Christmas is put on hold for Manchester private eye, Sal Kilkenny, after she reluctantly decides to investigate the death of a mentally unstable mother, Miriam Johnstone. The coroner's verdict is suicide: yet a grieving family and Sal's own suspicions suggest otherwise. Why would a woman so petrified of heights choose to jump from the top of a multi-storey carpark? Sal also has a personal dilemma. When should she introduce her daughter Maddie to new boyfriend, Stuart? Later, Sal accepts another case from a distressed single mother. Yet the results of Sal's enquiry into the troubled teenager's life are puzzling, and before long she is led in unexpected directions that will take her closer to danger and heartbreak than ever before...