Despite their rocky history, Detective Claire Codella and Precinct Detective Brian Haggerty come together when senior churchwarden Philip Graves’ bloody body is found lying in the herb garden of historic St. Paul’s Episcopal Church on Manhattan’s Upper West Side just two days before Good Friday. Upon first glance, it looks like a random act of big city violence, but it soon becomes clear that Philip’s death was the result of a meticulously calculated ploy by someone who knew him. There are five vestry members and a choir director in addition to the 10 homeless men asleep in the church basement. Any one of them could have done it, but what did Philip do to warrant such a merciless death?

Broadway legend Lucy Merchant has tragically succumbed to early onset Alzheimer’s. At age 56, she’s tucked away in the dementia care unit of the ultra-exclusive Manhattan care facility Park Manor. When she falls asleep and doesn’t wake up, her billionaire husband is ready for the funeral, but her daughter demands an investigation. Only three months back on the job after cancer treatment, NYPD Detective Claire Codella finds herself at the center of a high-profile case that nearly everyone wants to shut down. But the forensic evidence raises alarming questions, and Codella needs answers. To find them, she will have to crack the defenses of slippery administrators, frightened caregivers and unobliging family members, all while unlocking some of her own dark memories.

NYPD Detective Claire Codella has just won a tough battle with cancer. Now she has to regain her rightful place on the force. She hasn't even been back a day when Hector Sanchez, a maverick public school principal, is found murdered. The school is on high alert. The media is howling for answers. And Codella catches the high-profile case at the worst possible time. As she races to track down the killer, she uncovers dirty politics, questionable contracts and dark secrets. Each discovery she makes brings her closer to the truth, but the truth may cost Codella her life.