When Nan Vining returns to work as a homicide detective for the Pasadena Police Department 12 months after she was brutally attacked while on duty, she must conquer her fears to solve the murder of Officer Frankie Lynde, a female undercover officer posing as a prostitute, who was kidnapped, raped and murdered. Nan tries to convince everyone, including herself, that she's ready to return to homicide investigations, but her own unsolved near-homicide haunts her.

When Officer Frankie Lynde's naked and mutilated body is dumped beneath the Colorado Street Bridge, Nan throws herself headlong into the investigation, following her instincts (or perhaps premonitions) in the face of opposition from her fellow officers. The investigation takes her through the dark side of sexual perversion, drugs and money, into the troubled life and death of an officer not unlike herself.

Returning to the force, Nan finds that the vow she made to refrain from dating and sex until her teenage daughter graduates from high school may be thwarted by her previous partner (and lover), Corporal Jim Kissick. Encountering emotions she forgot she could have, Vining fights the urge to be with the man she loves.

Dianne Emley constructs a fascinating character in Nan Vining. Through this artful entrance into the personal and professional life of Officer Vining, the foundation is set for many more titillating Nan Vining books to come.