Chief Detective Inspector Jane Tennison has moved up the ranks, fighting every step of the way to break through the station house's glass ceiling. Now, on her first day as the head of the Vice Squad, a case comes in that threatens to destroy everything she has worked for. As Vera Reynolds, drag queen and night club star, swayed onstage singing 'Falling in Love Again,' a sixteen-year-old rent boy lay in the older man's apartment, engulfed in flames. 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.