Jane Tennison has been been promoted to the role of Detective Constable in London's Bow Street CID but she is struggling with some of the decisions her colleagues are making. The more experienced detectives move swiftly from one criminal case to the next, with Jane left doubting both their methods and their finding. When Jane becomes inextricably involved in a multiple rape case she must decide whether to toe the line or endanger her position by seeking the truth. But will her decision put her life in peril?