Cordelia Gray is a young, aspiring private detective learning the ropes from her mentor, disgraced ex-policeman Bernie Pryde. But when Pryde's sudden suicide leaves Cordelia the sole proprietor of his ramshackle agency, she is forced to continue her education on the job with only Mrs. Sparshott, the agency's longtime secretary and Cordelia's new assistant on her team. Sacrifice: A prominent scientist hires Cordelia to investigate why his son suddenly gave up a life of privilege for one of passion, only to kill himself weeks later. A last embrace: A jilted wife needs a female detective to lure her philandering husband and reveal his misdeeds, but Cordelia finds herself trapped when she begins to fall in love. Living on risk: Cordelia accepts what she thinks is a routine surveillance job, only to discover she may have been hired to help commit a crime, not to prevent one. Playing God: Superintendent Fergussen hires Cordelia to investigate his daughter's boyfriend, but is the evidence Cordelia turns over really all that the Superintendent was after?