Moments before the final curtsy of her career, prima ballerina Margot Johnson finds herself holding her partner in her arms while he dies, for real, on stage. Has Yuri been murdered, and if so, why? In the terrifying hours and days that follow, Margot sees one tragedy after another befall her beloved Empire Ballet. Fearful for her own life and the lives of her friends and colleagues, Margot joins Detective Frank Sutton to try to find the murderer.
Frank was transfixed by Margot's ethereal beauty as the ill-fated Giselle, but now he must wonder if the ballerina's supposed retirement is a cover for a criminal crusade. Margot seems far too young to retire, and she was the last person on stage with the now dead Russian dancer. Are international conflicts at play, or does the Empire Ballet Company hide dark secrets? As bodies fall and the violence grows bolder, Frank fights to determine if he is falling for a killer, or if a killer is out for the woman he is coming to love.