sixteen-year-old rent boy lies in the older man's apartment, engulfed in flames.

Detective Chief Inspector Jane Tennison has moved up the ranks, fighting every step of the way to break through Scotland Yard's glass ceiling. Now, on her first day as the head of the Vice Squad, this high-profile case threatens to destroy everything she has worked for.

For when Tennison's investigation reveals an influential public figure as her prime suspect, a man with connections to politicians, judges, and Scotland Yard, she's given a very clear message about the direction some very important people would like her investigation to take. Suddenly, in a case defined by murky details, one fact becomes indisputably clear - that for Tennison, going after the truth will mean risking her happiness, her career . . . and even her life.