Blue Murder

On the morning after her team's crushing defeat in a cheerleading competition, Melanie Gaskell discovers her mother, Helen, bludgeoned to death in the garage. Helen had also coached the cheerleaders, and Janine realizes that the squad harbors emotions more sinister than team spirit.

DI Mayne goes undercover as a prisoner to investigate the suspicious death of an inmate in the prison washroom who had been awaiting the outcome of an appeal against a murder conviction.

DCI Lewis and DI Mayne investigate the murder of a popular vet, Ruth Turner, in the hills north of Manchester.

Jack Taylor, the charismatic young singer of a local band, Rule 7, is found dead in his apartment. DCI Lewis and DI Mayne soon discover that Jack had a fractious relationship with just about everyone he came into contact with, including his brother, Sam, and his on-again-off-again girlfriend Amy.

DCI Lewis and the team are called away from a police function to investigate the death of a private investigator, Peter Williams, who is found on the roof of a multi-story car park, stabbed in the neck.

DI Mayne is forced to confront DS Shap as his behavior becomes increasingly erratic, and he reveals that he had intimate relations with Tanya shortly before she was murdered.