When a prostitute is found murdered in her bedsit, the Metropolitan police set to work finding the perpetrator of this brutal attack. DNA samples lead them straight to George Marlow, a man previously convicted of attempted rape. The police think they've found their man, but things are not quite what they seem . . .

Detective Chief Inspector Jane Tennison came through the ranks the hard way, opposed and resented at every step by her male colleagues. So when DCI Shefford falls ill, the opportunity for Tennison to get herself noticed finally arrives. But the boys are not happy and every one of her colleagues is willing her to trip up.

Desperate to remove all doubt around her suspect, Tennison struggles to make the charges stick. And then a second body turns up. With the team against her, and a dangerous criminal still on the loose, DCI Jane Tennison must fight to prove herself, now or never.