Detective Lena Gamble has been hailed as a hero by her colleagues for catching a killer, but held in disgrace by LAPD higher-ups for the explosive way the Romeo case in City of Fire played out. She hasn't been allowed to handle a real murder investigation in eight months. When the chief finally tosses her a case, Lena quickly suspects she is being set up for another public fall. The victim is a beautiful young woman with no identity. There are no witnesses and no leads. Just her nude body, chopped into pieces and dropped in a dumpster in Hollywood – gruesome enough to ensure that, once again, the media will be following Lena's every move...
Desperate to prove her abilities as a cop, the young detective teams up with colleague Stan Rhodes and together they follow the little evidence they have. Finally, they get a tip which leads them to ID the girl: Jennifer McBride was a 25-year-old prostitute with a wealthy clientele. A review of recent phone calls points Lena and Rhodes towards a rich and famous paediatrician with offices in Beverly Hills... One lead after another uncovers a city overrun with corruption, personal greed and savagery. And then, in the blink of an eye, Lena discovers something about Jennifer McBride's identity no one else could have imagined. As dead bodies begin turning up all over Los Angeles, Lena understands that the killer is cleaning house. The big question is why? And will Lena survive long enough to find the shocking answer?
