Detective Nance Spinosa feels her hard work and perseverance have paid off when she becomes head of homicide in the Long Beach Police Department. But her first case opens a trove of local dirty secrets and she finds herself navigating a labyrinth of crime and corruption. Nance receives a tip that a series of seemingly unrelated fatal mishaps have a connection. Sure that the bizarre accidents are focused around a decades old scandal, Spinosa takes her findings to her superior. He crushes her theory of a serial killer and declares the case cold. Refusing to give up, Nance continues investigating on her own time, sure she can apprehend the killer before someone else winds up dead. With an uncooperative boss, and a team of second-guessing detectives who assume they could do a better job, she ends up on everyone's radar, including the killer, who is closing in and setting Nance up for disaster.