A murderer is loose in Glasgow and a major police investigation is mounted to find the killer. But one by one the bodies of young women are found strangled in the city. The enquiry is headed by top detective Jim Taggart, a tough local cop who has risen through the ranks and one of the new breed of graduate policemen, Peter Livingstone. But despite their differences they work together breaking all the rules to hunt the killer before he strikes again.

The skeletal remains of a dismembered body are discovered beneath the floorboards of a house in Glasgow. The drama takes an unexpected twist when a nine-month-old toddler is kidnapped from a multi-storey car park, followed by a ransom demand of £50,000.

Glamorous opera singer, Eleanor Samson, returns to Glasgow, her home town, to sing with Scottish Opera. She hopes to bring about a reconciliation with her estranged husband, John, but she is furious to discover that there is a new woman in John's life - blonde, attractive Kirsty King. When Kirsty's body is found in the burnt out shell of John's boat, Eleanor Samson is the prime suspect. Jim Taggart, tough Glasgow detective and his smooth assistant, Peter Livingstone, fall out over the case. Livingstone believes that Eleanor is guilty; Taggart cannot believe that a woman like Eleanor could be a murderess. Is Taggart allowing his judgement to be clouded by Eleanor's fame and beauty?